Myanmar

By RonanWells

  • Military Coup

    Military coup inaugurates "the Burmese Way to Socialism," single-party state with no independent newspapers

  • "Associate Citizens"

    Non-indigenous people designated by law as "associate citizens", cannot participate in office.

  • Currency devaluation riots

    Currency devaluation leads to riots, thousands killed (The Burmese Way to Socialism in power)

  • Martial law

    The State Law and Order Restoration Council declares martial law, arrests thousands, and renames Burma to Myanmar.

  • Election ignored my military

    National League for democracy wins election, but is not recognized by the ruling military party. Aung San Suu Kyi awarded Nobel Peace Prize for commitment to peaceful change, and is put under house arrest for 6 years, then is arrested again when trying to attend party congress.

  • Aung San Suu Kyi released

    put into protective custody after clash of supporters and government

  • Persecution of minorities

    China and Russia veto a draft US resolution at the UN Security Council urging Myanmar to stop persecuting minority and opposition groups. Red Cross accuses the government of abusing the Myanmar people's rights.

  • Cyclone Nargis

    Hits the low-lying Irrawaddy delta. Some estimates put the death toll as high as 134,000.

  • Rohingya muslims existence denied

    Thailand expels hundreds of members of Muslim Rohingya minority who appeared off its coast. Myanmar denies the minority's existence. Several hundred Rohingyas are subsequently rescued from boats off the coast of Indonesia.

  • Military party wins elections

    widely regarded as fraud, Aung San Suu Kyi released a week later

  • Move towards democracy

    Media censorship abolished

  • Violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims

    Government investigates violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in the west, in which dozens have died.

  • Communal violence

    between Buddhists and Muslims, 6 Muslims jailed but Buddhists not convicted

  • Rohingya refugees

    Hundreds of Muslim Rohingyas migrants leave by sea in flimsy boats, along with migrants from Bangladesh. UN criticizes failure of south-east Asian states to rescue them.

  • Democratic election

    Htin Kyaw sworn in as president, ushering in a new era as Aung San Suu Kyi's democracy movement takes power after 50 years of military domination.

  • UN investigation

    The United Nations human rights council decides to set up an investigation into alleged human rights abuses by the army against the Rohingya Muslim minority

  • Rohingya militants attack police posts in Rakhine

    The response by security forces prompts an exodus of Rohingya and allegations that their actions amount to ethnic cleansing

  • 1 million refugees

    estimated to have fed to Bangaladesh

  • UN Report - Genocide

    A UN report accuses Myanmar's military leaders of carrying out genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against Rohingya Muslims, calling for six generals to face trial at the International Criminal Court. It also accuses Aung San Suu Kyi of failing to prevent the violence. Myanmar rejects the findings.