Armed conflicts arose three months after we gained independence in 1948. At the root of the conflicts are political problems. However, political solutions have been elusive for nearly 70 years.
In the reign of President Thein Sein, the clashes broke out between the government army and the Kachin Independence Organisation/Kachin Independence Army (KIO/KIA) in June 2011. The government signed a ceasefire with the KIO/KIO in August 2011.
The government negotiated ceasefires with 14 ethnic armed organisations in August 2013, and the peace agreements reached the Union level. Ethnic armed organisations met in Laiza, the headquarters of the KIO/KIA at the end of October in 2013. The ethnic minority delegates and the government negotiators started negotiating the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in November 2013 and finalised it in October 2015.
Despite numerous negotiations, all ethnic armed organisations did not participate in the signing of the NCA. Only eight ethnic armed organisations agreed to sign the NCA on October 15, 2015. There are 21 ethnic armed organisations in the country. But the government recognised 14 ethnic armed organisations and held the state-level meeting with them to reduce the clashes in the country. The government thought the KIO/KIA to participate in the signing of the NCA. The government is still sticking to this principle.
“Our government wants a peace process acceptable for all ethnic armed organisations and it is the most importance issue for the country. Although all ethnic armed organisations did not participate in the signing of the NCA, we would continue moving it. We will try the remaining ethnic armed organisations to participate in the NCA signing,” President Thein Sein said at the NCA signing ceremony.
The clashes between the government army and Arakan Army broke out during the presidential tenure of Thein Sein. (Courtesy of Eleven Myanmar)
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