lerdoh3@googlemail.com

Ashley South is an independent writer and consultant, specialising in humanitarian and political issues in Burma/Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

 

Latest Publications

Local to Global Protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe [Overseas Development Institute/Local to Global Protection initiative, February 2012], by Ashley South and Simon Harragin, with Justin Corbett, Richard Horsey, Susanne Kempel, Henrik Fröjmark and Nils Carstensen  – PDF

This paper presents the findings of five community-based studies, which demonstrate how vulnerable people take the lead in activities to protect themselves and their communities. Often, local understandings of ‘protection’ are at variance with – or extend beyond – how the concept is used by international humanitarian agencies. In most of the studies, livelihoods and protection were intimately linked. Customary law and local values and traditions mattered at least as much as formal rights. Psychological and spiritual needs and threats were often considered as important as physical survival. Local understandings and self-protection activities, while hugely important for everyday survival, are rarely acknowledged or effectively supported by aid agencies.

The studies also examine how vulnerable communities view the protection activities of local, national and international agencies, including humanitarian organisations, as well as political and armed groups. In some cases, local organisations provide valuable protection services, while non-state armed groups can represent both protection actors and agents of threat. Protection initiatives by outside actors (states, humanitarian agencies and peacekeepers) are seen as less important than strategies of self-protection.  The case studies also illustrate that, while self-protection strategies may be crucial for survival, they rarely provide the degree of safety, security and dignity that people need. Furthermore, some local protection activities expose people to further risk. Thus, vital as it is, local agency cannot be regarded as a substitute for the protection responsibilities of national authorities or – when that fails – international actors. 

The paper suggests that two distinct but complementary approaches to protection are required: strengthening local capacities for self-protection, while at the same time generating the international political will (as well as national public interest) to prevent or stop targeted attacks on civilians. It concludes with some guidance for promoting locally-led protection.


Burma's Longest War: anatomy of the Karen conflict [Transnational Institute and Burma Centre Netherlands, March 2011] – PDF

As Burma enters a period of political transition, the role of the Karen ethnic communities will be critical in responding to the political and economic challenges that will shape their future. This March 2011 report from Transnational Institute and the Burma Centre Netherlands offers an in-depth history and analysis of the Karen's complex relationship with the Burmese state and central government.

Political grievances among Karen and other ethnic nationality communities, which have driven over half a century of armed conflict in Burma/Myanmar, remain unresolved. As the country enters a period of transition following the November 2010 elections and formation of a new government, the Karen political landscape is undergoing its most significant changes in a generation. There is a pressing need for Karen social and political actors to demonstrate their relevance to the new political and economic agendas in Burma, and in particular to articulate positions regarding the major economic and infrastructure development projects to be implemented in the coming years.

The country's best-known insurgent organisation, the Karen National Union (KNU), is in crisis, having lost control of its once extensive ‘liberated zones’, and lacks a political agenda relevant to all Karen communities. Meanwhile the government’s demand that ceasefire groups, such as the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army, transform into Border Guard Forces under direct Burma Army control throws into question the future of various armed groups that have split from the KNU since the 1990s. In this context, Thailand-Burma border areas have seen an upsurge in fighting since late 2010. Nevertheless, the long-term prospect is one of the decline of insurgency as a viable political or military strategy.

Equitable solutions to Burma’s social, political and economic problems must involve settling long-standing conflicts between ethnic communities and the state. While Aung San Suu Kyi, the popular leader of the country’s democracy movement, seems to recognise this fact, the military government, which holds most real power in the country, has sought to suppress and assimilate minority communities. It is yet to be seen whether Karen and other ethnic nationality representatives elected in November 2010 will be able to find the political space within which to exercise some influence on local or national politics. In the meantime, civil society networks operating within and between Karen and other ethnic nationality communities represent vehicles for positive, incremental change, at least at local levels.

