CONTEXT

01 Military rule & coup

Since the time of independence from British colonial rule in 1948, a military junta, currently known as the State Administration Council (SAC), has ruled Myanmar for decades.
In 1974, the military junta instituted a new constitution based on an isolationist foreign policy and a socialist economic program
In 2008, a new constitution was enacted to sustain the military’s power.
In 2021, the SAC unlawfully took power in a coup on Feb 1.

The military junta embraced the divide-and-rule tactics from the British colonial rule and fueled armed conflicts with ethnic armed organizations until the current times.
Following the country’s independence, many ethnic armed groups fought for greater autonomy because they experienced systemic discrimination, lack of economic opportunities and development in their regions, minimal representation in government, and abuses at the hands of the military.
After the 2021 coup, PDF (People’s Defence Force) groups around the country were founded and have been fighting for freedom and justice.

The population unrest aroused massive protests such as the 8888 Uprising in 1988 and the Saffron Revolution in 2007 because of military rule, economic devastation, widespread poverty and corruption, and food shortages.
The 2021 coup led another massive unrest, known as the spring revolution.
Thousands of civilians, including monks, were killed.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been internally and externally displaced by the world’s longest ongoing civil war.
Until now, Myanmar civilians are suffering from forced displacement.

War crimes, crimes against humanity, extrajudicial killings, mass killings, torture, rape, the use of child soldiers, and the destruction of entire villages have been seriously committed by the SAC before and after the 2021 coup.

Around Myanmar 90.000 refugees live in the nine camps along the Thai-Myanmar border, and countless numbers remain in small refugee villages on the Thai border.
About 200.000 Burmese migrants live in Mae Sot.
PlayOnside plays an important role in implementing positive grassroot projects for the most vulnerable and marginalized migrants and refugees on the Thai-Burma border.