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| Burma's exiles play a waiting game | Burma's exiles play a waiting game |
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| They were in their 20s when they fled Burma nearly 25 years ago, escaping from Rangoon after dodging gunfire or imprisonment by the military junta, which ordered demonstrators to be shot or arrested after the crackdown on the 1988 democratic movement. More than 3,000 people were killed in the ensuing repression. | They were in their 20s when they fled Burma nearly 25 years ago, escaping from Rangoon after dodging gunfire or imprisonment by the military junta, which ordered demonstrators to be shot or arrested after the crackdown on the 1988 democratic movement. More than 3,000 people were killed in the ensuing repression. |
| Now they are journalists, heads of NGOs or budding politicians. Sometimes they are all three. | Now they are journalists, heads of NGOs or budding politicians. Sometimes they are all three. |
| From the safety of Chiang Mai, a city in the north of Thailand where most of them settled after the events of 1988, they keep a critical eye on the ongoing democratisation process in Burma. They are wary of government promises, cautious in their account of possible changes. Several of them have visited their old home recently, returning for the first time in 25 years, but their impressions often differ from those of their compatriots who stayed on. | From the safety of Chiang Mai, a city in the north of Thailand where most of them settled after the events of 1988, they keep a critical eye on the ongoing democratisation process in Burma. They are wary of government promises, cautious in their account of possible changes. Several of them have visited their old home recently, returning for the first time in 25 years, but their impressions often differ from those of their compatriots who stayed on. |
| Toe Zaw Latt is the head of operations for the Chiang Mai office of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a radio and television broadcaster based in Oslo. DVB has been a key militant medium in recent years. Le Monde met Toe Zaw Latt just before the Burmese government announced the end of media censorship in August. He was quick to point out their inconsistencies. "We have opened an office in Rangoon with 36 'semi-legal' reporters," he says. "We are in the process of being fully legalised, but still waiting for censorship to be really abolished. The authorities are dragging their feet, making vague promises." | Toe Zaw Latt is the head of operations for the Chiang Mai office of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), a radio and television broadcaster based in Oslo. DVB has been a key militant medium in recent years. Le Monde met Toe Zaw Latt just before the Burmese government announced the end of media censorship in August. He was quick to point out their inconsistencies. "We have opened an office in Rangoon with 36 'semi-legal' reporters," he says. "We are in the process of being fully legalised, but still waiting for censorship to be really abolished. The authorities are dragging their feet, making vague promises." |
| Toe Zaw Latt thinks it is still too soon to consider relocating the DVB's regional headquarters to Rangoon. The organisation will soon be leaving Oslo but he would rather keep the office in Chiang Mai as a rear base. So the city – once the capital of the Lanna kingdom, founded in the 13th century by King Mengrai – looks set to continue as the informal stronghold of Burma's exiled elite. One of the reasons they settled in the city was its proximity to home, but the old-world charm of the Rose of the North, as it is known in Thailand, has also survived growth. | Toe Zaw Latt thinks it is still too soon to consider relocating the DVB's regional headquarters to Rangoon. The organisation will soon be leaving Oslo but he would rather keep the office in Chiang Mai as a rear base. So the city – once the capital of the Lanna kingdom, founded in the 13th century by King Mengrai – looks set to continue as the informal stronghold of Burma's exiled elite. One of the reasons they settled in the city was its proximity to home, but the old-world charm of the Rose of the North, as it is known in Thailand, has also survived growth. |
| Aung Zaw, 44, probably the best known Burmese journalist in exile, was tortured in Insein prison, run by Burma's military near Rangoon and used largely to repress political dissidents. He too is sceptical about Burma's political and economic opening since the spring of 2011. The regime's many promises, not always honoured, include the release of political prisoners, greater press freedom, theoretical guarantees of the right of public assembly, free trade unions, overtures towards ethnic-minority armed groups, deregulation of the economy, and privatisation of some state companies. | Aung Zaw, 44, probably the best known Burmese journalist in exile, was tortured in Insein prison, run by Burma's military near Rangoon and used largely to repress political dissidents. He too is sceptical about Burma's political and economic opening since the spring of 2011. The regime's many promises, not always honoured, include the release of political prisoners, greater press freedom, theoretical guarantees of the right of public assembly, free trade unions, overtures towards ethnic-minority armed groups, deregulation of the economy, and privatisation of some state companies. |
