A persistent myth that the military in Burma are looking for an excuse to retake direct control of the country is now being used to justify inaction over the ethnic cleansing and possible genocide of the Rohingya.
While a misplaced fear of a coup is understandable given Burma’s history, it misreads the current political set-up in the country. The political system in Burma now is entirely the creation of the military. It has been painstakingly designed by them to protect their interests while at the same time relieving the domestic and internal pressure they were under. It has and is working very well for them.
To retake direct control would undo more than a decade’s worth of painstaking work to create the system currently in place.
This new briefing details why this is a myth and how it is used by the government of Burma and international community as an excuse for inaction.
