The international community must urgently intervene in Myanmar before there is widespread bloodshed, warns a Myanmar democracy activist.
Henry Soe-Win, spokesperson for the Democracy for Burma network, said the stand-off between the ruling Burmese military junta and thousands of protesters, including Buddhist monks and nuns who have filled the streets of the former capital Rangoon, is at a critical juncture. (Myanmar is was originally called Burma: it was renamed by the ruling military junta in 1988.)
"We are calling for help, from outside," Mr Soe Win told The Epoch Times. "The international community should act, otherwise the regime will act. They are preparing to crackdown, brutally. I am sure that sooner or later it will happen."
The protest, which was sparked by students reacting to inflation and an unexplained 500 per cent rise in fuel prices, has escalated over the last week to become the largest gathering of protesters since the pro-democracy demonstrations of September 8, 1988.
The military opened fire on that day, leaving an estimated 3000 dead. The generals at the time vowed to never allow a protest of this size again, a vow they have maintained through brutal suppression of any form of discontent.
Myanmar Monks Leading Demonstrations
According to The Daily Telegraph, the present stand-off is being driven by the previously unknown All-Burma Monks Alliance, which may have caught the military junta off-guard.
The monkhood has been heavily controlled by "Government monks" in the past and the presence of so many monks may pose a dilemma for the military.
Over 80 per cent of Myanmar citizens are practising Buddhists and many are highly superstitious, including the military and ruling generals. Buddhist authorities have said that monks will not accept alms from soldiers, which will prevent them from "making merit" and fulfilling their religious obligations.
Around 5000 monks have been joined by 150 nuns and now tens of thousands of supporters, the BBC reported.
The monks prayed briefly with detained opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi last weekend, but no- one has been able to explain why she was able to appear in public or why the monks were able to proceed past roadblocks to the gates of her house.
Ms Suu Kyi, as leader of the National League for Democracy party, won an overwhelming majority of the vote in Burmese elections in 1990. The military junta, however, would not hand over control and she has been under some form of military detention for 12 of the last 18 years. Her appearance over the weekend was her first public appearance since 2003.
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Mr Soe-Win, who now lives in Australia, believes the apparent leniency may be linked to pressure on the Myanmar military from the Chinese Communist Party, which does not want to be associated with a bloodbath before the Beijing Olympics.
Most of northern Myanmar is run by the Chinese regime, which props up the military with trade, he said.
"They are selling hydropower and also gas energy. They are also building roads. Like they did with the Tibetans, they are invading Burma."
China, along with Russia, has for many years blocked the United Nations Security Council from taking action against the Myanmar military junta.
Mr Soe-Win said Myanmar used to be "the rice exporter of Asia", but with the military running the country and despite a lucrative gem and timber industry, the country is in economic disarray. There is a food crisis, he said, living conditions are appalling and corruption is rife. The recent protests are a sign of desperation.
"They [the Burmese people] have got no choice because people are starving," he said. "Instead of dying in their houses, they get out on the street."
U.S. President George Bush specifically mentioned Myanmar as an area of concern at the recent APEC meetings in Sydney. The US, the only country with comprehensive sanctions against Burma, has announced further sanctions this week.
Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has ruled out sanctions, but has called on the military junta to open dialogue with opposition activists.
"The military leadership should now begin genuine negotiations with all of the political parties, not least the National League for Democracy, towards real constitutional change," Mr Downer said on ABC.
The U.N.'s special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is expected to visit Myanmar in the first two weeks of October so as to report back to the Security Council.
Mr Soe-Win says he supports the protester's determination to have Ms Suu Kyi free and all political prisoners released from jail.
"I have heard from the monks that they are determined to go ahead till the end of the military regime," he said.
He is concerned the international community is just "paying lip service" to the plight of the Myanmar people and without international intervention, he is fearful of what might happen.
"I don't think the regime will give the power back to the people," he said. "Most of the people fear that this thing [the military crackdown] will happen again because the military don't care; they use a real bullet and they shoot you down."
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