Leaving Myanmar Imagine living in a country where fear is normal You fear government soldiers the police and maybe even your next door neighbor You might be scared of being attacked if you leave your home That is what life is like for some people in Myanmar These two boys live in the city of Sittwe in Myanmar UN Rights of the Child Every child has rights Rights are privileges and freedoms that are protected by law Refugees have the right to special protection and help The United Nations UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a document that lists the rights that all children should have Think about these rights as you read this book Myanmar also known as Burma has seen many conflicts It has suffered through one of the world’s longest-running civil wars The violence is often between the government and different ethnic groups There are 135 different ethnic groups in Myanmar 4
Bangladesh India China Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia Myanmar Naypyidaw Rakhine State Vietnam Laos Bay of Bengal Thailand Andaman Sea Cambodia The Rohingya are an ethnic group that live in Rakhine State Myanmar They are a Muslim minority Minority means a small group or part Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have been driven from their homes Those who flee their homes but stay in their country are called internally displaced persons IDPs Others have left Myanmar They are called refugees Refugees are people who left their homeland because their lives were in danger They are different from immigrants Immigrants chose to leave to look for opportunities in another country 5 The Rohingya are considered some of the most badly treated people in the world
My Homeland Myanmar Myanmar is surrounded by mountains on three sides On its other side is the Bay of Bengal For thousands of years people farmed the land in the rich valleys and jungles near the Irrawaddy and Chindwin rivers Irrawaddy River Chindwin River Naypyidaw Naypyidaw is the capital of Myanmar Beginning around 200 b c e the Pyu people an ancient group in Burma Myanmar established several kingdoms These kingdoms grew and traded with India Over time other kingdoms and cultures including the Bamar invaded them These cultures set up their own kingdoms and dynasties They fought each other for land and trade Eventually most of Burma was ruled by various Bamar Burmese empires Many people in Myanmar live in houses like this one on the Kaladan River in Rakhine State 6
Myanmar’s flag Seeking control over Burma the British Empire went to war with the Burmese Empire in 1824 Two more wars followed By 1885 Burma was under British control It became a British colony in 1937 Myanmar’s Story in Numbers There are nine main ethnic groups in Myanmar They are Bamar 68 percent Shan 9 percent Karen 7 percent Rakhine Arakanese 4 percent Chin 3 percent Mon 2 percent Kachin 1 5 percent Wa 0 16 percent Rohingya 0 15 percent Burma gained independence from Britain in 1948 and the military ruled the country Ethnic groups battled each other for power and civil war began Elections were held but the military would not let a government be formed or take power In 1989 the military changed the name of the country from Burma to Myanmar In 2015 a new government came to power Today the government is not stable and the military still has great power These boys are training to become Buddhist monks Nearly 90 percent of the people in Myanmar follow the Buddhist religion 7
