“Is dad too rich?” I asked. My mother told me to shut up and be close to her. The men in uniform took him into question, while the other guards ruminated about the gifts we had brought for our dad.
After waiting for hours in the scorching sun, we were finally allowed into a room where we were met by a man dressed all in white, and in handcuffs and shackles. I recognized him immediately – it was my father, whose picture hung on a glass cabinet in my house for as long as I could remember. Her wild hair in the photo was no longer so wild, but she still had that friendly smile on her face. I wanted to hug him, even though we had iron bars between us. I put my fingers forward so that I can at least touch his hand.
Although this first meeting happened almost three decades ago, I remember it clearly. That day I realized that my father was a prisoner held by these guards. And the “gift” we brought him? They were the essential food and medicines they needed to survive behind these foreboding concrete walls.
My father was first jailed in 1988 for leading a peaceful protest against the Burmese military dictatorship. He was
among thousands Number of students marching on the street demanding democracy, human rights and freedom in my country. Since then, he has been in and out of prison to continue opposing military rule and advocating for human rights.
But his commitment to helping build a sustainable democracy in Burma has taught me that an equal and just political system is not guaranteed. It requires hard work, and can have dire consequences – not only for my family or country, but for the whole world.
After my first meeting with my father, I began to study Burma’s history. I learned that
was done under An oppressive military dictatorship since 1962. I also read how the army brutally killed many peaceful protesters during the 1988 uprising and how they imprisoned thousands of civilians for believing in democracy and freedom. Although military rule has come and gone since then, today the military – although it denies its brutality –
continues To commit atrocities with impunity, according to the United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The more I learned, the more sure I needed to follow in my father’s footsteps. Although my father urged me to take a different path, I refused to heed his warnings.
I thought I could pursue teaching, as I believed that education could play a vital role in bringing about social change and empowering youth to fight for their rights. But due to my father’s political activities, I was denied admission in any Burmese university. And so, in 2007, I reached the United Kingdom to study international relations. In the same year, my father
was arrested A second time to lead a more peaceful protest. Even though I was thousands of miles away, I began a campaign for the release of all political prisoners in Burma, including my father.
But what I had not fully anticipated was the consequences I would have to face from the Burmese government. Having used my voice abroad, I could not return home without facing the prospect of arrest. I later became a political dissident in exile.
In 2008, due to a combination of internal and external pressures, the Burmese military regime
drafted A new constitution, which, while protecting most of its power, offered limited democratic and social reforms. Two years later, he released Aung San Suu Kyi, an opposition leader who had spent
about 15 years detained, and allowed him to stand for election in April 2012.
For
United States and most of the international community, Suu Kyi’s independence — and her party’s
massive electoral victory In 2015 – marked an important milestone in my country’s journey towards democracy. But it did not fully capture the subtle and not so subtle ways that the army had kept a tight hold on Burma.
While the new constitution and Suu Kyi’s government provided a wider space for civil society – and greater access to tools such as social media and the Internet – the military still had
guaranteed ministerial position And
appointed a quarter of MPs in Parliament. And while many of these social reforms were implemented in the cities, the military
was continuing To torture, rape and kill ethnic citizens in more rural areas, according to an independent report requested by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
In-spite of this
Warning From human rights activists like me that the reform process in Burma was designed to keep the military in power, the international community largely ignored our concerns. Meanwhile, many activists in Burma who raised their voices against the military and demanded real democracy
Arrested and put him in jail.
At the end of 2016, when the army
started committing crimes What is the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Referred to As a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, it looked like things might be reaching breaking point.
In the end, we thought, the international community would wake up to the atrocities in Burma and come forward to help us. Leaving this aid largely took the form of
approval Some Burmese military generals froze his assets and banned him from traveling to America.
It is no surprise that the chief of the Burmese army, Min Aung Hlaing, calculated that he might have survived.
make a coup in February. The same day the coup began and Suu Kyi was arrested on false charges, the army came for my father, who had recently been released from prison in 2012. As a prominent democracy advocate, the military undoubtedly considered my father a troubleshooter, and they arrested him before organizing any anti-coup movement.
But it wasn’t just him. many others
Have been taken From their homes to prisons in Burma they will probably never leave. I’m heartbroken for my father, but I can’t stop thinking about the other kids who are now to blame for what I’ve been through – not knowing where their parents are or when they’ll see them again. .
I am encouraged to see that when the coup began, the US government
took immediate action against the Burmese army by imposing targeted sanctions. But we need more. The United States and the larger international community need to use all means at their disposal – diplomatic, humanitarian, economic and legal – to help the people in Burma.
Has been calling the workers inside and outside the country
global arms embargo To stop the flow of weapons to the army, additional restrictions
gas revenue who help fund the Burmese military, and support efforts to report the military’s violent actions to the International Criminal Court.
Although I do not know when my father will be released from prison this time, or when I will be able to go home safely, I will continue to speak out against the military and to raise the voice of those who have been persecuted in Burma. Brutal military rule. Yes, Burmese Army
Deny from this this oppression and
They say It is part of his fight against terrorism, but the truth is that we are being persecuted.
Despite the ongoing use of violence, I refuse to believe that the Burmese army has won. People like my father and many others like him are risking our lives for the sake of freedom. And with the help of America and the rest of the free world, we may have a chance to help the Burmese people achieve true democracy.
