At the Pattaya City Expats Club’s meeting on Wednesday, March 31, members and guests heard from two speakers about “What’s Happening to My Friends in Myanmar” and “What is happening in Myanmar – The Coup, the Crackdown, the Abuses of Human Rights, and the Fight for the Restoration of Democracy.”
The first speaker was Rose Selines from Myanmar and the second was Phil Robertson, Deputy Asia Director for Human Rights Watch. Both recounted events currently taking place in Myanmar since the military took over the legitimate government and cracked down on protests.
Rose in her first appearance in a public forum spoke with feeling while she displayed pictures of her home, public demonstrations, and some of the horrific events taking place in Myanmar. She showed several photos of people demonstrating against the takeover, mentioning the current difficulties the common people are experiencing. These include the inability to access their funds because all banks have closed, abuses by the military government and the police, such as setting fires to people’s homes and taking away their food for themselves. She showed one video of a woman being beaten and forced to crawl across a field on hands and knees.
Phil previously spoke to the Club about what Human Rights Watch does; emphasizing that their purpose is to Investigate, Expose, and Change wherever in the world there are human rights abuses. Currently, there is much focus on Myanmar, or Burma, as Phil prefers to call the country by its former name. Phil mentioned that with the situation in Burma, the “Investigate” part of their mission has been relatively easy with accounts and photos appearing daily in the news. Although he spoke about these events, he also offered some interesting insights.
He thinks the military officers that took over the government were thinking the people would simply bow down because of the long history of military control since Burma gained independence from Britain. Further, they expected they could use the same tactics with impunity to suppress any dissent. However, they were surprised it didn’t happen. Phil believes this is because the people had a modicum of democracy since their 2008 Constitution, even though it reserved 25% of parliament for the military. Further, the National League for Democracy received 83% of the vote.
Also, unlike under military control, this time a large portion of the population has internet access to social media. Further, now having a proliferation of mobile phones, the population can take pictures and videos to show what is happening thus showing to the world the military abuses and brutality in suppressing dissent.
He also debunked the military’s claim that it was necessary to take over the government because of significant voter fraud. Phil provided information about the election noting that while there were some irregularities, overall, the election reflected the will of the people and was accepted by most world governments.
The attempts by the military to say they are acting in accord with the current Constitution just doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. The 2008 Constitution provides only the president can declare a state of emergency. To get around this, the military arrested the president and many other public officials then named one of the vice presidents to declare the emergency.
He noted that the military and police are attempting to suppress the protests with extreme brutality. They are using live ammunition not only on crowds, but when invading homes. They are also taking people away and while in some cases their fate is not known, in others the family has been told to come and pick up the body. Even so, the protests are continuing. He mentioned that now when the military or police approach a village, the people bang on pots and pans to alert others and to show their dissent.
He also mentioned the ethnic makeup of Burma and the military’s efforts to suppress these groups over the years. However, one thought taking hold among the dissenters is that the country would be better off with a “Federation” involving these ethnic groups and their areas.
He concluded by noting the lack of concrete action by the UN and other countries, which allows the brutality to continue. While some countries have imposed sanctions, these are not sufficient. So far, he believes it has been too little too late. Thus, he does not see a resolution of the situation anytime soon.
After the presentations, MC Ren Lexander brought everyone up to date on the latest events. This was followed by Brian Maxey conducting the Open Forum where attendees can make comments or ask questions about Expat living in Thailand, especially Pattaya. For more information visit the PCEC’s website at https://pcec.club/.
