Multiplicity of Challenges in Myanmar

What is the issue?

Besides the infamous Rohingya crisis, Myanmar also saw multiple challenges on the fronts like press freedom and the “Panglong peace process” in 2017.

What are the events that defined Myanmar of 2017?

Both the civilian government and the military establishment of Myanmar (which is politically powerful), had a rough 2017.
The issues of - Threats to press freedom, Rohingya refugee crisis, and peace process with the country’s armed ethnic groups got international attention.
The civilian government of Ms.Suu Kyi’s NLD, attracted severe criticism for its failure to act on these issues more effectively.
Press Freedom - At least 11 journalists of (both Myanmarese and foreigners) have been arrested in the past year on trivial charges.
Notably, two Reuters reporters were arrested on the charges under the colonial-era “Official Secrets Act” for ‘illegally acquiring information’.
It is speculated that they were collecting documents regarding the conduct of security forces in Rakhine state, the duo could possibly get long prison terms.
Rohingya Crisis - The UN has called the militaristic crackdown in Rakhine as “ethnic cleansing”, and media has been blacked out in the region.
Up until now, the gruesome horrors unleashed by the security forces are primarily coming from the Rohingya refugees who have fled to Bangladesh.
But despite serious international condemnation, Myanmar has denied any wrongdoing and claims that its offensives are only targeted against ARSA (Rohingyan rebel militia), which is officially a terrorist outfit in Myanmar.

How is the ‘Panglong Peace Conference’ progressing?

Besides the Rohingyas, there are multiple armed ethnic rebels in Myanmar and Ms. Suu Kyi has been prioritising peace with them.
Consequently, the 2^nd session of “Panglong Peace Conference” was convened in May 2017, to discuss on a 41 point agenda.
Positives - This brought together the government, military and ethnic rebel leaders and agreement was reached on 37 issues.
The rebel groups agreed to recognize a democracy union with federalist polity that gives considerable rights for ethnic self-determination.
On its part, the government agreed to treat all ethnicities equally and privileged the provinces to write their own sub-constitutions within Myanmar.
Challenges - However, the calls for dissolution of rebel armies to pave the way for the constitution of a single national army haven’t been agreed.
Contrarily, the rebels vouch for a federal army to enable them retain independent command structures.
Also, there have been some hiccups with the technicality of whether to specifically iterate the clause for “non-secession” in the peace accord.
Also, another major concern is that out of the more than 20 armed groups, only 8 have signed the current “Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement” thus far.
While the 3^rd round of the Panglong Conference has been scheduled for late January, the future looks uncertain.

Source: The Hindu