Burma's hard path to democracy

Getting off the plane at Rangoon (Yangon) airport feels like stepping into a different world. After making it past immigration control, I soon find myself in a taxi driving past a faded billboard reading "Welcome to the Golden Land." The first impression is one of stark poverty.

Coming from the buzzing metropolis that is Thailand's capital, Bangkok, Rangoon -- although a city of 4 million -- looks like little more than a sad provincial town, run-down and desolate. In the early hours of morning only few people are around, trudging along the sidewalk or waiting for a bus. There are some bicycles and a few cars -- old and battered Japanese models.

The country has been on a downward slope for most of the years since it gained independence from Britain in 1948. After just over one decade of democracy, a military coup in 1962 brought a military junta to power, brutally steering the country on to the "Burmese Way to Socialism". For the people, this was not good news. Today, the country ranks amongst the poorest in the world.

"Our government is afraid of the students, very afraid."

For my few days in Burma (Myanmar), I have an English-speaking taxi driver provided by the airport's tourist authorities. He's polite but very reserved and I avoid questions about the political situation -- I don't want to get myself into trouble, nor do I want to put him in an uncomfortable situation. But then, one night, I catch a taxi on the road to get back to my hotel, and the driver seems curious to talk to me. Driving past a building that looks a bit like a university compound, I ask him about the country's schools and higher education.

"There are few universities in the big towns," he says in broken English. He hesitates and then adds: "Most universities are in the countryside, in small towns. Our government is very afraid of the students, very afraid. There have been many demonstrations in the past."

In 1988, mounting discontent with the political leadership led to widespread protests across the country. Security forces killed thousands to stifle the popular uprising. The last anti-government protests date back to only 2007. Led by Buddhist monks, the demonstrations were initially tolerated, but eventually the government launched yet another brutal crackdown.

Aung San Suu Kyi? "Popular, yes. Very popular."

"Demonstrations?" I ask. "Demonstrations," he confirms, turning his head to look at me sitting in the backseat. I ask about Aung San Suu Kyi, tell him that we hear a lot about her in the international media. Is she still popular amongst the people?

"Popular, yes. Very popular." His voice sounds excited, a suppressed tension as if he's been burning to spell that out. At the same time I am very aware that such a statement expressed to a foreigner could get him into serious trouble. "She lives close to your hotel," he says. "On the other side of the lake. But it's not good to go there, you are not allowed to take a photograph of the house."

Aung San Suu Kyi is the head of the opposition National League for Democracy. In the country's only free elections in 1990 she won a landslide victory. But the ruling military junta dismissed the results and placed the politician under house arrest, where she's been for most of the last 19 years. In 1991 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Forty dollars a month to live on

The next day the April heat is almost unbearable, it's around 40 degrees Celsius spiced with humidity and dust weighing down every single step in the afternoon sun. Street markets have a wide array of food on offer, there are even a few shops stacked with goods imported from the West or from the neighboring Asian countries. A look at the prices reveals that most of these things are far beyond reach for the normal population.

"Oh, salaries are low in Myanmar, very low," my driver tells me when I ask about the average wage. "A normal man will earn maybe 40 US dollars per month. It's difficult." He hints that there are many other things that you need money for besides food -- corruption and the black market are thriving.

I see more of the country's poverty on a trip through the countryside. Villages consist of little more than wooden huts, bicycles are probably the most common means of transportation, old cars and horse and ox carriages make their slow way along the sandy dirt roads. The people look at foreigners with shy curiosity. Although there now is some degree of tourism, I don't meet a single foreigner outside Rangoon.

For many decades the country was utterly isolated, with practically no visitors allowed in. In the 1990s, travel restrictions were eased with the hope that foreigners would bring in money. The country's Buddhist monasteries and pagodas are among the most beautiful and impressive in the world.

A black hole of information

Getting information about Burma from the outside is fairly easy. There was extensive coverage when, on May 2-3, 2008, the country were devastated by cyclone Nargis, leaving 138,000 people dead or missing. According to aid agencies, at least 250,000 people will require food handouts until the end of 2009 as a result.

In March 2009 the United Nation's special investigator Tomas Ojea Quintana called on Burma's ruling junta to release more than 2,100 political prisoners.

But if you were inside the country at the time, it's unlikely that you would have heard about any of this.

Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders calls the country a "black hole". Myanmar is among the bottom 10 countries of the organization's World Press Freedom ranking.

Trying to check e-mails, I can access neither Yahoo nor Gmail. At the hotel, however, there's the New Light of Myanmar, an English language newspaper singing the praises of Senior General Than Shwe, the chief of the military regime.

Rangoon used to be the capital of the country until, in 2005, the junta decided it needed a safer place -- somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Naypyidaw was built from scratch some 300 kilometers north of Rangoon and declared the capital in 2006.

Sanctions to keep up the pressure

International pressure and tensions from within forced the government to announce general elections for 2010. But little progress has been made so far. The EU has criticized that no steps have been taken to make the upcoming elections a credible, transparent and inclusive process based on international standards.

The EU's political and economic sanctions against Myanmar have been in place since 2006 and were strengthened after the 2007 crackdown. They include a travel ban on Burma officials, an arms embargo and a freezing of assets. This year, on April 27, the EU decided to extend those measures for another 12 months. By doing so, the foreign ministers of the 27 nation bloc hope to keep up the pressure. They have however made it clear that the EU is ready to ease sanctions -- should there be genuine, democratic progress.

Author: Andreas Illmer

Editors: Susan Houlton/ Kateri Jochum