Since its independence from Great Britain in 1948, Burma (Myanmar) has experienced much instability. A great deal of that instability has been due to the desire of many of its ethnic minorities for their own independence. (This is a desire that pre-dates British rule.) Indeed ethnic unrest led to eventual military rule of the country in 1962, with a second military coup in 1988 installing the present "government" known today as the State Peace and Development Council as well as by its traditional Burmese military name, Tatmadaw. This regime also reverted the country's name to the Union of Myanmar. They allowed national elections in May, 1990. The results of that election were an overwhelming victory (over 80% of seats) for the National League for Democracy (NLD) - the party led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The regime has never allowed the NLD to form a government. Indeed Suu Kyi has remained under military house arrest at her home in Yangon since 2004. Much of the international community has since declared the military junta in Burma to be illegitimate. Some countries have imposed trade sanctions and others have severed diplomatic relations.

Given this recent history, it should come as no surprise that we undertook long consideration before conducting work in Burma. It is no accident that it was our final country to be visited for our work in Southeast Asia. We similarly advise any potential visitor to consider reasons both for and against visiting the country and to research the current situation. Any visitor to Burma is actively legitimizing the military junta merely by adding to the official number of tourists or foreign business investors. Depending on how the visitor travels and where they stay, eat and drink, they may be financially contributing directly to the military junta. It is also said that foreign visitors are helping to launder drug money (mainly opium, heroin and methamphetamine) on behalf of the military junta. On the other hand we feel that responsible, informed travel there can convey a direct message to the people of Burma that the world has not forgotten them and that there is hope. Moreover, the visitor can only report first hand on the country and its situation after having visited it!

Much of Burma is currently either off limits to foreigners or can be visited only with advance, special permission and a government guide (and a lot of money!). The exact reasons for this are unknown, and vary with the area in question. Reasons cited are personal safety because of ethnic insurgency, lack of appropriate, tourist-friendly infrastructure etc. In reality the reasons probably include the military junta not wanting foreigners to witness and, particularly, report on what they might see in those areas. Our own experience was to be asked to declare our planned itinerary and sign it - along with a statement that we would not become involved in the country's politics or religion - before being allowed to enter. When we inquired as to the possibility of exiting Burma overland to travel to Bangladesh, the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism response was vague, non-committal and self contradictory!

Although new areas are opened to foreign visitors periodically (and sometimes previously accessible areas become off limits again), the current situation means that visiting most of Burma's 135 (estimated) ethnic minority groups is out of the question today.

Shan State is probably the most realistic destination for the visitor interested in indigenous peoples - even though a large area in the southeastern region between Kengtung and the State capital Taunggyi is also off limits and the far north may (or may not) be visited with a government guide. That said, Shan State declared independence from Burma on April 27, 2005! Once in Shan State one can visit the Shan, An, Wa, Palaung, Karen (Pa-O), Lahu, Akha, Danu, Taung-yo and Intha peoples among others.

The plight of Burma's indigenous peoples is currently among the least favorable in the world. Human rights abuses and atrocities have been documented in most parts of the country. While religious freedom is proclaimed to exist by the military junta, it is well documented that the Muslim Rohingya people are among the most persecuted, largely because of their religion. Indeed, since 1992 around 30, 000 Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh. (Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim country and, ironically, one where human rights abuses against its own ethnic minority populations are at least as bad as they are in Burma.) About two thirds of the Rohingya in Bangladesh live in refugee camps while the other third are deemed illegal residents by the Bangladeshi government. (This situation is probably why we were not allowed to exit Burma overland to Bangladesh. While in Bangladesh, we were denied permission to visit the refugee camps.)