Burma Ranks Next to Last on Most Corrupt Country List

Burma’s military government is still one of the most corrupt countries in the world, according to the Global Corruption Report 2009 released by Transparency International (TI) on Thursday.

The Berlin-based group said Burma ranks just ahead of Somalia and tied with Iraq for the second-lowest score.

The report ranked countries on a scale of 1 to 10. The highest 9.3 ranking went to Denmark, New Zealand and Sweden as the world’s least corrupt and most transparent countries, followed by Singapore, at 9.2.

Somalia ranked lowest at 1.0. Burma ranked 1.3, the same position as in 2008.

The TI report said Burma routinely violated human rights and had rampant corruption among government officials. The country’s score placed it just behind Haiti at 1.4 and Afghanistan at 1.5.

“These governments should embrace thorough and transparent reviews, which are the only way to ensure that each country’s anti-corruption efforts are judged equally and fairly,” said Huguette Labelle, the chair of TI’s board of directors, in a press release.

Abuse of power and corruption among Burmese officials is common, according to civil servants and businessmen in the country.

A recent example was the detention of three police officials by military authorities in Myawaddy Township on the Thai-Burmese border. Sources said the three officials accepted bribes of about 70,000 (US $2,100) baht from amphetamine trafficking gangs in Myawaddy.

Police are one of the most corrupt institutions in Burma, and they receive little respect from the people.

In early October, the Burmese’s junta dismissed the Rangoon Division police chief following misuse of power and corruption allegations, according to sources in Rangoon. Sources said he accepted bribes from massage parlors and karaoke shops, and that he also ran illegal businesses. His dismissal has not been reported in the state-run media.

“Corruption has become a custom here. They say it is paying respect instead of paying a bribe,” said a businessman familiar with Burmese culture.

A civil servant in Naypyidaw said, “If I want to get a higher position, or I want to move somewhere that I like in my job, I have no choice but to bribe them in order to get that chance.”

irrawaddy