Opinion ID: 1394925
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Aung's Testimony

Text: Aung lived in Rangoon, the capital of Burma, and opposed the military governmental regime. [1] He supported the National League for Democracy (NLD), although he was not a member. In 1988, Aung participated in a large-scale popular Burmese uprising in protest of the government by joining a student hunger-strike. Aung faced no government retaliation for this protest. In 1996, Aung began work as a crewman on a ship. His job took him out to sea for long stretches of time. In 1997, port officials requested a bribe from Aung upon his return from sea. When Aung refused, the officials confiscated his passport and seaman's identity card. This interfered with his ability to work as a seaman. In 1998, some acquaintances of Aung's from the 1988 uprising contacted him and asked if he would join them in a ten-year anniversary rally. Aung was pleased to do so. He and the others spread the word that they planned to march to downtown Rangoon. The day that the rally was to take place, August 8, 1998, Aung went to a tea shop to meet with other protesters. Before they could begin their march, military trucks surrounded them and the protestors were arrested. During his detention, Aung was interrogated, kicked, punched, and beaten. He was very frightened. Aung repeatedly claimed that he had only gone to the tea shop to purchase a cup of coffee. After three days, Aung was released and warned to stay away from political activities and associated people. In 1999, Aung purchased back his passport and seaman's license. He set sail in 2000, stopping in different ports around the world, and did not return to Burma until June 2002. During his seafaring travels, Aung met some students in Thailand who were interested in the issue of forced labor in Burma. Aung explained that the Burmese government commonly used forced labor in the country's rural areas. The students proposed that they exchange information and Aung agreed to gather information on forced labor and send it to the students. He also agreed to bring the students' newsletters and other documents urging democracy's return to Burma. Upon arriving in Burma, Aung photocopied the students' materials and distributed them to his close friends and family. When he returned to Burma in 2002, Aung lived with his sister in Rangoon. He called upon his relatives, including a cousin, to gather information on forced labor in the countryside surrounding the small town in which his mother lived. Once he received information from his family, Aung then passed it along to a friend who regularly traveled to Thailand. His friend delivered the information, and messages from Aung, to the students in Thailand. Aung sent information to Thailand twice; the first such transaction took place in July 2002. Later that year, the police called Aung and other known supporters of democracy to the local station and warned them to stay away from politics. The officers did not mention Aung's forced labor information exchange. Aung's cousin was arrested by Burmese officials later that year. Aung had no information regarding the reasons for, or circumstances surrounding, this arrest. He believed it may have had something to do with the forced labor information that his cousin sent to him. Fearing that he might be next, Aung hid at a friend's home in the Rangoon suburbs. While in hiding, he heard, by word of mouth, that military intelligence officers had been looking for him at his mother's home and also in Rangoon. He also heard that his mother had been threatened with arrest and the closure of her business. Aung feared for his safety and contacted a broker to request assistance in fleeing the country. Aung left Burma on January 28, 2003. He traveled through several European countries, Mexico, and eventually arrived in Texas. Aung has spoken to his mother and sister by telephone since his flight from Burma. They informed him that the authorities had visited his mother's home on two occasions and that officials had detained, interrogated and threatened his mother in their effort to locate Aung.