 

Books

  • 2003 [reprint edition 2005] – Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma: The Golden Sheldrake (RoutledgeCurzon) – flyer

 

Chapters in edited volumes

  • 2010 – Karen Legitimacy and Conflict (in ‘Ruling Myanmar’, Australian National University/ISEAS Singapore, eds Trevor Wilson, Monique Skidmore & Nicholas Cheesman)
  • 2007 – Conflict and Displacement in Burma/Myanmar (in ‘Myanmar: The State, Society and the Environment’, Australian National University/ISEAS Singapore, eds Trevor Wilson & Monique Skidmore)
  • 2007 – Ceasefires and Civil Society: The Case of the Mon (in the ‘Exploring Ethnic Diversity in Burma’, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, ed. Mikael Gravers) – PDF | book flyer

 

Journal articles and academic papers

  • 2008 – Civil Society in Burma: The Development of Democracy Amidst Conflict (East-West Centre, Washington – ‘Policy Studies’ series No. 51) 
  • 2007 – Karen Nationalist Communities: The ‘Problem’ of Diversity (‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ Vol.29, No.1 - ISEAS/National University of Singapore) – PDF
  • 2007 – Burma: The Changing Nature of Displacement Crises (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, Working Paper No. 39) – PDF
  • 2004 – Political Transition in Myanmar: A New Model for Democratization (‘Contemporary Southeast Asia’ Vol. 26, No. 4 – ISEAS/National University of Singapore) – PDF

 

Reports

  • March 2012 - Myanmar/Burma: Local agencies and Global donors (Local to Global Protection initiative: www.local2global.info) - PDF
  • February 2012 - Local to Global Protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe (co-authored Overseas Development Institute Network Paper No.72) - PDF
  • October 2011 – Myanmar – Surviving the Storm: self-protection and survival in the Delta (co-authored, Local to Global Protection initiative: www.local2global.info) – PDF
  • March 2011 – Burma’s Longest War: anatomy of the Karen conflict (Transnational Institute/Burma Centre Netherlands) – PDF
  • September 2010 – Conflict and Survival: self-protection in south-east Burma (co-authored, Chatham House/ Royal Institute of International Affairs, Asia Programme Paper ASP PP 2010/04; Local to Global Protection initiative) – PDF
  • December 2007 – Displacement and Dispossession: Forced Migration and Land Rights in Burma (Center on Housing Rights and Evictions) – PDF
  • September 2002 – Internally Displaced People and Relocation Sites in Eastern Burma (Burmese Border Consortium, Bangkok)

 

Articles

  • March 2012 - Resolving Ethnic Conflicts in Burma—Ceasefires to Sustainable Peace,‘The Irrawaddy’ - PDF
  • June 2011 – Burma’s New Challenge , ‘Pacific Forum CSIS’ (PacNet#32) – PDF
  • December 2010 – Post-Election Politics in Burma - Glimmers of Hope? , ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
  • November 2010 – Voting, But Not As We Know It, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
  • July 2010 – Making the Best of a Bad Election, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
  • May 2010 – Burma's Electoral Dilemmas, 'The World Today' (Chatham House) - PDF
  • March 2010 – Self-protection and Survival in Southeast Burma, ‘Humanitarian Exchange’ – PDF
  • November 2008 – Economics Crisis and Human Rights, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
  • August 2008 – Electoral Dilemmas, Independent Mon News Agency commentary (4-8-2008) – PDF
  • July 2008 – Burma after the Cyclone: Making a Disaster Out Of the Cyclone, ‘The World Today’ (Chatham House) – PDF
  • April 2008 – Humanitarian Aid to IDPs in Burma: activities and debates, ‘Forced Migration Review’ (Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University) – PDF
  • March 2008 – Prospects for Burma’s New Constitution, Independent Mon News Agency commentary (17-3-2008) – PDF
  • February 2008 – Mahn Sha La Phan: Resistance leader of Burma’s Karen people, ‘The Guardian’ obituary (18-2-2008) – PDF
  • December 2007 – Crisis on the Burma Border, ‘The Nation’ (20-12-2007) – PDF
  • October 2007 – Mon Nationalist Movements: insurgency, ceasefires and political struggle – paper presented at ‘Seminar on Discovery of Ramanndesa’, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, (11-10-2007), published by Mon Unity League (Bangkok, January 2008) – PDF
  • August 2007 – What lies ahead for Burma’s cease-fires, ‘The Nation’ (8-1-2007) – PDF
  • October 2006 – The Quest for Karen Unity, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
  • October 2006 – Border-based Insurgency: Time for a Reality Check, ‘The Irrawaddy’ online – PDF
  • September 2004 – Beyond the National Convention, ‘The Irrawaddy’ – PDF
  • November 2001 – Burma’s  Ex-Insurgents: The Mon Ceasefire and Political Transition, ‘Burma Debate’ (Vol. VIII, Fall 2001) – PDF

 

Copyright © 2009–2012 Ashley South. Site coding by CW Computer Services.