Suu Kyi Visit Brings Hope To Local Myanmar Community

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ANALYSIS

Suu Kyi visit brings hope to local Myanmar community

SUPALAK GANJANAKHUNDEE

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Myanmar's migrant workers, refugees, exile activists and ethnic groups were excited ahead of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's visit to Thailand.

They said her attending a high-profile forum here raised hopes of a future of peace, democracy and reconciliation in their home country.

Thailand was the right place for her first international trip in 24 years, they said, as it would give her a chance to meet many people from Myanmar. She is here until Sunday.

"This visit is more important for strengthening ties between the Burmese democratic opposition and Thailand. It's also an acknowledgement for border-based ethnic groups, refugees and migrants that they are not alone," activist Soe Aung said.

Suu Kyi was invited to the World Economic Forum on East Asia to meet leading international business figures and express her vision for reform and the future of her country.

Foreign investors looking for business opportunities want to hear from her about Myanmar's political development. Migrant workers in Mahachai will be the first group she will meet today.

She will visit a market to see their working conditions, as well as Samut Sakhon's National Verification Centre and a learning centre at a migrant worker office, where she will deliver her speech.

Thailand has been a workplace for millions of documented and undocumented migrant labourers from Myanmar for a long time. They have contributed a lot to the Thai economy as well as sent a lot of remittances back home.

Many migrant workers told local media that Suu Kyi's visit would mean a lot to them, as it would give them courage and support. Some said they could not believe they would get to meet Suu Kyi in person.

After her session at the World Economic Forum tomorrow and Friday, Suu Kyi will travel to the border districts of Mae Sot and Tha Song Yang on Saturday to see refugees who fled from conflict and war at home, some nearly three decades ago.

The highlight in Mae Sot will be a meeting with ethnic leaders whose groups took up weapons against the military junta of the country previously called Burma for more than half a century.

Representatives of at least six ethnic groups, including the Karen, Karenni, Arakan, Kachin and Shan, will attend the planned meeting, according to Timothy Laklem, an executive member of the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) Peace Council member.

Representatives from the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) run by Saw Ler Pwe, aka Na Kham Mwe, would be also at the meeting with Suu Kyi, he said.

The rare meeting between Suu Kyi and the many ethnic minority groups recalls the spirit of the Panglong Agreement which her father, national hero General Aung San, reached with ethnic groups in 1947, said Laklem, who organised the meeting.

"We hope that the daughter of Gen Aung San will carry on the spirit of the Panglong Agreement to move forward in genuine peace and democracy," Laklem said. "The meeting would be something like a second Panglong conference."

The KNLA Peace Council executive member did not expect concrete outcomes from the first meeting with Suu Kyi at the border town but hoped the gathering would create good and close relations between them.

Many groups have reached peace agreements with the government and are implementing ceasefires, although the Kachin are a notable exception. However, some groups fear the Myanmar army will not uphold the peace process.

Laklem said they would urge Suu Kyi to play a bigger role in helping facilitate peace talks between them and the government.

"Aung San Suu Kyi could help to guarantee that we would sit and talk with the government on an equal basis," he said.

Many other groups of Myanmar people and members of ethnic groups, notably refugees, expressed hope to see and meet Suu Kyi and expected she would share their concerns about their plans to return home. Thailand has a clear plan to repatriate hundreds of thousands of refugees after reaching truces with the many groups.

Nan Dah Eh Kler, secretary of the Karen Women Organisation, issued an open letter to Suu Kyi yesterday inviting her to meet the group at a refugee camp in border of Thailand and Myanmar.

"The refugee communities are currently living with a great deal of uncertainty and worry due to the changing position of the international community regarding support and possible repatriation during these fragile peace negotiations," she said. "You [suu Kyi] have long been a beacon of hope for many," the Karen woman said.

-- The Nation 2012-05-30

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Cheering Myanmar migrants await Suu Kyi in Thailand

by Hla Hla Htay

MAHACHAI, Thailand, May 30, 2012 (AFP) - Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi kicked off her historic first trip overseas in more than two decades with a visit to meet Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people packed a narrow street in Samut Sakhon province south of Bangkok, where the opposition leader, who has ventured abroad for the first time since 1988, was due to address them.

Cheering Myanmar migrants held up banners with Suu Kyi's picture and signs in Burmese and English that read "Free Burma" -- referring to the country's former name -- and "We want to go home".

"I am very happy and I want to cry. I feel that we will get democracy in Myanmar," said Phyu, who has been in Thailand for six years.

Suu Kyi's foray onto the world stage is a significant indication of confidence in dramatic changes that have swept her homeland since a near 50-year military dictatorship was replaced with a quasi-civilian regime last year.

The former political prisoner, who won a seat in parliament in historic April by-elections, is expected to meet the Thai prime minister and attend the World Economic Forum on East Asia during several days in the country.

Her decision to begin the trip by meeting some of the hundreds of thousands of Myanmar migrants, who work in low paid jobs in Thai homes, factories and fishing boats, shines a global spotlight on a group that has long been marginalised and prone to exploitation.

