Myanmar Regime Again Bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi From Honoring Father on Martyrs’ Day

Posted by Asia Views | Jul 20, 2023 | 0 |

Irrawaddy-July 19

The Myanmar junta barred jailed popular leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi from attending Wednesday’s commemoration of Martyrs’ Day, which honors of her father—assassinated independence hero General Aung San—and his slain colleagues, while continuing to deny the event state-level status, a policy it revived from previous regimes. Martyrs’ Day marks an important event on the Myanmar calendar, commemorating the assassinations of Gen. Aung San and eight colleagues on July 19, 1947.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has not been allowed to mark the annual event since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021. Nor has junta boss Min Aung Hlaing attended the Martyrs’ Day commemoration. Last year’s event was attended by deputy junta chief Soe Win. But this year, the regime downgraded the event, sending only Deputy Prime Minister and Transportation Minister Tin Aung San to attend. Under the National League for Democracy government, Martyrs’ Day was celebrated as a national event attended by the head of state. Min Aung Hlaing and then Vice-President Myint Swe (who has been serving as acting president of the regime) joined Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and then President U Win Myint at the annual ceremony from 2016 to 2020. The NLD revived Martyrs’ Day as a state-level event in 2016 after winning the general election the previous year. Min Aung Hlaing attended, becoming the first army chief to join the annual ceremony since the student-led uprisings of 1988.

The first Martyrs’ Day event after the coup was attended by the junta’s religious affairs and culture minister. By sending a relatively minor official, the regime downgraded the event, just as its predecessors, the State Law and Order Restoration Council and the State Peace and Development Council, had done. The 78-year-old Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who is being held in solitary confinement in Naypyitaw Prison, has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison. Resistance forces staged anti-junta protests in Yangon, Mandalay, Monywa, Hpakant, Magwe, Gangaw and elsewhere to mark Martyrs’ Day. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmar-regime-again-bars-daw-aung-san-suu-kyi-from-honoring-father-on-martyrs-day.html

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EXTRICATING NDONESIAN CHILDREN FROM ISIS INFLUENCE ABROAD

Indonesia urgently needs to revisit the possibility of repatriating the neediest of its young citizens stranded abroad, whose families had earlier joined ISIS. Most of these children are in camps in northern Syria but there are also small numbers in the Philippines, Afghanistan and Iraq. “Extricating Indonesian Children from ISIS Influence Abroad”, the latest report from the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) argues that the government could begin by bringing back small groups of unaccompanied children under ten years of age, who pose minimal security risk and are most vulnerable to deteriorating conditions in the camps.“The problem is that health and security conditions are worsening by the day in the Syrian camps, and the children are growing older,” says Dyah Kartika, IPAC analyst. “They need access to schools, a nurturing environment, and medical attention. If the government waits too long, the children will be further exposed to ISIS ideology.” The new report examines a 2019 list of Indonesians in camps and prisons run by the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The Indonesian government has been trying to verify their citizenship, but with pseudonyms, misspellings and bad transliterations, it is a daunting task. At the time the data was collected, between March and June 2019, there were 555 Indonesians in SDF camps and prisons, including 367 children. Among the children, approximately 277 were under the age of ten and 34 were unaccompanied. In June 2021, there are fewer than ten children who are both unaccompanied and under the age of ten that could be prioritized for return. Bringing back children of ISIS families is no easy task. The report analyses the main challenges faced by the Indonesian government. These include definitional issues, bureaucratic competition, the difficulty of verifying nationality, evaluating the toll of exposure to conflict, assessing security risk, and finding relatives or others willing to provide care once the children are returned. In addition, COVID has meant stringent restrictions on travel, placing further obstacles in the way of repatriation. There are several models for rehabilitation of children exposed to violent extremism in Indonesia that could be modified to accommodate the needs of children repatriated from abroad. The report examines these models and argues that the government does not need to have every detail of rehabilitation programs in place before it starts extricating children from ISIS influence. It can start by bringing back the most vulnerable children and then modify programs as needed.

“It’s important that the government see these children as victims” says Dyah. “They deserve a chance to be children again.”

Myanmar Regime Again Bars Daw Aung San Suu Kyi From Honoring Father on Martyrs’ Day

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