Why Seattle refugees aren’t all thrilled about the historic election in Burma

Last Sunday, Burmese citizens flooded voting centers to participate in the country’s first democratic election in years. In a landslide victory, the National League for Democracy, helmed by opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, claimed an absolute majority of parliamentary seats. Election officials confirmed the results Friday morning.

Although the military in Burma, also known as Myanmar, will still hold a quarter of parliamentary seats, the current government officials and military leaders have agreed to step down. Here’s more from The Washington Post:

Experts say that the weeks ahead will be an important test to see whether Burma’s generals — who ran the government for more than 50 years before taking steps to open up the country in 2010 — are really willing to see democracy flourish.

Politics in Burma are complicated by the country’s ethnic diversity. The Burmanmake up the majority of the population and have dominated in the political sphere. But there are 134 other ethnic groups recognized by the government, including the Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayah, Mon, Rakhine, and Shan. Others, like the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, are not recognized by the government.

More than 14,500 refugees from Burma — mostly from the Chin and Rohingya ethnic groups — were resettled in the U.S. in 2014, with hundreds of them landing right here in Washington state.

(Read on at The Seattle Globalist)