Can Myanmar find internal peace with its ethnic rebels? Aung San Suu Kyi is on it
Fighting in north of the country between government forces and ethnic groups has displaced some 100,000 people since 2011. This week’s peace talks are a bid to move the stalled peace process forward
Senior figures from Myanmar’s military and government will meet ethnic minority armed group leaders in Nay Pyi Taw on Monday, as part of plans to move ahead with the country’s stalled peace process.
The meeting, which marks three years since eight groups signed the government’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), was originally planned to take place at Mount Popa, a mythical mountain in the centre of the country, but has since been moved to the capital. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi are expected to attend, as well as leaders of the 10 groups who signed the NCA.
Myanmar’s peace process has stagnated in recent years, after being given renewed attention under former president Thein Sein. Soon after her National League for Democracy swept to power in the November 2015 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi said the peace process would be her top priority.
“The peace process is the first thing the new government will work on. We will try for the all-inclusive ceasefire agreement,” she said in a speech to mark Independence Day in January 2016. “We can do nothing without peace in our country.”
The approach under her leadership has had limited success, however. Fighting continues in the north of the country, in particular between the Tatmadaw – the country’s military – and the Kachin Independence Army, where more than 100,000 people have been displaced since renewed clashes began in 2011.
