This week the Burmese president, Thein Sein, declared a state of martial law in the Kokang region of Burma after a series of attacks by a rebel group left 50 Burmese soldiers dead. The Kokang is a region in the eastern part of the country that borders China, and many of its population are of Han Chinese ethnicity. Fighting began to intesify on February 9th of this year between the Burmese military and the rebel group known as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA). The rise in fighting came as the leader of the rebel forces, Phone Kya Shin, returned to the region after a 5 year exile to China. Since his return and the rise in violence in the last few weeks, the Chinese government has reported approximately 30,000 Han Chinese residents of Burma have fled over the border into China to escape the fighting. The rebel group MNDAA claims to be fighting to create an autonomous region for the Han Chinese people in Kokang.
The law put in place by Shein Thein will put the military in complete political control of the region, and will last for a period of 3 months. This is the 2nd time in 5 years that Burma has had to declare a state of martial law within the country, as it was put in place in the state of Rakhine in 2011 to settle violence between Bhuddist and Muslims.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-31511331
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