Burma Project

  • Access Denied

    The reform process in Burma/Myanmar by the quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein has raised hopes that a long overdue solution can be found to more than 60 years of devastating civil war.

  • The Kachin Crisis: Peace Must Prevail

    As 2012 progressed, perceptions of the real nature of change under the Thein Sein government were challenged by a series of disturbing events in which serious violence and mass displacement of civilians occurred in several parts of the country.

  • Developing Disparity

    Unless foreign direct investment in Burma's war-torn borderlands is refocused towards people-centered development, it is likely to deepen disparity between the region’s most neglected peoples and Burma's new military, business and political elite and exacerbate a decades-long civil war. 

  • Ethnic Peace and Political Participation

    Ceasefires have been agreed; the NLD has elected representatives in the national legislatures; Western sanctions are being lifted; and the World Bank and other international agencies are returning to set up office in the country. Such developments are likely to have a defining impact on ethnic politics, which remains one of the central challenges facing the country today.

  • Drugs and Conflict in Burma

    Burma/Myanmar is undergoing yet another humanitarian crisis while entering a new critical political stage. In the Kokang region, an opium ban was enforced in 2003, and since mid-2005 no more poppy growing has been allowed in the Wa region. Banning opium in these Shan State regions where most of the Burmese opiates were produced, adds another chapter to the long and dramatic history of drugs, conflict and human suffering.

Burma has been exposed to some of the longest running armed conflicts in the world. Ethnic nationality peoples have felt marginalised and discriminated against. TNI has developed a unique expertise on Burma's ethnic regions. TNI's work on drugs and conflict in Burma brings together its long-term work on international drugs policies, and its in-depth research on the regional drug market in Burma and neighbouring countries. TNI proposes alternative policy responses. Read more: Ethnic Conflict in Burma and Drugs & Conflict in Burma

Articles

Why peace and land security is key to Burma's democratic future

Tom Kramer
Analysis of the social costs of large-scale Chinese-supported rubber farms in northern Burma suggests that the future for ordinary citizens will be affected as much by the country's chosen economic path as the political reforms underway. 

Tackle Burma's Drugs Problem

Martin Jelsma
Tom Kramer
Policy priorities should focus on how best to manage and reduce the many health and social harms associated with the reality of a persistent and ever changing drugs market. 

International community must support non‐military solutions in northern Myanmar

TNI
Following new eruptions of violence in northern Myanmar, civil society organizations have issued a statement calling for urgent international engagement and dialogue to support non-military solutions. 
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Publications

Political Reform in Burma/Myanmar and Consequences for Ethnic Conflict

TNI & Burma Centrum Netherlands
While there have been undeniably positive trends in Burma over the past year, these have not yet been translated into ethnic peace and justice. 

Burma at the Crossroads

The people of Burma are at a critical juncture in their struggle for democracy and ethnic reform. Decisions taken by leading parties and protagonists in the months ahead could well define the direction of national politics for many years to come.

Assessing Burma/Myanmar’s New Government

Burma is in the midst of its most important period of political transition in over two decades. TNI and BCN hosted a conference to look at the challenges and opportunities in five key areas: politics, ethnic relations, the economy, social and humanitarian affairs, and the international landscape.
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News

Fears over growth in land concessions

10 June 2013
Activists have raised concerns about continued growth in large-scale land concessions to agribusinesses, warning that small-scale landholders are being left without a source of income.

Ceasefires facilitating land grabs: Think tank

10 June 2013
A briefing paper jointly published earlier this month by the Netherlands-based think tank groups has asserted that new ceasefires that have been signed since 2011 have further facilitated land grabbing in conflict-affected areas where large development projects in resource-rich ethnic regions have already taken place.

Experts warn Myanmar about risks with investment treaties

31 May 2013
International experts have warned that the use of investment treaty ‘Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)’ for attracting foreign investments into Myanmar is risky as it grants the investors the right to initiate dispute settlement proceedings against the government under international laws.
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