Wednesday 3 October 2007

BBC: Burmese monks 'to be sent away'

Get this:

Thousands of monks detained in Burma's main city of Rangoon will be sent to prisons in the far north of the country, sources have told the BBC.

About 4,000 monks have been rounded up in the past week as the military government has tried to stamp out pro-democracy protests.

They are being held at a disused race course and a technical college.


Sources from a government-sponsored militia said they would soon be moved away from Rangoon.


The monks have been disrobed and shackled, the sources told BBC radio's Burmese service. There are reports that the monks are refusing to eat.

(etc...)


The authorities said 10 people were killed as the protests were dispersed, though diplomats and activists say the number of dead was many times higher.


The banned opposition broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma has issued a picture which they say shows the body of a monk floating near the mouth of the Rangoon river.


Last week several monasteries were raided, and there were reports of monks being beaten and killed.


With many monks behind bars, the demonstrations have now died down.


On Monday, the centre of Rangoon was almost back to normal, a reporter, who cannot be identified for security reasons, told the BBC.

(etc...)

The atmosphere in Rangoon is tense, the reporter said. Local people are well aware that the monks have been locked away and are afraid that they will be next.


The crackdown, in which unarmed protesters were beaten, tear-gassed, and shot at, has attracted condemnation from abroad, and even from Burma's neighbours in the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean).

(etc..)


That's just wrong. They're monks. Their whole way of life is about peace. What is this going to turn out like? The answer to the "Monkish question"? Are they being shipped off to concentration camps where they will be forced into labour until a "Final Solution" is come up with? Jesus (AS).

The people of Rangoon need to continue demonstrating until they let the monks go. This is unacceptable.

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