Ma Lwin Lwin and her husband Ko Lu Maw Naing have been living in Nu Po refugee camp in Thailand since August 2008. Being the sister of U Gambira, one of the leaders of the 2007 Saffron Revolution, meant that Ma Lwin and her family members experienced continuous harassment and persecution from the Burmese military [...]

Peace Campaign & Saffron Revolution Ashin Sopaka at the Discussion after the Burma VJ Screening in Berlin on June 25th 2010

On June 19th we celebrate not only Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday, it is also U Gambira’s 31 birthday. He became well known as one of the leaders of the Saffron Revolution in 2007. His actions inspired and gave hope to many Burmese, creating a new generation of human rights and democracy activists. [...]

In 2007, 100.000 Burmese monks took to the streets, touched by the ongoing suffering of the people in Burma under the military rule. Peacefully chanting the Metta Sutta and asking for a dialog. Joined by ten thousands of ordinary people it became the biggest call for Democracy in Burma’s history since 1988. U Gambira and [...]

“The regime’s use of mass arrests, murder, torture and imprisonment has failed to extinguish our desire for the freedom that was stolen from us so many years ago. We have taken their best punch. We adhere to nonviolence, but our spine is made of steel.” [1]

I met the Burmese monk Ashin Kesara in Mae Sot. We traveled together the strenuous six-hour tour to No Phu refugee camp in Umphang District, Tak Province, where he is living as the abbot of a small monastery since more than two years now. He escaped to Thailand in December 2007. Two months after Burma’s [...]

“Massenverhaftungen, Mord, Folter und Inhaftierung durch das burmesische Regime konnten unsere Sehnsucht nach der Freiheit, die uns vor so vielen Jahren gestohlen wurde, nicht nehmen. Wie haben ihren stärksten Schlag verkraftet. Nun sind es die Generäle, die die Folgen ihrer Taten fürchten müssen. Wir halten uns an gewaltlosen Widerstand, aber unser Rückrad ist aus Stahl.” [...]