FN-bureauet IRIN har været ude og spørge sig for hos eksilfolk, systemkritikere og flygtninge i nabolandet Thailand og det er der kommet en meget broget samling vurderinger ud af – mistroen stikker dybt samtidig med, at optimismen pibler frem.
CHIANG MAI/MAE SOT, 29 March 2012 (IRIN): How much does it take to repair trust once it is broken? How welcoming does home need to be to coax (friste) someone to return?
IRIN met with Burmese exiles, dissidents and refugees living in northern Thailand to discover their reactions to ongoing reforms in their homeland.
Here is a sample of their views, gathered in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai and the western border town of Mae Sot.
Salai Yaw Aung, 48, All Burma’s Student Democracy Front (ABSDF)
“Burma is still my home and I have to go back, but not now, because nothing has really changed. There is a need for real political change”.
“I have one new baby boy in my family. At the moment I cannot take my family back because there is no guarantee for us. We do not see physical development in the country, like improving health care and education. In my opinion, they are just showing off for the international community ahead of the ASEAN meeting in 2014 in Burma”.
“My brother and my nephew were released from prison on 13 January. It made my Mom very happy. My nephew is doing well but my brother, Zaw Zaw Min, has liver problems. He was jailed in August 2007, almost five years ago”.
“But there are still many political prisoners in jail [to whom] the government denied release, including some ABSDF members. The government convicted many of them with non-political charges to keep them inside.”
Aung Naing Oo, 41, Burma policy analyst, Vahu Development Institute, Chiang Mai University
“We still need a lot of changes, so I think the real test will come when these necessary reforms are implemented”.
“Generally I am very encouraged by what I saw [during my first visit to Burma on 10 February]. We had a number of meetings with small ministers, big ministers, parliamentarians, political parties. We spoke to everyone on the street every chance we got. Everybody is optimistic”.
“At the same time, on the issue of freedom – the economic prosperity is not there or being felt within the communities. That is why there is scepticism among the people”.
“In the beginning no one expected much from the (new) government because the majority of the people saw the government as an extension of the previous regime. Now, suddenly, the freedom and expectations are building up, so I do not know how the government will manage the growing expectations.”
Læs videre på
http://www.IRINnews.org/Report/95192/MYANMAR-Refugees-and-dissidents-react-to-reforms
Begynd fra: “Nyo Ohn Myint, 49, co-founder of the youth wing….”
