Burmese Monks Without Shelter

Narinjara News
February 1, 2008

Dhaka: Many Burmese monks who've recently arrived in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka from Burma to apply for refugee status with the UNHCR are facing trouble with finding shelter.

Monk U Payna Dissa said, “There is no accommodation for monks in Dhaka. We have difficulties staying in Dhaka when we come here to apply for refugee status at the UNHCR."

In Dhaka, there are a few Buddhist monasteries, but the Buddhist monks are unable to stay there because they do not have valid travel documents. The monasteries in Dhaka also worry that Bangladesh authorities might take action against them if the undocumented monks take shelter there.

Many monks in Burma have recently come to Bangladesh to escape arrest by the Burmese military authorities after the monk-led protests last fall.

Some Burmese refugees requested that the UNHCR office in Dhaka set up a room for the Burmese monks to stay in when they come to Dhaka to seek asylum, but the request was denied.

In Dhaka, there are a few offices belonging to democratic activists working for the Burmese democracy movement, and all offices are now crowded with many Burmese people who have fled Burma seeking safety after the Saffron Revolution.

The director of Narinjara News also reports that the Narinjara office will have to move to another location at the beginning of March as their landlord has refused to continue renting to them after so many people have had to come and stay there.

Other Burmese democratic activists in Dhaka are facing similar problems as Burmese people come to them for shelter.

U Payna Dissa has made a plea through Narinjara to democratic activists in exile, including monk organizations abroad, to consider how they can help the Burmese monks in Dhaka in finding shelter.