Stage 6 HSC Geography ( Current syllabus)

Political Unit: History of  borders

Since the 1980's a significant amount of ice in Antarctic ocean has melted away. This is a big deal because this is causing the changing of borders in this part of the world. With all the ice melting in Antarctica, this opens up new shipping lanes with much faster routes. This also makes it much easier for to drill for natural resources such as gas and oil, that were once difficult to get to because they were covered in ice. This is causing countries like Russia, Canada, Finland, and others to desire for new borders to be drawn up, hopefully in favor of their nation. Russia has even started developing military bases on some of the coast line that is opening up in Antarctica. It will be interesting to see how the borders in the Arctic circle are going to change and how it will also effect world trade in that part of the world.

In this video, Vox Borders looks into who owns the Arctic. Because of the significant melting ice, the water ways of the Arctic may be opening up… this video looks into the efforts that Russia has made to declare the region. For example, off the coast of Russia, near the north pole lies a mining town, that was established to make sure Russia has a spot that they can declare as their own in the Arctic.

Shocking reality of life for people in Myanmar to follow on from reading the novel 'Bamboo People' by Mitali Perkins.

It is often hard to imagine how a government sponsors or directly commits acts of genocide against its own people. When studying the geographic factors and history of a place, outsiders can begin to fathom how divisions and difference can turn into hate-fueled violence. But, genocides do not just spontaneously happen. There is a buildup overtime. The only way a genocide can occur is if some form of dehumanization takes place against a group of people. In the case of the Rohingya - an ethnic minority population in Myanmar - the government fails to recognize them as citizens. Denying rights and citizenship to people means they are not equal with others and that is a form of dehumanization. While the Rohingya are mostly Muslim in a Buddhist majority country, the divisions go much deeper. Myanmar's government believes that the Rohingya are refugees from Bangladesh who fled under British rule during the 1800s, negating any legitimate claim to the land they are living on. The Rohingya dispute this arguing their ancestors migrated to the land of Rohang (now called the Rakhine State of Myanmar) during the 1400s. Regardless of whose narrative is accurate, the Rohingya,  like the Gypsies in Europe, have been excluded and viewed as outsiders. By not being integrated into mainstream society, there has been a lack of social and economic advancement for the Rohingya leading to widespread poverty which creates a vicious cycle. The discriminatory and repressive practices against the Rohingya has led to violent backlash by some Rohingya against Buddhists. This in turn led to military crackdowns, destruction, and forced migration by Myanmar's government. The situation escalated when a Rohingya insurgency rose up and attacked military targets. This most recent episode is what has led to the current acts of genocide. Myanmar's government has justified its actions by espousing a war on terrorist groups. International watchdogs have observed the military operations are also targeting innocent Rohingya civilians, morphing into ethnic-cleansing. 

An ethnic cleansing is occurring today in Myanmar. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority in the Rakhine state have been forcibly removed for their homes by soldiers and extremists.  Their homes are homes, villages and land destroyed. Many are leaving Myanmar all together and running to the border of Bangladesh for safety.  The President of Myanmar, Nobel Peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has stayed mostly quiet regarding the attacks, while the UN has also condemned the actions of the army.  A story to continue watching as it develops. 

The two Koreas are polar opposites literally, North and South. The Korean war that took place some 68 years ago never formally ended because they could not come to peace agreements. So the border between North and South Korea known as the DMZ is the most heavily fortified border in the world because tensions still run high. The DMZ is the cease fire line. Both sides fear invasion, however in the current state of things it seems as if the North is more aggressive towards invasion that the South, as the South has found some secret tunnels and fear there's more by the North Koreans. Economically the North is severely behind in the world because of there dictators. While the South has become an economic Tiger thanks to the UN and USA trying to promote democracy in the area.

The two Koreas are a great example of how Capitalism, Democracy, and liberty are far better than Communism. Just the difference in light visible from satellites at night in the two countries speaks volumes. The war being technically not over and only under cease-fire always leaves that chance for the conflict to reopen. Though today they are taking major steps toward peace and making moves that have never been done before. The amount of famine and overall  sub quality of life in North Korea is mind blowing, and with much of it kept secret its hard to imagine how bad it really is.

For the two Korean nations, there are stark contrasts in the standard of living and wealth of the people. While the Korean war began in the 1950's it never formally ended a ceasefire was called and has just not flared up in a massive battle again. The two nations are uneasy with each other having different ideas for what Korea should be, but both nations do want a joint Korea. Looking at a map of the energy consumption by the two nations there is a line between those who have it and those who do not. These two have shown solidarity as well in the Olympics joining as one nation, but tensions will continue to flare for a long time.

Useful for linking 'Bamboo People' with current crisis in Myanmar

Resources such as this are extremely important for anyone that wants to teach about humanitarian issues going on around the world.  Giving a step-by-step on where to learn more about the crisis, activities to do to engage students, and the discuss the role of the media. This is important to talk about for anyone as ethnic cleansings as things we all should be watching for and combatting. 

Support immigration debates with some solid facts