This image is from on myanmarmuslim.net, and the best reporting on it comes from Burma-Myanmar Genocide 2007 blog. There are other horrific pictures and narratives that have emerged out of Burma. Pictures that the military junta running the country does not want the world to see, and the establishment international press will not run.
The blog, ko htike, has been instrumental in getting reports out. In this entry they have a pictures of a dead and badly-bruised monk face down in the river, and a report from a commenter whereby two hundred monks were lined up by soldiers to have their heads bashed in against the walls of their monastery. Ko htike also has reports of people being cremated alive.
All of this might be mental torture to read. It certainly is mental torture to research and write. Still, I’ve characterized it this way knowing that it will make people remember Burma, just as I have. Hopefully they will be inspired to act.
I’ve written about Burma often, because Burmese migrants are the victims of horrible discrimination in Thailand. I write about in hopes that U.S. citizens make the connection between the 12 million migrants they are forcing to live in fear in their own country, and the migrants that are discriminated against all over the world. The unconscionable suffering that migrants suffer through is almost always legal and their migration is almost always the result of a greater global ill. In the case of the Burmese, is the military junta that has ruled the country ruthlessly for almost four decades now.
RickB over at Ten Percent is doing some of the best blogging on Burma. He takes on imperialism day in and day out. Burmese refugees live in horrible conditions in Thailand and RickB touches on it in this post:
The 141,000 Myanmar refugees in camps run by the Thai Ministry of Interior live in cramped bamboo shelters, dependent on UNHCR and non-governmental organizations for protection, food, schooling and health care. The Thai government does not allow them to venture out of the camps for work or higher education.
I also recommend reading Burma Underground which I have looked to for information on Burma ever since I started blogging.
If you’re looking for a way to take action on this one of the best resources is Avaaz.org. Almost a million people have signed a petition at Avaaz.org and they send out periodic action alerts on the situation in Burma. I’ve signed it and I encourage others to do the same.
