Burma – Background

Although Burma was at times divided into independent states, a series of monarchs attempted to establish their absolute rule, with varying degrees of success. Eventually, an expansionist British Government took advantage of Burma’s political instability. After three Anglo-Burmese wars over a period of 60 years, the British completed their colonization of the country in 1886, Burma was immediately annexed as a province of British India, and the British began to permeate the ancient Burmese culture with foreign elements. In 1948 Burma won back their independence, but entered into a 40-year period of internal strife, riddled with war, corruption, and a struggle for controlling power.

The military government announced a change of name for the country in English from Burma to Myanmar in 1989. It also continued the economic reforms started by the old regime and called for a Constituent Assembly to revise the 1974 Constitution. This led to multiparty elections in May 1990 in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory over the National Unity Party and about a dozen smaller parties. The military, however, would not let the assembly convene, and continued to hold the two leaders of the NLD, U Tin U and Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of Aung San, under house arrest imposed on them the previous year. Burma came under increasing international pressure to convene the elected assembly, particularly after Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, and also faced economic sanctions. In April 1992 the military replaced Saw Maung with General Than Shwe.

War with the tribal minorities along the borders ensued.

Burma – Current State

Burma, a resource-rich country, suffers from pervasive government controls, inefficient economic policies, corruption, and rural poverty. Despite Burma’s emergence as a natural gas exporter, socio-economic conditions have deteriorated under the regime’s mismanagement, leaving most of the public in poverty, while military leaders and their business cronies exploit the country’s ample natural resources.

The country’s armed forces are known as the Tatmadaw, which numbers 488,000. The Tatmadaw comprises of the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. The country ranked twelfth in the world for its number of active troops in service. The military is very influential in the country, with top cabinet and ministry posts held by military officers.

After many failed cease-fire agreements, fighting on the frontlines within the Shan and Karen states still poses a grave threat to civilians. Villages are being destroyed, landmines litter the jungle floor, and the indigenous people are being pushed to the borders of Thailand. Camps of IDPs (internally displaced people) are becoming the norm in Karen State. There are approximately 503,000 IDPs living in Burma. MASH sites have been created where injured soldiers can be treated and landmine victims can fabricate new prosthetic limbs. For the IDP camps in the Shan and Karen states, maintaining a proper defense is a constant concern. Soldiers patrol the ridge-tops and regulate the illegal poaching of teak wood while keeping the Burmese Military advance at bay.

The United Nations and several other organizations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country, including child labor, human trafficking, and a lack of freedom of speech.

Team Rubicon Mission

Team Rubicon proactively deploys to the Thai/Burma border to provide medical aid to refugees and train Community Healthcare Workers (CHW).  TR is increasing the medical competency of Karen Department of Health and Welfare (KDHW) and Free Burma Ranger (FBR) Shan medics. TR calls this a long-term force multiplier effect that enables local medical workers to become leaders and teachers of these skill sets.  Over the course of four days TR will take students through a rigorous curriculum, covering subjects in landmine and gunshot trauma care, long term care of trauma patients, primary care, tropical medicine, surgical theater/technique.

Team Members:

Zach Smith = Team Leader, Paramedic/Firefighter, Technical Rescue

Dr. Glenn Goelheed = Physician, Navy Surgeon and Tropical Medicine Expert

Jason Jarvis = Paramedic, Army Special Forces Medic, Combat Trauma Instructor

Andrew Stevens = Marine, EMT, Disaster Mitigation and Security-Risk Analyst

Marc Fiorito = TR Media^TM Asia Desk Chief Corespondent, Photo-Journalist

Why TR is Involved:

Team Rubicon specializes in veteran focused disaster relief in the developing world and the United States. TR is committed to indigenizing medical skill sets in order to decrease foreign aid dependence in the developing world. Burma presents TR with an ideal challenge due to its access restrictions, large displaced population, and lack of conventional aid presence. With collective first-hand knowledge of frontline trauma care in Iraq and Afghanistan, TR passes on these skills to those most in need.

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Filed under: Burma, Proactive Missions by Marc Fiorito
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