| Monday, November 29, 2010 |
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| Phyu Phyu Thin (Photo: Myat Moe Maung) |
The next day the authorities ordered the patients to be transferred to a similar facility run by the government in Thaketa Township. The authorities later temporarily suspended the order. The Irrawaddy reporter Aye Chan Myate talked with Phyu Phyu Thin about the closure order.
Question: What are the most recent developments regarding the order to transfer the patients under your care?
Answer: We won't move. But of course we are being pressured. As a citizen, every person living here can lawfully stay according to their rights to be issued an overnight-stay pass [required by the law]. That is a right which Snr-Gen Than Shwe himself endorsed.
Q: How were you informed about the transfer order?
A: They said the government has arranged for the patients to be in the hospital. But I heard there are only six patients in Thaketa Hospital. They said we must move and will not be allowed to stay here any longer. No one wants to move. They want to stay. For the time being, we do not have a plan to move out. They also said that patients who carry infectious disease should not live within the community and asked community members to sign a petition, but they refused.
Q: When was the transfer order issued? And when was the petition circulated?
A: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited here on Nov.17 and the order was issued on Nov. 18. The petition was prepared on Nov. 19.
Q: What do you think prompted the sudden government order to transfer the patients?
A: It was coincident with the visit of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We faced an order to transfer before, but this time it was different. I assume that they think they can do whatever they want. In my view, the government should not pressure these vulnerable people. We need to help them. We need to work together for them. I can work with either NGOs or the government, but it must be based on good intentions. They are not well-intentioned. What they are doing right now is intimidating the patients rather than helping them.
Q: What is Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's view on what happened?
A: She is well informed. We are preparing to face it in the legal arena. She is upset because she wanted to do many things for the patients. She promised during her visit that she would try to seek assistance including medicine and other logistics. So she is sad that she can not deliver on her promise right now. The patients were excited, and they expected a lot.
Q: Have you experienced similar harassment before, the claim that infectious diseases could endanger the community?
A: Yes, we have. Landlords were intimidated to withdraw our lease or they could face arrests. In one case, we had to move out before our lease expired for the sake of the landlord. We know the landlord was sympathetic to the patients and our work, but they couldn't resist the pressure. In some cases, patients were forcibly taken to government-run hospitals on the account of a government order. We have experienced such events before. Our current residence is not a rental property, but our own house. So since they can't find a way to intimidate the landlord, they are trying to intimidate the patients who, nevertheless, don't want to comply.
Q: Would it be better for the patients in the hospital in terms of medication?
A: Here I want to say something. I was not around during the 2007 Saffron Revolution. When there were mass arrests of monks, there were some patients taking refuge in a monastery. And one male and one female patient lived there who urgently needed medical attention, but they were denied admission to a hospital and taken back to their village on the same night. They died soon after that. It really happened. I have never heard that patients who were transferred to a government hospital were well provided for.
Q: Do the patients know about such things?
A: They do. Patients have to buy everything they need, including needles. They don’t' get anything from the hospital free. I told the patients that it is all up to them. I really do not want to push them to a place that I know is not right for them. I don't want to see them suffer. Their decision is "no." They know the situation well.
Q: What are the other conditions in the hospital where they want the patients transferred?
A: I was told that patients were provided some meat, but they had to cook for themselves. Patients have to buy their own drinking water. Many patients are fully aware of the conditions there, and they don't want to go.
Q: Are there other reasons the patients do not want to go to the government-run hospital?
A: Here in our shelter we do not separate the patients. We all live here as a real family. I believe that they like the way they live here. They can feel it. We talk to each other frankly. We listen to their personal feelings, including family matters. And we try to help as much as we can. So they trust us. Patients here talk about everything from personal trouble to their business. We pay close attention to their accounts.
Q: How many patients are currently living at the shelter?
A: More than 100 patients. We are not able to provide fully for them, but they are doing fine.
Q: How will you respond if you are forcibly moved by the authorities?
A: We have already prepared everything, including a lawsuit. We won't accept it if they use force against the will of the patients. We always stand with the patients whenever we've faced such harassment. We have to defend them. Once again, we will firmly stand with them. It should be the choice of a patient. They have clearly expressed that they want to stay here.