[INSPIRED_8] Tensions in Myanmar

Throughout the course of some of my blogs, I've talked about how hard it is for some humanitarian aid organizations to enter a country and help people when there is political unrest and conflict between groups.  I've talked about countries like Somalia, where al-Shabaab fights against government forces over areas of the country to control the areas, all in hopes of spreading the rule of Sharia.  Somalia also has political conflict, where Somaliland and Puntland governments disagree and the Transitional Federal Government can't do anything to find agreements to such arguments.  This just makes an outright mess for humanitarian organizations that want to help the innocent civilians.  Somalia is only one example, and we are seeing more instances of such conflict around the world come about.

Moving over to the south of China, Myanmar, formally known as Burma, has become a target for sectarian violence and governmental conflicts.  For the past decade, there have been some complicated issues facing the country.  The military has set in to protect high value individuals from sectarian groups wanting harm on the other party.  Because of the violence and conflict, people have been fleeing, running from the sounds of gunfire.  Guerilla groups have captured many people fleeing, but have noted that they were merely doing it to protect them from the government's military force.  But skepticism arrives, especially since each group has mounted attacks on each other's civilians as well.  In the future, there have been rumors that the military will be launching an offensive to remove members of the rebel guerilla groups.

In a country torn by ethnic and political strife, there is no doubt that human rights violations have occurred on both sides.  The rebel groups have been accused of using landmines, which are forbidden by international law, and child soldiers.  The military groups and government have been accused of committing "extrajudicial murders," using child soldiers, and committing rape in the name of ethnic cleansing.

To me, it seems that there is little hope for what is going on in southeast Asia.  Humanitarian organizations have a hard time getting into these kind of countries, let alone have the ability to help people inside without getting killed by one of the combating forces.  It seems that no matter how far negotiations go, or no  matter what kind of deals are made between the two groups, fighting continued, dragging women and children into the battle zone.  For as much as some of us would like to step in, much like Somalia, it's hard to do anything without people dying, and this includes working as a UN aid officer or a NGO's volunteer, preventing yourself from being killed in the line of duty.  We will have to wait and see how things play out over the next few months, but one thing is for sure; people will continue to flee, and warriors will continue to be killed.