He escaped from the military coup after being called in the middle of the night. From exile in a secret place in Europe, the minister from Myanmar’s exile government has come to Norway with a prayer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Telenor.
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U Aung Myo Min har had been in exile before, even after the military coup in 1988, he had to flee his homeland.
as a human rights activist in Myanmar, he immediately realized that he would be in danger when the military junta took back power in a coup on February 1.
– Sources called me in the middle of the night and told me that a coup was underway, and that arrests were already underway. A few hours later, at five in the morning, I received a text message that I had to go underground, Min tells VG.
– Friends hid me. Many people I know were arrested, but first the army allowed demonstrations, and I had a hope that democracy would be restored. So
they fought back terribly against the protesters , and I realized I had to get out of the country.
After a few days, India set up an evacuation plane for its own citizens, but Min recovered with because he had a medical visa to India, due to a kidney transplant.
Now he lives in an EU country, but which he asks VG not to write. Even in exile, he feels insecure.
He has in fact taken a more profiled position, as Minister of State with responsibility for human rights in the government-in-exile National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG).
NUG does not start from the deposed and imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi’s government , where the leader herself and most of her closest are arrested, but were formed by parliamentarians who were elected in the election that the junta canceled.
– The case the military is leading against her is now politically based. At the same time, I was disappointed by her lack of defense of the Rohingya minority, when it was brutally attacked by the army in 2017 , sier Min.
Want recognition
The purpose of the visit to Norway is to obtain support for the government in exile:
– We are the rightful the government of Myanmar. We ask Norway to recognize that. You are a small country, but have a big impact in Myanmar, says Min.
– It is also very important for us that Norway does not recognize the junta. It is important that Norway continues to provide humanitarian aid, but this must not happen in a way that legitimizes the military government.
The reason why Norway’s recognition is so important to the government in exile is primarily due to two things: One reason is that Aung San Suu Ky received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991; and the other is that Telenor is a major mobile player in Myanmar.
In July it became clear that Telenor wants to sell out , for a price of 900 million, below one-fifth of the real value of over 5 billion. But
the sale is tried to be stopped by 474 civil law organizations
.
– Resist the pressure
Min explains to VG that he is well acquainted with the allegations that sensitive information has leaked from Telenor’s database to the military junta’s intelligence, and thus put the opposition in danger.
– I am familiar with the accusations, but we can not determine how credible the allegations
He explains that Telenor has had greater credibility than competing companies, because opposition figures in Myanmar have felt that they be able to communicate without being monitored by using Telenor.
– We encourage Telenor to withstand the pressure from the junta against letting them use Telenor’s plattf worms for surveillance. It would be fantastic, but we realize that it is demanding.
Pray on data deletion The Minister says the best thing would be for Telenor continues to be an independent supplier in Myanmar, but if it goes against sales, he has a prayer to the Norwegian company:
– If Telenor sells out, we urgently request that their entire database be deleted, so that the junta does not gain access via new owners, which would put users at risk.
– The junta will not rule forever. If Telenor protects users’ data now, it will give them a good reputation when Myanmar opens up to the world again, says Min.
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Fear for privacy
– It is known that the military in Myanmar demands that Telenor turn on surveillance equipment for use by the military, which is subject to sanctions in Norway and the EU. It will be a violation of our values and is unacceptable to us, says Sandstø.
He describes the decision to withdraw as regrettable, and not driven by financial considerations. It is precisely the conflict over privacy and human rights that makes Telenor sell out. But deleting customer data is not relevant:
– As in all countries we operate in, there are requirements for all telecom operators to store some types of customer data. The coup created serious challenges related to security and human rights, and we can not encourage our employees to break licensing requirements and local laws, says Sandstø.