Conventional Long Form of Name: Union of Burma Capital City(ies): Rangoon (Yangon) Type of Government: parliamentary government took power in March 2011 Date of Independence: 4 January 1948 (from the UK) National Holiday: Independence Day, 4 January (1948); Union Day, 12 February (1947) Chief of State: President THEIN SEIN (since 4 February 2011) Head of Government: President THEIN SEIN (since 4 February 2011) Executive Branch/Powers: cabinet is appointed by the president and confirmed by the parliament; THEIN SEIN elected president by the parliament from among three vice presidents; the upper house, the lower house, and military members of the parliament each nominate one vice president (president serves a five-year term) Legislative Branch/Powers: bicameral, consists of the House of Nationalities [Amyotha Hluttaw] (224 seats, 168 directly elected and 56 appointed by the military; members serve five-year terms) and the House of Representatives [Pythu Hluttaw] (440 seats, 330 directly elected and 110 appointed by the military; members serve five-year terms) Judicial Branch/Powers: Supreme Court of the Union (consists of the chief justice and 7-11 judges); chief justice and judges nominated by the president, with approval of the Pythu Hlattaw, and appointed by the president; judges normally serve until mandatory retirement at age 70; High Courts of the Region; High Courts of the State; Court of the Self-Administered Division; Court of the Self-Administered Zone; district and township courts; special courts (for juvenile, municipal, and traffic offenses); courts martial Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal Burma's Ambassador to the U.S.: Ambassador KYAW MYO HTUT (since 3 December 2013) Location of Burma's Embassy in the U.S.: 2300 S Street NW, Washington, DC 20008 Location of Consulates in the U.S.: N/A U.S. Ambassador to Burma: Ambassador Derek J. MITCHELL (since 11 July 2012) Location of U.S. embassy in Burma: 110 University Avenue, Kamayut Township, Rangoon Location of U.S. Consulates in Burma: N/A Burma's Representative to the UN: Symbolism of Flag: design consists of three equal horizontal stripes of yellow (top), green, and red; centered on the green band is a large white five-pointed star that partially overlaps onto the adjacent colored stripes; the design revives the triband colors used by Burma from 1943-45, during the Japanese occupation Township, Rangoon National Symbol(s): chinthe (mythical lion) International Disputes: over half of Burma's population consists of diverse ethnic groups who have substantial numbers of kin in neighboring countries; the Naf River on the border with Bangladesh serves as a smuggling and illegal transit route; Bangladesh struggles to accommodate 29,000 Rohingya, Burmese Muslim minority from Arakan State, living as refugees in Cox's Bazar; Burmese border authorities are constructing a 200 km (124 mi) wire fence designed to deter illegal cross-border transit and tensions from the military build-up along border with Bangladesh in 2010; Bangladesh referred its maritime boundary claims with Burma and India to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea; Burmese forces attempting to dig in to the largely autonomous Shan State to rout local militias tied to the drug trade, prompts local residents to periodically flee into neighboring Yunnan Province in China; fencing along the India-Burma international border at Manipur's Moreh town is in progress to check illegal drug trafficking and movement of militants; 140,000 mostly Karen refugees fleeing civil strife, political upheaval and economic stagnation in Burma live in remote camps in Thailand near the border Quantity of Refugees inside Burma and Countries of Origin of Refugees: IDPs: 649,000 (government offensives against armed ethnic minority groups near its borders with China and Thailand) (2013); stateless persons: 808,075 (2012); note - Burma's main group of stateless people is the Rohingya, Muslims living in northern Rakhine State; the Burmese Government does not recognize the Rohingya as a "national race" and stripped them of their citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship law, categorizing them as "non-national" or "foreign residents"; native-born but non-indigenous people, such as Indians, and children born in Thailand to Burmese parents are also stateless; the Burmese Government does not grant citizenship to children born outside of the country to Burmese parents who left the country illegally or fled persecution Current Human Trafficking Issues relating to Burma: current situation: Burma is a source country for women, children, and men trafficked for the purpose of forced labor, and for women and children subjected to sex trafficking in other countries; poor economic conditions have led to increased legal and illegal migration of Burmese adults and children throughout East Asia and parts of the Middle East, where they are subject to forced labor and sex trafficking; men are forced to work in the fishing and construction industries, while women and girls are forced into prostitution or domestic servitude; some Burmese economic migrants seeking work in Thailand are subsequently subjected to forced labor or sexual exploitation; military personnel and insurgent militias unlawfully conscript child soldiers and continue to be the leading perpetrators of forced labor inside the country; Burmese children are also forced to work in tea shops, home industries, on plantations, and as beggars; tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Burma does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but it is making significant efforts to do so; anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts focus on the recruitment and transport of Burmese women and girls across international boundaries for forced marriages and sex trafficking; efforts to combat trafficking within Burma remain weak; forced labor of civilians and the recruitment of child soldiers by both military and private entities remain serious problems; the government continues modest efforts to provide temporary shelter and facilitate safe passage to Burmese victims repatriated from abroad, but its overall victim protection efforts are inadequate; in 2012, the government signed a UN-backed action plan for the identification, release, and rehabilitation of children in the Burmese military; as a result, some child soldiers have been released, but the government has not taken steps to prevent recruitment (2013) Illicit Drug Trafficking/Use: world's third largest producer of illicit opium with an estimated production in 2012 of 690 metric tons, an increase of 13% over 2011, and poppy cultivation in 2012 totaled 51,000 hectares, a 17% increase over 2011; production in the United Wa State Army's areas of greatest control remains low; Shan state is the source of 94.5% of Burma's poppy cultivation; lack of government will to take on major narcotrafficking groups and lack of serious commitment against money laundering continues to hinder the overall antidrug effort; major source of methamphetamine and heroin for regional consumption (2013)
Chief of State & Head of Government, President Thein Sein