| In 1993 Aung Zaw launched Irrawady, a fortnightly magazine that has now been replaced by a website of the same name. "We plan to open a small office in Rangoon, but [...] it is still early days for the democratic transition," he says. "We will not compromise ourselves with the government and we will not accept any censorship." Aung Zaw has met several senior officials during recent trips to Burma after 24 years away. "I don't think the Burmese people are in a position to fully participate in these changes," he says. | In 1993 Aung Zaw launched Irrawady, a fortnightly magazine that has now been replaced by a website of the same name. "We plan to open a small office in Rangoon, but [...] it is still early days for the democratic transition," he says. "We will not compromise ourselves with the government and we will not accept any censorship." Aung Zaw has met several senior officials during recent trips to Burma after 24 years away. "I don't think the Burmese people are in a position to fully participate in these changes," he says. |
| He acknowledges that Burma's president, Thein Sein, is "sincere" and a "real reformer". But Aung Zaw, much as other opponents of the regime, has doubts about the prospects of the army exiting the political arena. "Thein Sein has taken big risks with regard to the hardliners in the government and he's walking a tightrope," he explains. "The process he has initiated, first to distance Burma from China, and then to improve relations with the international community, is still fragile." | He acknowledges that Burma's president, Thein Sein, is "sincere" and a "real reformer". But Aung Zaw, much as other opponents of the regime, has doubts about the prospects of the army exiting the political arena. "Thein Sein has taken big risks with regard to the hardliners in the government and he's walking a tightrope," he explains. "The process he has initiated, first to distance Burma from China, and then to improve relations with the international community, is still fragile." |
| The representatives of Burma's ethnic minorities, some of whom are also based in Chiang Mai, also have trouble coming to terms with the "peace with honour" offered by a government still largely dominated by former generals. | The representatives of Burma's ethnic minorities, some of whom are also based in Chiang Mai, also have trouble coming to terms with the "peace with honour" offered by a government still largely dominated by former generals. |
| Khuensai Jaiyen belongs to the large Shan minority and is now managing editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News, after serving as one of the spokesmen for Khun Sa, the former guerrilla leader and opium lord. "The agreements to end hostilities signed at the beginning of the year between the Burmese authorities and the two main Shan armed groups – the Shan State Army-South and the rival Shan State Army-North – have been violated more than 50 times. It is questionable whether this still counts as a ceasefire," he says. "But I must admit that I'm not a pessimist, more a realist regarding the prospects for peace." | Khuensai Jaiyen belongs to the large Shan minority and is now managing editor of the Shan Herald Agency for News, after serving as one of the spokesmen for Khun Sa, the former guerrilla leader and opium lord. "The agreements to end hostilities signed at the beginning of the year between the Burmese authorities and the two main Shan armed groups – the Shan State Army-South and the rival Shan State Army-North – have been violated more than 50 times. It is questionable whether this still counts as a ceasefire," he says. "But I must admit that I'm not a pessimist, more a realist regarding the prospects for peace." |
| Lahpaï Nawdin, a former schoolteacher who now edits the Kachin News website, fully endorses this view. He stresses that there is no sign of any negotiations or agreement between the government and the Kachin Independence Organisation, a guerrilla group defending the interests of this ethnic group based in the far north of Burma. With more than 60 years of fighting between the army and minority groups, and 50 years of hostility between dissidents and the junta from which the new government emerged, national reconciliation is bound to be a long, tortuous process. | Lahpaï Nawdin, a former schoolteacher who now edits the Kachin News website, fully endorses this view. He stresses that there is no sign of any negotiations or agreement between the government and the Kachin Independence Organisation, a guerrilla group defending the interests of this ethnic group based in the far north of Burma. With more than 60 years of fighting between the army and minority groups, and 50 years of hostility between dissidents and the junta from which the new government emerged, national reconciliation is bound to be a long, tortuous process. |
| This article originally appeared in Le Monde | This article originally appeared in Le Monde |
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