Thousands of exiled and expatriate Burmese people have
been gathering outside Burmese embassies around the
world to express dissatisfaction with the military
government’s constitutional referendum.
Voting has already begun in some countries ahead of
the May 10 referendum. While some were allowed into
their respective embassies to cast their votes, others
were turned away by officials.
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Burmese pro-democracy activists participate in a
protest in front of the Burmese embassy in Seoul
April 27. (Photo: Reuters) |
The protests were mostly launched by Burmese
nationals—both those who can vote and those with no
voting rights in the referendum—at their respective
embassies in several countries, including Canada,
Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea and Thailand.
The biggest demonstration was held in Singapore on
Sunday where some 2,500 protesters—many wearing red
t-shirts with the word “No” emblazoned on the
front—gathered outside the Burmese embassy and protested
against the draft constitution.
Sources in Singapore said that even some Burmese
people who were invited to vote in the national
referendum by the embassy were denied the right by
authorities when they went into the embassy to vote.
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Burmese nationals hold up their passports as a
sign that they have the right to vote, gathered
outside their country's embassy in Singapore to
vote in a referendum on a draft constitution on
April 27. (Photo: AP) |
More than 40,000 Burmese people are currently living in
Singapore, about 10,000 of who were officially invited
by authorities to vote in the referendum, said sources.
The Burmese regime has stipulated that only citizens
with legitimate documents, such as Burmese passports,
can vote overseas, a ruling that excludes most political
exiles and refugees.
Meanwhile, some 230 Burmese expatriates living in
Japan staged a mock referendum on Sunday outside the
Burmese embassy in Tokyo, criticizing the draft
constitution as a ploy to keep the ruling junta in
power.
The Burmese embassy had mailed letters earlier this
month to more than 2,000 of its citizens in Japan,
inviting them to vote on the proposed constitution in a
two-day advance poll held over the weekend at the
embassy, Japanese police and the foreign ministry said.
However, fewer than 100 people had voted at the embassy
as of Sunday afternoon, according to a count by the
protesters.
About 100 Burmese citizens in Malaysia, including
political activists, migrant workers and people from
ethnic minorities, gathered in front of the Burmese
embassy on Saturday wearing colorful traditional
costumes displaying the word “No” and demanding the
right to vote.
An estimated 500,000 Burmese people are living in
Malaysia, about 180,000 of who possess legal documents.
No official count for voters was available from the
embassy.
About 100 protesters, including activists, migrant
workers, students and ethnic minority people, gathered
outside the Burmese embassy in Bangkok for about 30
minutes on Sunday.
The demonstrators, organized by the Joint Action
Committee for Democracy in Burma, chanted slogans
against the May 10 referendum. A statement from the
umbrella committee for the dozen dissident organizations
said the constitution was drawn up solely by pro-junta
groups and would give the military great powers in any
future government.
An estimated 360,000 registered Burmese migrants and
1.2 million unregistered migrants in Thailand were
denied their voting rights.
Meanwhile, about 60 Burmese people in Seoul, the
South Korean capital, gathered outside the Burmese
embassy on Sunday to protest against the junta-written
draft constitution, many wearing white shirts bearing
the words “Vote No” and the logo of a cross. According
to Yan Naing Htun, a Seoul-based Burmese activist, the
protesters set up two artificial ballot boxes and urged
people to vote “No” in the referendum.
In the United States, sources estimated that up to
100 people participated in the referendum in New York.
It is estimated that the New York's Permanent Mission of
Burma has some 500 registered voters.
The Burmese embassy in Washington, D.C