“You are not forgotten.”-Aung San Suu Kyi to Burmese refugees in Thailand

Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to the Asian nation of Thailand on Tuesday, her first trip outside of Burma (Myanmar) in twenty-four years, according to the New York Times.

Sherry O’Keefe, author of Champion of Freedom: Aung San Suu Kyi, wrote that “Suu Kyi is widely and affectionately known in Burma.” During her trip, Suu Kyi visited Burmese refugees working in Thailand.

The New York Times reported, “When word got out that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi… would visit this gritty town on the Gulf of Thailand, the mood became electric in the massive fish and shrimp processing plants where some Burmese eke out a living and where she is a heroine to many.”

According to the New York Times, one refugee said, “She is hope. We hope our country’s economy gets better and we’ll be able to return.”

O’Keefe wrote, “She remains as determined as ever to see Burma emerge from its isolation and join the family of democratic nations in the world.”

Suu Kyi told the refugee workers:

Please believe that as our country’s situation gets better and develops more, our value as workers will increase, and people’s perspectives on us will also change for the better. I would like to let you know that you are not forgotten….May you prosper with health, wealth and be free from danger. And may you be able to come home soon.

“Through it all, Suu Kyi has never let fear dissuade her from fighting for what she believes is right,” O’Keefe wrote, “‘Freedom and democracy,’ Suu Kyi says, ‘are dreams you never give up.’”

Adrianne Loggins
Associate Editor

For more information about Aung San Suu Kyi and Burma, check out Sherry O’Keefe’s Champion of Freedom: Aung San Suu Kyi (ISBN 9781599351681)