Refugee from Myanmar gives back to Japan
Early one morning in April, we received word from Aung Myat Win, a 36-year-old refugee from Myanmar, that he was going to be in Tokyo.
"I'm going to Tokyo to deliver a donation for the victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake," he said. He was going to present 200,000 yen that he and close to 10 of his fellow refugees had earned working part-time jobs to a Diet member from Miyagi Prefecture.
Win was among the second group of students accepted by Kwansei Gakuin University in Hyogo Prefecture on a special refugee scholarship established in cooperation with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Currently a fourth-year student, Win also is the editor-in-chief of free paper Peace Wings Journal, which aims to spread the word about ongoing developments in Myanmar.
Win was captured by authorities in Myanmar for his participation in the democracy movement and subsequently let go, after which he secretly left for Japan. In 2002, he was arrested on suspicion of illegally staying in Japan, and was held at an Immigration Bureau detention center for two years. Although he was later granted refugee status, Win continued to struggle with fears he faced for years of being deported -- and it was only natural that he harbored mixed feelings about Japan.
A few words from the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, however, whom he spoke to late last year in a phone interview, completely wiped away his ambivalence toward Japan.
"What you must not forget is gratitude toward the country that has granted you asylum," she said. Seeing the media coverage of the devastation caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami, Win knew that it was a chance for him to give back to Japan. He considered going to the disaster sites to volunteer.
In "Letter from Burma: A Few Poems" written by Suu Kyi in the April 23 issue of the Mainichi, she revealed that she unfortunately was "not in a position to offer material aid," and instead decided along with other people from Myanmar to compile a collection of poems that would "go some way toward expressing how much at one we feel with the Japanese people in their dark hour."
Japan faces great hardships. The hard-earned donations collected by refugees and the poems of courage sent to us by their compatriots back home, however, remind us that we are not in this alone. ("Yoroku," a front-page column in the Mainichi Shimbun)
Click here for the original Japanese story
(Mainichi Japan) May 2, 2011
余録：ミャンマー難民の義援金
「これから東京に行って、東日本大震災の義援金を贈ります」。知人のミャンマー難民、アウンミャッウィンさん（３６）から先月早朝、連絡が入った。１０人近い難民仲間がアルバイトで稼いだ２０万円を、宮城出身の旧知の国会議員に手渡すという▲ウィンさんは関西学院大が国連難民高等弁務官事務所（ＵＮＨＣＲ）と提携して始めた難民受け入れ制度の第２期生で、現在４年生。母国の現状を伝えるフリーペーパー「平和の翼ジャーナル」の編集長も務める▲民主化運動に加わって捕まり、釈放後、ひそかに出国して日本へ。０２年に不法滞在容疑で逮捕され、入国管理局の施設に２年間収容された。その後難民認定されたが、強制送還への恐怖は今も心にこびりつく。だから、日本には複雑な感情があった▲そんな思いを変えたのが、昨年暮れに電話インタビューした民主化運動指導者、アウンサンスーチーさんの一言だ。「忘れてはいけないのは、自分が亡命している国に感謝すること」。大震災のニュースを見て、今こそ日本に恩返しする時だと心に決めた。被災地に行ってボランティアもするつもりだ▲スーチーさんは小紙に連載する「ビルマからの手紙」（先月２３日付）で、日本に救援物資を送る余裕がない事情を打ち明けながら、同志の活動家らから募った詩を紹介している。「日本が立ち上がる時、私たちの詩が支えになればと願う」の言葉を添えて▲日本は苦境の中にあるが、世界で孤立しているわけではない。難民たちが懸命に集めた義援金と、南国から寄せられた人々を勇気付ける詩は、そのことを改めて私たちに気付かせてくれる。
英訳毎日新聞 2011年5月2日 0時06分
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