Burma ranks 126th in Global Peace Index

by Mungpi
Tuesday, 02 June 2009 21:38

New Delhi (Mizzima) - Increasing militarization and internal conflict has pushed Burma down to 126th place in the new Global Peace Index, which measures the level of peace in countries across the world.

The 2009 Global Peace Index, released on Tuesday, reveals that Burma’s peace has been further reduced by continued militarization, internal armed conflict and human rights violations.

Ranking 126th among the 144 countries included in the Index, Burma also ranks as the 22nd worse country in Asia, ahead of only North Korea, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Index calculates the level of peace in a country using 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators ranging from a country’s level of military expenditure to its relations with neighboring countries and the level of respect for human rights.

The indicators, selected by an international panel of experts including academics and leaders of peace institutions, shows that in 2008 global peace has been jeopardized by the global recession and an increase in violent conflict and political instability.

In Burma, reports suggest that human rights violations and militarization continued to increase in 2008.

According to the Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed rebel group based along the Thai-Burmese border, its Army had more than 1,000 clashes with the Burmese Army and their allies over the course of the preceding year.

The KNU said the junta, in early 2009, concluded a three-year military campaign against the rebel group, with an aim to eliminate them.

The increasing incidence of armed conflict has produced thousands of internally displaced persons along the Thai-Burmese border, according to the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), a group helping internally displaced persons.

Additionally, following deadly Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, the worst recorded natural disaster in Burmese history, human rights violations reportedly reached a new height.

Rights groups and international governments condemned Burma’s ruling junta for blocking aid supplies in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone. And even though the junta later opened up and accepted external help, rights groups said violations, including restrictions on movement within cyclone hit regions, have continued to hamper relief and rehabilitation efforts.

The Index, which is in its third year, defines peace as “the absence of violence” and looks at internal indicators including homicides, percentage of the population in jail, availability of guns and the level of organized crime.

It also looks at external indicators including the size of the military, exports and imports of arms, battlefield deaths, UN peacekeeping contributions and relations with neighboring states.

The study is endorsed by several prominent individuals including Nobel Peace Laureates Martti Ahtisaari – former President of Finland, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, former President Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan – former Secretary General of the United Nations. It is maintained by the Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace.