Monday, May 25, 2009

Burmese Buddhist monks from the 2007 Saffron Revolution


Rights Rally

We are a religious and social service provider organization staffed by and composed of Burmese Buddhist monks from the 2007 Saffron Revolution. We are currently supporting and providing assistance to refugee monks inside and outside of Burma.

The A.B.M.A was formed by a group of senior monks as a response to the severe economic and social problems existing in Burma in 2007. The A.B.M.A. leaders are recognized as the primary organizers and coordinators of the activities of the so-called Saffron Revolution in September, 2007. In a very dramatic way, the world was reminded again of the Burmese people’s struggle for democracy. The peaceful marches, demonstrations and rallies led by the saffron-robed monks were ultimately met by violent reactions of the Burmese military regime.

Since that time there has been less media attention to the ongoing problems in Burma. However, as a result of their activities in September 2007, thousands of monks and individual citizens have suffered from the reaction and repression of the military regime. Some monks were arrested and tortured, and remain in prison. Some went into hiding inside Burma, and others left Burma as refugees. The A.B.M.A has established an assistance network for these internal and external refugees, both monks and civilian democracy activists. We hope that through the support of sympathetic organizations and individuals we will be able to continue and to expand on the important work we are doing.

Exiled Burmese monks living in Thailand, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are supported by the A.B.M.A. main office in Mae Sot, Thailand. Groups of exiled monks are also living in refugee status in various cities around the United States, supported by our monastery in Utica, New York.

Objectives:

  • To maintain our support for the assistance network for monks, both inside and outside of Burma
  • To promote democracy inside Burma, especially in order to defend and preserve the religious and cultural foundations of the nation
  • To fulfill the customary role of Burmese monks by distributing reading material and sponsoring meetings and discussions on Buddhist beliefs, practices and education
  • To maintain and update the database of targeted and refugee monks. We have compiled a list of monks under threat, and we will continue to monitor and document information about them from inside Burma.
  • To support and expand the existing educational programs for both monks and needy families inside Burma. We are trying to procure assistance for educational facilities, schools and training programs for the monks and needy families inside Burma.

The A.B.M.A. branch in New York will support and help all exiled monks residing in the United States. Two senior monks oversee the entire operation. These senior monks will coordinate activities with other democracy activist organizations to eventually work toward a peaceful, non-violent political transition in Burma.

We are currently serving and supporting about 100 monks. We believe that there are up to 250 more monks who are unsupported and in need. About fifty are in exile and about 200 are inside Burma and targeted by the government. They and about 300 additional democracy activists, including family members, are vulnerable to repressive actions by the regime.

We are part of the All Burma Democratic Alliance, an umbrella organization that also includes activist group partners such as Generation Wave, the New Generation Movement for Justice, the Democratic Front of the Patriots, and Best Myayawzar. We collaborate with and support these organizations on many social, political and other activities to help the monks and the people in Burma. However, since the government views any interaction or even communication among monasteries with great suspicion, we have only very limited abilities to collaborate with any other social or religious organization inside Burma. We must rely on our own trusted, confidential internal network to accomplish our work.

We are an ally of the International Burmese Monks Organization. However, the role, activities, contacts, and resources of the All Burma Monks’ Alliance are unique, and are not duplicated by the IBMO or any of the other members of the umbrella organization.


We are seeking support to continue helping those Buddhist monks and non-violent democracy activists who are under assault inside Burma and those who have escaped from Burma.

ABMA Monks at Amnesty International Rally

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