Democratic Voice of Burma |
- Suu Kyi calls for unity during final day of 8888 commemoration
- Thai police use water cannon on Rohingya asylum seekers
- Rangoon University set to reopen
| Suu Kyi calls for unity during final day of 8888 commemoration Posted: 09 Aug 2013 02:38 AM PDT People gathered in cities across Burma this week to commemorate the 8888 uprising. Activists, politicians and exiles met in Rangoon in the largest public memorial ceremony marking the democracy movement’s anniversary. The thousands who attended the event came here to honour the memories of the university students, monks, and young children who died during the military's savage crackdown on the mass demonstrations 25 years ago. NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi attended the closing ceremony of the Four Eights Silver Jubilee at the Myanmar Convention Centre in Rangoon. In her speech at the event, she urged citizens to work together towards building a united country. “In this 1988 memorial, we all meet here in unity to show good signs and well wishes for our country. But it is not enough to be doing this once in a while. We have to keep building up our unity”, she said. Kyaw Thura, a member of the National Democratic Force party, which took part in the 1988 uprising, said the country must forgive and move forward. “We can’t build up national reconciliation and our country can’t become a developed country if we always consider the former military in the government as enemy. We are willing to forgive and be tolerant”, he said. Thursday was the last day of the commemoration, which was held legally for the second time since outright military rule ended in 2011. |
| Thai police use water cannon on Rohingya asylum seekers Posted: 09 Aug 2013 12:44 AM PDT Thai police used water cannon to prevent scores of Muslim Rohingya boat people from breaking out of a detention centre to celebrate the end of Ramadan, officials said Thursday. Some 261 Rohingya asylum seekers broke the locks on two rooms and then tried to storm the centre’s secure front door in southern Phang Nga province, where many have been held for months, police told AFP. “Officials blocked them at the ground floor and are negotiating with them… but they still want to come out and refuse to go back to the rooms,” according to provincial police chief Chalit Kaewyarat. Related StoriesHe said police fired water cannon through the gated front door to prevent the refugees, who are all men, leaving and “to calm them down”. “We will wait until they are calm before moving them (temporarily) to police stations,” he added. A local official requesting anonymity confirmed the incident, adding the Rohingya men want to come out “for prayers for Hari Raya” – as the festival of Eid, marking the end of the Muslim holy month, is known locally. Police said they would allow five of the detainees out at a time “but all of them still want to leave” prompting the angry standoff. Many of the asylum-seekers have been locked up in the overcrowded and reportedly insanitary centre for several months, prompting rights groups to call for their release. Thousands of Muslim Rohingya boat people — including women and children — have fled the former junta-ruled country since Buddhist-Muslim clashes a year ago in in western Burma's Arakan state. Those who arrived in Thailand have been “helped on” by the kingdom’s navy towards Malaysia – their destination of choice – or detained as illegal immigrants. Thailand initially said the asylum-seekers would be allowed to stay for six months while the government worked with the UN refugee agency UNHCR to try to find other countries willing to accept them. But overseas help has not been forthcoming so far, leaving the refugees in limbo, and separated from their families. A UNHCR spokeswoman Vivian Tan said the centres were not designed to hold “so many people for so long”. “While the motives for this incident are still unclear, it reflects the growing frustration among the Rohingya being held in detention,” she said. Tan urged Thai authorities to “urgently” transfer them to shelters that will allow families to be reunited and provide “greater freedom of movement”. |
| Rangoon University set to reopen Posted: 08 Aug 2013 10:55 PM PDT Twenty-five years after the ’88 uprising, the university where the democracy movement once took its root is about to open again. During the massive student uprisings that erupted in 1988, Ne Win's military dictatorship sought to liquidate the democratic movement by shutting down the university for years – until now. The university will reopen as normal this year and take in undergraduates for the first time since 1996. Rangoon University has been at the centre of civil discontent throughout its history. When Barack Obama delivered a well-received speech at the university one year ago, he stood in the same place where the nationalist movement calling for the end to British rule once began. It was also here that Aung Sang and UN Secretary General U Thant received their degrees. Young Burmese can once again dream of studying at the historic college, but the option is not open for everyone. Fifteen elite students have been accepted to each of the 19 departments. In total, only around 300 students have been offered a place. One of the incoming students is Myo Myint Tun, who recently passed his high school exams and was admitted into the elite university. He could barely contain his excitement as he explained to DVB that studying at the prestigious institution had been his dream for years. “Our political leaders and internationally prominent academics always came from Rangoon University”, said Ko Ko Gyi, the famed student leader from the 88 Generation Peace and Open Society movement. Ko Ko Gyi was a student at Rangoon University in 1988 and took part in the mass uprising, which landed him in jail for 20 years. During his time in prison, the insular Burmese government became known for its fear of higher education. Although he is positive about the reopening of the university, Ko Ko Gyi said that Burma's education sector needed to be brought into the 21st century. “I would prefer the university to be for people from all walks of life, not just a few children of the elite”, he said. “Perhaps a scholarship programme will be needed to allow all sectors of society to take part.” |
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