'You're now on the dead list'

Here is a link to an article which really highlights the atrocity of the military regime in Burma. One of the interviewees is a man who was jailed for having a fight with a neighbor and then was unable to bribe the police and so was given a year long sentence. Eleven months into his sentence he was taken by the Burmese military and forced to be a 'human minesweeper', traveling ahead of the Burmese army to clear the path of any hidden land mines, while carrying all the soldier's supplies and equipment. Another interviewee describes the infamous Burmese labour camps, with his depiction of the camps bringing to mind the descriptions of the Nazi labour camps.

This article emphasises the gross injustices committed by the burmese military, yet nothing has been done to stop them, and burmese representatives in human rights associations vehemently deny that there have been any human rights violations. I feel that this article highlights the massive need for change in Burma, and how it is going to need more than a new government filled with the same military generals to make any kind of difference.

Also, this article is from the Bangkok post, a Thai newspaper. This is particularly important as these refugees are currently being held in Thailand, and therefore the article is much more personal and has a sense of immediacy that it wouldn't have if it was in a canadian newspaper.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/221288/you-re-now-on-the-dead-list