"Even if the election is (very) broadly free and fair, which at the moment most people think it will be, it’s being carried out under the terms of the 2008 Constitution, which was adopted in a rigged referendum and has rigged the rules of the game for these elections and the political process thereafter.

"A peace agreement was signed a couple of weeks ago with 8 of the ethnic armed groups in the country, but there is a huge task ahead to move from that initial agreement to embed a real and lasting peace. My research area is refugees outside Myanmar: they were not able to vote in the elections and their needs haven’t attracted much discussion yet at all in terms of peacebuilding.

"And even though the current focus is on the elections and the peace agreement – both of which seem to be ‘good news’ stories – Myanmar is continuing to generate new refugees, both from the Rohingya in Rakhine State and as a result of the continuing conflict in the north of the country in Kachin and Shan States. The country’s problems are far from over."

Dr Kirsten McConnachie, Assistant Professor, School of Law

Dr McConnachie is available for media interviews. For further details please contact Nicola Jones, Communications Manager, University of Warwick 07824 540863 or N.Jones.1@warwick.ac.uk

For further details please contact Nicola Jones, Communications Manager, University of Warwick 07824 540863 or N.Jones.1@warwick.ac.uk