2022 Year in Review

2022 marks the second year of the military junta’s most recent takeover of
Myanmar. The coup began on the 1st of February 2021 when the military
declared the results of the 2020 election invalid. The junta arrested senior
officials of the governing party – National League for Democracy (NLD),
including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and her economic advisor,
Australian Professor Sean Turnell.
Myanmar has had a tumultuous past 70 years in and out of military rule. In
2011, the country transitioned to civilian rule, with a power-sharing agreement
reached between the military and the elected civilian government. The 2020
general election resulted in significant losses for the military-aligned political
party, and hence the military feared they were losing their power.
To understand this situation better, I sat down with the National Unity
Government’s Representative to Australia, Dr Tun-Aung Shwe.
The National Unity Government (NUG), for which Dr Tun is an appointed
representative, has two main objectives- “to end the military dictatorship and
build a democratic union in Myanmar.” Currently, The NUG controls around
40 per cent of Myanmar, with the military only controlling 17 per cent.
CURRENT SITUATION IN MYANMAR
We began by discussing the situation on the ground in
Myanmar. Dr Tun emphasised “the brutality of the junta’s
rule has increased this year as they try to stamp out the
resistance movement.” According to Dr Tun, since the
beginning of the coup “5-6 civilians are killed, 1500
civilians flee their homes, and 50-60 civilian properties
are burned daily.” Many civilians have been arbitrarily
detained, and over 1 million are internally displaced. The
anti-coup movement’s strength threatens the military’s
rule, and as such the junta wishes to “annihilate” it. The
military is undertaking “air strikes on civilian areas,
including schools and hospitals.” Despite this, and despite
limited access to modern weapons, the anti-coup
movement continues to fight back against the military.
"SINCE THE
BEGINNING OF THE
COUP 5-6 CIVILIANS
ARE KILLED, 1500
CIVILIANS FLEE
THEIR HOMES, AND
50-60 CIVILIAN
PROPERTIES ARE
BURNED DAILY.”
P A G E 7 1