[29] Further research can be found and explored throughout the many different racial and ethnic groups. cit.Hide Footnote The resulting list is an odd mixture of ethnic groups, languages, clans, village names, outright errors (such as the same group appearing twice with different spellings) and exclusions (such as the Panthay and the Rohingya). Claiming such a legacy may be an attempt to get around government policy that no new armed group should be admitted to the peace process (see below). [26] In contrast, empirical evidence suggests that ethnic identity exploration may be related to vulnerability to negative outcomes, such as depression. The SNA officially dates its formation to 1989, but its emergence as a significant armed force came in January 2016. cit., Section III; Tom Allard, “A Reuters special report: The hunt for Asia’s El Chapo”, Reuters, 14 October 2019. Throughout its different incarnations, the armed group provided protection and a degree of governance to the (predominantly Kachin) population in its area, including a reliable electricity supply from two hydropower plants that it built. See, for example, “Burma Army Soldiers Rape Teenager in Kachin State as Attacks Continue”, Free Burma Rangers, 29 December 2018; and “Burma Army Soldiers Murder Kachin Man and Continue Attacks in Northern Burma”, Free Burma Rangers, 27 March 2018.Hide Footnote Shanni leaders, meanwhile, have accused the KIO of forcibly recruiting Shanni from villages in southern Kachin State, and have staged mass protests in Myitkyina calling for an end to the practice. [fn]That the government seized upon this number may in part be related to the fact that 1+3+5=9. See Thant Myint-U, “A resurgent nationalism is shaping Myanmar politics”. The 1931 census conflates language and race throughout its findings, sometimes viewing them as distinct, sometimes as the same thing. Ethnic identity development includes the identity formation in an individual's self-categorization in, and psychological attachment to, (an) ethnic group(s). ‘Lumyo’ in the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census”, Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia, vol. What about the Kaman, another Muslim minority in Rakhine State, descended from former palace bodyguards including Afghan archers? See also Sai Wansai, “Burma army’s new strategy: anti-narcotics move and disarmament of a militia”, Shan Herald Agency for News, 11 April 2020; “Shan State militia, AA deny links through lucrative drug trade”, The Irrawaddy, 29 April 2020. 1 (2015); Thant Myint-U, op. We have always wanted an ethnic armed group instead”, added another. The achievement phase includes a secure, confident, and stable sense of self. But it has done little to reduce the centrality of ethnicity in politics and society. The KIO did not come here much because of the militia”, said one Shanni resident of Mohnyin. 47, no. Ethnicity has become central to citizenship, basic rights, politics and armed conflict in Myanmar. See also Kei Nemoto, “The Concepts of Dobama (‘Our Burma’) and Thudo-Bama (‘Their Burma’) in Burmese Nationalism, 1930-1948”, Journal of Burma Studies, vol. [fn]Ibid.Hide Footnote, Smaller ethnic groups in Rakhine and southern Chin, including the Rohingya, Mro, Khami/Khumi, Thet, Daingnet and Maramagyi, have been caught between the Arakan Army and Tatmadaw. 5 (2000).Hide Footnote One of the movement’s young leaders was Aung San, father of Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s current de facto leader. In particular, the Arakan Army has greatly expanded its presence in Rakhine State. Twenty-three Border Guard Forces, made up of ex-insurgents or militias from particular ethnic communities, who have been brought more formally under Tatmadaw control and operate in areas close to Myanmar’s international borders. This step would help reduce the zero-sum dynamic among minority groups. [fn]Crisis Group telephone interviews, Chin and Khumi activists and Mro administrators, June 2020; Mro activist, July 2020.Hide Footnote Although they do not necessarily trust the Tatmadaw, interviewees said they feel somewhat safer when in the presence of government soldiers who can deter the Arakan Army. E.R. Crisis Group analysis. Crisis Group visit to Kaungkha, November 2018; Crisis Group interviews, well-placed local sources, Lashio and Kutkai, November 2018. Even in cases where ethnic groups have long lived in the same area, they may be separated from their neighbours by elevation rather than linear distance, with one group traditionally engaged in upland farming and another in lowland rice cultivation. “They did this because they don’t trust us, and because they don't want us to stay around there, in case the Tatmadaw forces us to provide intelligence, or we side with the Tatmadaw”. Inter-ethnic relations have become dominated by zero-sum thinking that hardens ethnic divides and drives the proliferation of armed groups, with deadly consequences. Since independence in 1948, Myanmar has struggled to forge a national identity that is reflective of its ethnic diversity and to deliver on the aspirations of the many peoples within its borders. In the decades since, a messy struggle has worn on in different regions over autonomy, ethnic identity, drugs, jade and other natural resources. We cannot protect our area”, a retired Shanni soldier was quoted as saying shortly after the group emerged. The Shan State militia of the same name recruits from this community. Note that the data are from 2016, so this map does not represent the current situation on the ground. [fn]James George Scott, Gazetteer of Upper Burma and the Shan States, part 1, vol. This dynamic is evident along the Bhamo-Myitkyina road, where there are deserted, overgrown Kachin villages interspersed with thriving but heavily guarded Shanni settlements. As a first step, and a marker of intent, government officials can begin to change the language and narratives they use to discuss ethnicity and ethnic relations, which often echo those employed by assimilatory and oppressive past regimes, and ring hollow in light of ethnic minorities’ lived experiences. [fn]“Ethnicity without Meaning, Data without Context”, op. These theories differ in their suggestion of the impact high ethnic/racial identity centrality on a person's personality. The Kaungkha Militia provides a good example of this ambiguity. This unchecked migration led to enormous social tensions, with anti-immigrant riots in 1930 and 1938 that left hundreds of Indians dead. [fn]Crisis Group interview, Mro activist, Yangon, July 2020.Hide Footnote The example illustrates the futility of trying to construct a logical classification system of fixed identities in such an ethnically diverse region, as well as how ethnicity and claims to territory are closely intertwined. Ethnic identity development includes the identity formation in an individual's self-categorization in, and psychological attachment to, (an) ethnic group(s). For more detailed discussion of citizenship legislation and procedures, see Crisis Group Asia Report N°261. cit. Generally, group level processes of ethnic identity have been explored by social science disciplines, including sociology and anthropology. He and other prominent nationalists, known as the Thirty Comrades, went on to establish the Burma Independence Army in 1941 with support and training from Imperial Japan; the Army formed the backbone of the post-independence armed forces. See Robert Taylor, “Refighting Old Battles, Compounding Misconceptions: The Politics of Ethnicity in Myanmar Today”, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2 March 2015.Hide Footnote The lack of any internal immigration boundary led to large-scale movement of Indian labourers and businessmen to more prosperous Myanmar, and the British administered the province using mostly Indian civil servants rather than training Myanmar officials. See, for example, “Naga zone expansion plan sparks protests, petitions”. [fn]See Crisis Group Report, An Avoidable War, op. 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