On Saturday night I returned to my dorm from one of the most overwhelming weekends of my whole entire life. It was eye-opening, inspirational but also sad and emotionally-exhausting. From Thursday to Saturday morning, students, professors and I visited a town on the Thai-Burma border to learn more about a topic that has been very prevalent in our studies for the past month. The town is home to many Burmese people who have fled their country in a desperate search for safety, away from the violent military regime that has been in power for over 40 years, causing the people of Burma great pain and suffering. While there, my classmates and I had the opportunity to hear directly from victims of Burma’s military-focused policies, Karen refugees and political activists who have been fighting for their country, democracy and freedom for such a long time.
Despite the organization of many pro-democracy movements that have only ended in disappointment and very little change, people continue to live in hope. The strength of the people of Burma is extremely moving and I want to share some of what I've learned here with all of you.
Some Information About Burma
The longest ongoing war has been happening in Burma for over 60 years between the Karen ethnic minority and the military regime but yet there are so many people that are completely unaware of this, including myself before I got here. According to Living in Silence: Surviving Under Military Rule, a book by Christina Fink, there are two main issues in Burma: the restoration of democracy and the resolution of the political rights of ethnic minorities. Although Burma held a general election in 2010, many Burmese political activists think that the military regime is creating a "cosmetic democracy" and are only making fake democratic progress.
The Human Rights Watch described Burma’s humanitarian crisis as one of the worst in the world.
In an article from the Bangkok Post, Human Rights Watch’s David Mathieson said, “The humanitarian and development mess that is Burma is the direct result of the regime’s misrule, greed, incompetence and complete lack of concern for the welfare of its people.”
Throughout decades, citizens, students and monks have come together and organized political demonstrations for freedom, peace and democracy in Burma. In September 2007, Buddhist monks organized a peaceful demonstration after fuel prices abruptly doubled, highly affecting the poor and everyday people of Burma. This movement became known as the "Saffron Revolution." Despite their peaceful efforts though, the military regime perpetuated violence on the monks, causing HUGE outrage in this profoundly Buddhist culture. The people still did not give up. Did not lose hope.
The Saffron Revolution and student-organized demonstrations led to a shocking number of unjust arrests and increasing number of political prisoners. Political prisoners in Burma are interrogated and tortured mentally and physically. But, political activists continue to fight for the release of their political prisoners. During our trip, one activist said “ Most of the political prisoners are the future of Burma...they are intellectuals and very important in the reconciliation process.”
I feel ashamed that before I got here I knew nothing about Burma but thankful that I have the opportunity to learn about it now and hopefully encourage others at home to do the same. There is a lot about Burma that I am still working on understanding myself but I ask my friends, family and classmates to learn about what is happening in Burma and maybe together we can join the effort.
As Americans we have an advantage. We have democracy. We have the right to disagree with our government and the right to raise our voice. I applaud those who are participating and taking advantage of your right to speak out, protest and make your voices heard.
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT BURMA:
Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country is a academy-award dominated documentary. This is a link to the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evHOl_3wzPA. It is a great documentary about the Democratic Voice of Burma, a Burmese media organization of undercover journalists. I think it is an inspirational and motivational documentary for journalism students, sociology students and anybody trying to create social change.
And this is a 25-minute documentary about the Karen people: http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/101east/2011/08/201181073919760492.html
Aung San Suu Kyi
This is a picture of Aung San Suu Kyi, the highly-respected leader of the pro-democracy movement in Burma and the National League for Democracy. After a 1990 general election, Aung San Suu Kyi was to be the new leader of Burma bringing all great hope for social change. But the military regime never transferred power. Aung San Suu Kyi was detained under house arrest a week before the election. She was released in 2010 but still remains under severe watch from the military regime.
