As a result, the country now has scores of powerful non-state armed groups around most of its periphery. The state’s inability to address ethnic minority grievances or provide adequate security to communities has created a literal arms race among minority groups. Citizenship and rights should be delinked from ethnicity, however, and politics and the peace process should not cement ethnic division.Įthnicity and conflict are inextricably linked in Myanmar, creating a vicious cycle of violence that continues to escalate. Communities should be free to celebrate their ethnic heritage and cultural identity. What should be done? Charting a more inclusive future for the country will require a national debate including some difficult reflection. In many ways, violent conflict in Myanmar can be seen as the militarisation of ethnicity. Inter-ethnic relations have become dominated by zero-sum thinking that hardens ethnic divides and drives the proliferation of armed groups, with deadly consequences. Why does it matter? The results of putting ethnicity at the centre of public life are toxic. These efforts have created an unworkably convoluted and ultimately meaningless classification system.
Efforts to categorise and enumerate the peoples of this hugely diverse country have been attempted from British colonial times to the latest 2014 census. What’s new? Ethnicity has become central to citizenship, basic rights, politics and armed conflict in Myanmar.
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