Burma: Background and Issues for Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Nov. 7, 2024 |
| Report Number |
IF12331 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Ben Dolven |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Burma (also known as Myanmar) is a multi-ethnic
Southeast Asian nation of 57.5 million that has been under
some degree of military rule since 1962 and under an
authoritarian military junta since a February 2021 coup
d’état. The coup ended a decade-long period of partial
democratization and ushered in a broad nationwide conflict
that has killed tens of thousands of people and, according to
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), displaced 2.6 million.
More than three years after the coup, the military
(commonly known as the Tatmadaw) is fighting several
ethnic armed groups on Burma’s periphery as well as
recently formed anti-junta militias across much of the
country. Anti-junta activists overseas, including members
of the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD), the
political party of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, have
created a shadow government called the National Unity
Government (NUG), and seek diplomatic recognition. In
2023, the NUG opened an office in Washington, DC.
Congress has taken considerable interest in Burma since a
democratic movement rose there in the late 1980s. In the
117th Congress, the James M. Inhofe National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA 2023; P.L.
117-263) included provisions related to the 2021 coup that
had been part of the Burma Unified through Rigorous
Military Accountability Act (BURMA Act; H.R. 5497/S.
2937), passed by the House of Representatives on April 6,
2022. The FY2023 NDAA states that it is U.S. policy to
“support the people of Burma in their struggle for
democracy, freedom, human rights, and justice” and
authorizes additional sanctions and non-lethal, technical
assistance to resistance groups, among other provisions.
Congress also has appropriated resources to provide
humanitarian assistance and promote democracy and human
rights in Burma.
