Young Shan monks call for flexibility

Young Shan monks call for flexibility

Human Rights

Following unprecedented actions against alien Buddhist monks which involved manhandling, forced deposition and deportation, by Thai law enforcement officials, a newly formed Shan monk's group is preparing a petition to the Thai secular and religious authorities for more conciliatory measures towards monks who are in the Buddhist-dominant kingdom for the purpose of learning. 

At the meeting held in Chiangmai, 24 September, Young Shan Monks for Education, led by Phra Maha Uthit Thitapunyo, resolved to appeal to the government to specify zones where monks from neighboring countries would be allowed to attend monastic schools and higher learning institutions. 

"We shall be responsible for keeping close monitoring on those who are studying in Thailand," said a draft of the petition. 

The petition is the result of government crackdown that began last month. 

On 28 August, Nongkhaem Temple in Bangkok's Bangkhunthien district was raided. "Thirty-two of the detained novices and monks who were disrobed and deported were Shans," said a monk attending the meeting. "The rest, 26 of them, were Mons and Cambodians." 

According to reports at the meeting, 189 temples with an estimated number of 8,000 alien clerics were targeted by Bangkok. "At least half of them were Shans," assured a senior monk from Fang. 

The crackdown had led to the dislocation of thousands of monks and novices who also lost their opportunity to continue their studies. "Some of them in Chonburi had been there for so long, since they were 7 years old, they had already lost their Shan fluency," another monk reported. 

However, not all were from Burma, according to YSME. In the first category are those whose parents were already naturalized citizens and therefore are Thai nationals. In the second are those who, though born in Thailand, have parents that hold various cards issued by the government, such as displaced person card (pink) and highlander card (blue) and therefore face several bureaucratic hurdles in continuing their studies outside districts where they are allowed to reside. And in the third are those who are studying without any identifications and hence bear the brunt of the ongoing campaign. 

"We hope, as a result of the petition, the government will review their policy towards us and be more tolerant," said a Shan monk born in Thailand. "After all, most Thais are Buddhists like us. And Buddhists are supposed to be more compassionate than followers of other faiths."