[Reuters]――For the past three months in Myanmar, state-owned newspapers have published six or seven daily notices from families declaring isolation from their sons, daughters, dads, and grandchildren. The reason is that he is openly opposed to the military government that controls this country.
It was November last year that “insulation notices” began to be posted so frequently. It was triggered by the announcement that the armed forces, which had defeated the democratically elected government in a coup d’etat in February of the same year and took control, seized the assets of the opposition and arrested those who concealed the protesters. Shortly after the announcement, dozens of forced investigations were conducted on ordinary households.
Reuters confirmed about 570 insulation notices, but one of the children who was cut off from his parents quit his car salesman and joined an armed group that resisted the junta. It’s Bo Bo (26).
In a notice published in the national newspaper “The Mirror” in November by parents San Win and Tin Ting Saw, “Declaring that parents and children will be cut off from Lin Lin Bo Bo. I don’t listen to my parents at all. “
Lin Lin Bo Bo, who fled Myanmar and lives in a Thai city near the border, told Reuters that his mother had isolated him after soldiers searched his parents’ house to arrest him. He said he was. A few days later, he said he shed tears when he saw a notice in the newspaper.
“My friends tried to cheer me up that my family couldn’t help because of the pressure from the junta. Still, it was very hurt.”
I tried to interview my parents, but the comment was rejected.
The tactics targeting families of dissident activists are the ones used by the Myanmar junta during the turmoil of the 2007 and late 1980s. However, according to human rights group executive Wai Huginn Pwint Son, the frequency has increased overwhelmingly since the coup d’etat on February 1, 2021. He is a senior executive in charge of awareness at the Burma Campaign UK (Burma is the former name of Myanmar, a former British colony).
Officially announcing family isolation as a measure against crackdowns has a long tradition in Myanmar’s culture, and more and more such notices are being published in the media, he said.
“Families are afraid to be involved in crime,” he said. “I don’t want to be arrested and I don’t want to get into trouble.”
I also contacted a spokesman for the Armed Forces, but did not get an answer. Spokesperson Tsou Min Tung of the Armed Forces may be prosecuted at a press conference in November if it is determined that even those who made such a declaration on paper are supporting resistance to military affairs. I commented that there was.
A year ago, hundreds of thousands of people went out to protest the coup in Myanmar. Many were young people. After the military suppressed violent demonstrators, some protesters either fled the country or dumped themselves in armed groups in the remote villages of the country. These groups, called the “National Defense Corps,” are loosely in solidarity with the “national unity government” of the pro-democracy forces.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), a human rights group, security forces have killed about 1,500 people, mainly protesters, and arrested nearly 12,000 over the past year. The Armed Forces claim that these numbers are exaggerated.
Journalist So Piyai Aung told Reuters that he filmed an armed police officer wielding a baton and a shield to dispel protests and live-streamed it on the news site Democratic Voice of Burma. Due to the increased search of the authorities, he hid in various parts of the country and then fled to Thailand with his wife and young child. In November his father declared insulation.
In a notice published by his father, Tin Aung Ko, in the state-run newspaper “Myanmar Alin,” he declared that he was isolated from his son because he was engaged in unforgivable activities against his parents’ will. , I will not take any responsibility in the future. “
“I was a little sad when I saw the newspaper telling me that I was isolated,” So Piyai Aung told Reuters. “But it’s understandable that her parents were afraid of pressure from the junta. Maybe she was worried that her home would be confiscated or arrested.”
His father, Tin Aung Ko, declined to comment.
The two parents, who had been cut off from their children by a similar notice, responded to Reuters on condition of anonymity for fear of attracting the attention of the military government. The notice was solely to send a message to the authorities that they should not be held accountable for their children’s behavior.
“My daughter is doing what she believes, but I’m sure she’s worried if we get into trouble,” said one mother. She said, “I think she understands what I did.”
“I want to end this revolution as soon as possible,” said Lin Lin Bo Bo, hoping to return home and support his family.
Human rights activist Wai Huginn Pwint Son said that some of these torn families could have such a reunion. “It’s actually legally meaningless unless you properly prepare a certificate through a lawyer,” he said. “In a few years, I’ll be back in my family again.”
But journalist So Piyai Aung fears that the separation from his parents will continue forever.
“I haven’t even returned home since the revolution,” he said. “I’m always very worried because I’ve left his parents under the junta.”
(Translation: Acrelen)
