There have been around 200 releases. There is talk of lifting sanctions that the U.S. and Europe has placed on the country. Obama and Hillary are excited about it and actually John McCain met with the "president" Thein Sein. He said that “There is no doubt in my mind, absolutely certain that if this is a free and fair election, there will be no problem coordinating with every other country in the world to bring the sanctions to a close..."This is good because the sanctions hurt the people just as much as the government. Jobs will be created and such. We can't, however, jump to conclusions that this will actually happen.
Though 200 political prisoners have been released there are over 2,000 still in prison. The Karin and rebel groups are refusing to sign cease fire with the government and the minority groups in general are still dangerous and war torn (as is the whole country). This is progress but living conditions in the country aren't changing. The lift of sanctions might help some but I think we all know that unless the government ends it's brutal military rule life in Burma will be more of the same. There is a lot more to this than just making the government release prisoners and encouraging elections. There is violence in the military and in the minority rebel groups as well as the Burmese people and reaching peace is a long ways away. Than there are the refugees waiting for the day they can return to their homes. We have to rejoice a little though: freed political prisoners and the government attempting to get the sanctions removed- this is a good thing!
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