Burma And Humanitarian Assistance

Gina Ponzi
Jan 23, 2008
1:13 pm
Speaking of Burma… A group of former political prisoners from Burma have rallied together to form a humanitarian aid group called the Assistance Association For Political Prisoners. The group, based just outside the Burmese border in Mae Sot, Thailand, assists imprisoned dissidents and their families by smuggling items such as food, clothing, medicine and money to inmates. Many of the workers of the Association are former prisoners, such as U Htay Aung, who tells of his harrowing experiences living in cold, overcrowded, unsanitary, and violent prison cells. Mr. Aung contracted tuberculosis during his seven years of imprisonment, and was rendered incapable of relating his condition to prison guards due to the extremity of his condition. Unable to speak, Mr. Aung decided to make his condition quite apparent by filling an entire cup with coughed up blood. Despite the clarity of his message, however somebody still missed the point: he was transferred to the leprosy ward.
This account is simply one of hundreds and thousands of imprisoned dissenters. And, apparently, the government knows no class distinction: inmates range from lawyers to nuns to ice cream venders. Their crime? Anything from participating in a protest to writing a journal article. The Assistance Association receives a budget of $200,000 per year from the United State’s National Endowment For Democracy, private donors and the Dutch government; money goes towards bribing guards, releasing prisoners and providing financial relief for their families. However, after reading the article, I cannot help but wonder why this amount isn’t higher, and why it is that certain donors contribute. Is it out of moral obligation or financial interest? If economic interests in Burma were promising for more nations, perhaps it would be. But never mind the financial aspect: two thousand dollars for freedom is a small price to pay.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/world/asia/18prisoner.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&sq=human%20rights,%20burma%20&st=cse&scp=3&adxnnlx=1232686601-zMF/pM1/yQELineDvMEdOw