Fearless Human Rights Defender of Burma

Phyo Phyo Aung @ Hnin Pwint Wai, a leader of the All Burma Federation of Students Union (ABFSU), is serving a 4 years sentence in Moulmein prison.

She was arrested on 14th June 2008 and charged under Sections 6, 143, 145, 505/b.After Cyclone Nargis struck Burma on 3 May 2008, Phyo Phyo Aung knew that she couldn’t sit by and do nothing while people suffered.

She left with her father and other friends to head to the Irrawaddy Delta region to help. In the Delta they worked to deliver aid and bury dead bodies. Even though it had been over a month since the cyclone struck, there were still bodies scattered. On the way back their car was stopped and all were arrested.  She had been in hiding before then, because of her participation in the Saffron Revolution in September 2007.  Her trip to the Delta was her first time leaving hiding since then. At the very beginning of the Saffron Revolution she helped re-establish the All Burma Federation of Students Unions, which had been crucial in the uprising in 1988.

When she was only one year old, her father Dr Nay Win was arrested and kept in prison for 15 years. For most of her life her mother alone raised her. Her mother didn’t want her to participate in politics, but Phyoe Phyoe Aung has a strong desire to work for people. She is hard-working and passionate about education. Even though her family did not have the money, she sought every opportunity to learn. She really wanted to study English and learn computer skills and worked hard to learn. Before she was arrested she was attending the Government Technical College in Rangoon studying Civil Engineering.

U Than Aung

Burma Watch International (Edmonton, AB, Canada)

25 June 2011