Burmese Canadians want Ottawa involved

Vancouver resident Htay Aung recalled what it was like to fight as part of a small student group in the jungles of Burma. Once a member of the All Burma Students' Democratic Front, an armed opposition movement, Aung took on the power of the state.

"We had to fight the military regime," Aung told the Georgia Straight. "They had to be changed to a people's government."

In 1988, Aung said, his division of the ABSDF found itself cornered on the border with Thailand. The group was crushed by Burma's military machine and Aung was forced to flee. Defeated and living illegally in Bangkok, Aung applied to Canada for refugee status. In 1995, he made it to Vancouver.

Today, Burma (also known as Myanmar) is ruled by a military junta. Amnesty International has claimed that the regime routinely imprisons and tortures its opponents. A 2007 Freedom House report gave Burma the lowest score possible for political rights and civil liberties.

Nobel Prize-winning democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest, where she has been detained off and on for 12 years.

Htay Aung and other members of the ABSDF who made it to Vancouver have formed the Burmese Student Democratic Organization. Gone are the days of fighting in the jungle; now they fight from abroad.

Aung told the Straight that in 1988, along with the defeat of the ABSDF, came a violent military coup that left thousands dead. That regime, which calls itself the State Peace and Development Council, remains in place today. Nineteen years later, three weeks before the massacre's anniversary, a conference organized by Canadian Friends of Burma was held in Ottawa on August 29.

Prominent Burmese activists attended the Ottawa Policy Consultation along with representatives of the Canadian federal government. The idea was to pressure China and other neighbours of Burma to engage in a dialogue with the military junta.

Tin Maung Htoo, executive director for Canadian Friends of Burma, told the Straight that the conference's most significant outcome was the release of an "Ottawa Declaration".

It called for multiparty talks to work for reform, and demanded that Canada "find an effective way to support the empowerment of civil society and democratic development in Burma".

Htoo told the Straight that all parties to the conference said that "they want to see Canadians take a leading role in the peace process."

The Conservative deputy house leader, Scott Reid, spoke at the conference. He told the Straight that Canada has imposed sanctions on Burma since 1988, but that Canada's geographic location limits any influence it has in the country.

Reid argued that if the international community was going to make a real push for change, Burma's neighbours would have to come on board. "China and India are large, powerful countries," Reid said. "We'd like to see them not give aid and comfort to the military regime."

Some Burmese delegates to the conference felt that Reid misjudged Canada. Naw Seng is director for the Kachin Affairs Office in Vancouver, a group that assists Burmese living in B.C. with business and communication back home. He spoke at the Ottawa conference and told the Straight he believed Canada was in a unique position to help.

"Canada is kind of a middle country," Seng said. He argued that Canada's history as a neutral power makes it the ideal country to start any international effort for change in Burma.

Tuesday (September 18) will mark 19 years since Burma's military junta seized power. Seng said there will be a demonstration on Sunday (September 16) at Robson Square.

"Right now, it is more intense than in the last few years," Seng said. "I want all the people of Vancouver to know that they need to understand more about what is happening in Burma.”¦We believe the Canadian government can help."