Burma Insurgency - 2009 - Border Guard Force (BGF)
In 2009, the regime began pressuring ceasefire groups to join a Border Guard Force (BGF)--an integrated unit of Burma Army and ceasefire group soldiers, with Burma Army soldiers occupying the key positions; no major ceasefire group has agreed to these demands. In June 2009 the Burma Army and its affiliate, the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, launched an attack against the Karen National Union. In August 2009 the Burma Army defeated the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, an ethnic Kokang group, in an offensive in which thousands of people fled to China and the Burma Army destroyed a weapons and narcotics processing facility in the Kokang region. In the wake of the November 2010 elections, the Burma Army launched a series of attacks against armed ethnic groups in Karen and Shan States. In June 2011, fighting broke out between the Burmese Army and the Kachin Independence Army in northern Burma’s Kachin State with clashes continuing as of August 2011.
President U Thein Sein's peace offer was extended in August 2011. By early 2012 a total of 12 armed groups had respectively signed preliminary peace agreements with the government at state or central levels. Under the president's peace offer, peace making is being carried out in three phases -- the first phase is to ceasefire, set up liaison offices and travel without holding arms to each other's territory; the second phase is confidence building, holding political dialogue, implement regional development tasks in terms of education, health and communication; and the third phase is to sign agreement for eternal peace in the presence of the parliament represented by nationalities, political parties and different walks of life.
At the end of 2012, the government had reached preliminary cease-fire agreements with all major armed ethnic groups except the KIA in Kachin State, where armed conflict continued and escalated in December 2012. Although peace talks are taking place, there seemed to be no end in sight in the war against the ethnic rebels, especially in Kachin State and the Shan State. The President Thein Sein Government reached a truce with the Shan State Army (SSA), but the Burma Army was reluctant to accept the agreement.
A tentative peace agreement on May 31, 2013 between Burma's government and Kachin rebels was hailed as a breakthrough after recent intense fighting along the border with China. The pact was one of the last to be reached with armed ethnic groups, raising hopes of a nation-wide peace.
Twelve of Myanmar's ethnic rebel groups announced 02 December 2014 the establishment of a Federal Army, a move likely to anger the national government. The new force, called the Federal Union Army (FUA), will be under the supervision of the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an umbrella group that has been trying to negotiate a nationwide cease-fire between ethnic minorities and the national military. Among the country's major ethnic rebel groups, only the Wa have refused to participate in the FUA.
The government in Myanmar, also known as Burma, offered 11 December 2014 to restart peace talks with ethnic rebels. The minister responsible for the talks made the offer to the rebel Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT), the umbrella group that represents several ethnic groups. The two sides had met several times since the NCCT was founded in July 2014, but there had been no reported progress.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
