On May 10 Burma's citizens will vote on a referendum to either accept or reject the constitution drafted by the SPDC (State Peace Democracy Council), which if it passes, would further entrench the military government Burma has had since 1962.
In Ottawa, expatriate Burmese were allowed to vote on this referendum at the Burmese Embassy on April 25 and 26. While people were voting in the embassy on the second day, a group of about 90 Burmese and supporters demonstrated in front of the building. The majority of the Burmese demonstrators had escaped from Burma and moved to Canada as refugees. For that freedom they lost their Burmese citizenship and were not allowed to vote on the referendum.
They want the people of Burma to know that although the demonstrators live outside of Burma, they stand with the Burmese citizens on this issue and care about what happens in their home country.
Yé, Yint escaped from Burma through Thailand and arrived in Canada about 10 years ago as a refugee. His parents remain in Burma and are harassed by the authorities who still ask "where is your son?" "We want to say No to the Burmese military regime. We don't want the military government in our country. We want only elected people in parliament."
Htun, Htun Oo, agreed, "We want to send a message to Burmese people, from democratic people all over the world, that the military government is going to hold a referendum while drafting a constitution that is not based on democracy or human rights. So we urge the people in Burma to vote No to the referendum. The military government is always trying to legitimize the militarization of Burma."
The group sang the "Students Song for Freedom," and waved two flags: the student flag with its "stricken peacock" (the peacock is the national symbol of Burma) that was designed in 1930 to show resistance to British power, and the original Burmese flag used before the military junta took over the country.
Buddhist monk Ashin Ghosaka gave an inspirational speech about the need for people to keep harsh feelings from their hearts and to try to maintain a peaceful way of resolving the issues in Burma. He reiterated that people need to negotiate and that they are not against the government. He called for one minute of silence and then gave a blessing to the crowd.
Professor Bush Gulati, chair of the Committee for Restoration of Democracy in Burma said, "This military group seized power in 1962 pretending that they were going to save the country. What they have done in the 46 years they have been in power is they have reduced a once very rich country, perhaps one of the richest in southeast Asia, down to one of the poorest countries in the world begging for arms at the UN as a result of the 1988 student uprising. They have increased the army from a few thousand to one-half million today. Most of the budget goes to the group that has given themselves a very fancy name SPDC. In fact they are nothing more than crooks. What about the rest of the 55 million people in Burma? Now they have written a constitution and they are forcing people to say "yes"—if they say no they will face troubles."
In his remarks, Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International, asked when will the basic human rights of Burma's people be protected and respected? "There is absolutely no doubt that this constitutional process is designed to accomplish only one thing. This isn't about the people, this isn't about good governance, this isn't about a better future for Burma – this is only to deepen the harsh rule of the current government and further undermine and set back any hope of rights, justice, and democracy finally prevailing in Burma."
Amid concerns that the voting would not be counted properly, some hoped that the UN would be granted access to help monitor the voting so that all votes would be counted fairly. However, with Burma's flat refusal to admit UN agents, it seems unlikely that UN representatives will be allowed to participate. "How can it be that the United Nations offer to come and monitor the referendum process has been categorically rejected out of hand?" asked Alex Neve.
"This is not a constitutional referendum, this is a sham referendum. It is a referendum designed to perpetuate injustice."
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