Thailand's workforce is heavily reliant on low-cost foreign workers, both legal and trafficked, with Myanmar nationals accounting for around 80 percent of the two million registered foreign workers in the kingdom.

Migrants in the crowd said they hoped Suu Kyi's visit would help improve their lot in Thailand.

"It would be great if she could do more for us. We want to get the same wages as Thai workers and I hope she can arrange this for us," said Kyi Lwin, a 33-year-old factory worker.

But others said their sights are set on a return to Myanmar.

"Most of the workers here want to go back home but we can't afford that. There are no jobs back there and it's difficult to eat, difficult to live," said Aung Htun, 28, a rice mill worker.

Migrant rights activist Andy Hall, who is helping to organise the visit, said Suu Kyi would meet Myanmar nationals with an array of experiences -- from those trafficked and sold into modern day slavery on Thai fishing boats, to those able to make money and settle down with their families.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun, of the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan's Kyoto University, said the veteran activist was looking to "reconnect her lost connection with those who live outside the country".

"There are a lot of Burmese exiles in Thailand, Burmese dissidents and immigrant workers, that is why she chose to go there," he said.

Suu Kyi's ventures overseas, which also include a European tour in June, are seen as the completion of her transformation from prisoner to global politician.

The 66-year-old, who spent 15 of the past 22 years under house arrest, refused to travel abroad in the past even when the former junta denied her dying husband a visa to visit her, because of fears she would never be allowed to return.

Suu Kyi also said she would meet refugees in the north of the country, where roughly 100,000 Burmese live in camps after being displaced by conflict in Myanmar's eastern border areas.

She is scheduled to speak at an open discussion with World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab and appear on Friday at a session on the role of Asian women.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2012-05-30

[looping]

The treatment of the Burmese during the floods of last year should be highlighted (exposed!) so that it doesn't occur again. BBC said yesterday that Burmese workers were treated like 2nd class citizens. I'd say more like disposable slaves.

It would be nice to see them have some kind of special visas, giving them at least some basic human rights whilst they work in LOS.

However, the Thais would worry that this would drive their wages up to a legal amount.

At least now the Burmese workers have a voice and some hope that things may improve in LOS for them.

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Myanmar workers gather to meet Aung San Suu Kyi

SAMUT SAKHON, May 30 -- Myanmar migrant workers and a virtual army of media have gathered outside the office of the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN) waiting to see the neighbouring country’s beloved opposition leader and democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi this morning.

Shouting 'Free Free Burma' and 'Aung San Suu Kyi', some of them are wearing t-shirts printed with Ms Suu Kyi’s picture or ethnic clothing.

Kork Shwe Mi, a worker at an iron factory here, carrying a bunch of pink roses broke into tears while saying she is very happy today not only because she could wear a shirt with Suu Kyi's photo but also because today she will see the woman that many call ‘The Lady’ with her own eyes. She said she loves Ms Suu Kyi very much and she wishes her good health.

She was greeted by Myanmar migrant network chairman Aung Jaw and Sawit Kaewwan, secretary-general of Thailand’s State Enterprise Workers Relations Confederation.

Mr Sawit said that there has been a delay in handling migrant worker problems. Ms Suu Kyi's visit to see for herself and listen to the problems firsthand was expected to help speed up application of the measures to deal with the problem as she is a member of the Myanmar parliament, the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw or Assembly of the Union where she can raise the issue for discussion.

A 10-year-old girl prepared to present her with a garland of jasmine, Thailand's symbol of love and respect to mothers, to Suu Kyi, who is the mother of two sons.

Buddhist monks also came to meet her. About 200 police officers are providing security here.

The migrant worker issues--including the delayed national verification process, unfair wages, visa extension difficulties, and work-related injuries--will be raised during the talks that will take place with the Myanmar opposition leader.

Myint Shwe, 45, lost all fingers of his left hand while at work in a plastics plant. He is scheduled to be one of the Myanmar workers who speak with Ms Suu Kyi. He is an example of migrant workers who were uncompensated by his employer even though the accident seven months ago occurred during his regular work assignment.

Ms Suu Kyi will address to the crowd from a balcony on the third storey of the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN) building at 10am.

About 30km southwest of Bangkok, Samut Sakhon is home to many Myanmar migrants—ethnic Burmans, Karen, Mon, Kachin and others from the ethnically-diverse country--the primary labour force in the fisheries industry.

Her trip to see the living and working conditions of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand was proposed by the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF).

The Myanmar opposition leader arrived in Bangkok Tuesday night to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia, her first foreign trip in 24 years. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-05-30

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RT @RichardBarrow: 10:05am RT @seacorro: Total bedlam as Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at Mahachai Villa 9 http://bit.ly/M4Qsj4 #ASSK

[kkerry]

Watching this on Thai tv before and I don't think there could have been many, if any overseas politicians who have received such a rapturous welcome in Thailand. Must have been thousands of people in the streets waiting to catch a glimpse.

[Payboy]

I hope she got in to downtown Bangkok without once being stopped for a shakedown like the Burmese maids.