By Dominic Swire

For the Post

Most tourists in Prague return to their own countries at the end of their stays. But imagine if you weren't allowed to. Imagine if simply going home meant risking imprisonment or torture, or even putting the lives of your family in danger.

This is a reality for three students from Burma (also known as Myanmar) who were recently in Prague as part of a three-month internship program run by the Czech charity People in Need (PIN).

"If the military intelligence know what I'm doing, my family could have serious problems with the regime," explains Seik, 24, whose last name cannot be disclosed for his family's protection.

"So when I want to see them I stay with a friend in a different part of the city and then at night, secretly, I visit my family. If I'm caught I could be put in jail for years without even being charged or sentenced."

Seik, and his two compatriots, Dwelling, 24, and Evelyn, 22, are studying Foreign Affairs in Thailand, a course run by the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), the government in exile.

As part of their course, the students have the chance to study abroad (a rare chance for Burmese students) in one of a number of countries, and PIN runs the program in the Czech Republic. Through the internship the students have taken part in school debates, undergone media training and even met former President Václav Havel, always a crusader for the rights of oppressed peoples.

"I feel I'm ready to lead people and share what we've learnt from the Czech Republic," says Evelyn. "I'm also really interested in making a documentary film. Media is very important for me."

Based in Prague, PIN is an international nongovernmental organization operating in 33 trouble spots around the world, including Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, with the main aims of distributing food and medicine and rebuilding schools and medical facilities. In Burma, PIN has been particularly concerned with contacting opposition parties and raising awareness of the country's plight.

However, Jaroslav Valuch, a project coordinator at PIN, explains that the help they offer Burma is limited because independent NGOs are not allowed in the country. Only a few aid organizations operate within the borders, such as the International Red Cross, but even their work is restricted because of close monitoring by the regime.

Instead, agencies like PIN resort to working close to the border in neighboring Thailand, helping with education and humanitarian programs.

Troubles in Burma, a country of around 50 million people, date to 1967, when a military coup overthrew the last democratically elected government. Since then, the country has been ruled by a military junta widely criticized for gross human rights abuses.

Despite this, free elections were held in 1990, resulting in a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy, the main opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest at the time. The junta was unwilling to relinquish power, however, and many NLD representatives were arrested.

Today the junta is still in control, Aung San Suu Kyi is still under house arrest and many activists like the three students who came to Prague have left to continue their work outside the country.

As Burma's situation has steadily worsened, hoards of Burmese have fled the country, resulting in the growth of huge refugee camps on the Thai border. Valuch describes the scene after making a personal trip to the area last year.

"I was expecting there to be about 600 people, but when we arrived we found 48,000 people living there in just that one refugee camp. And there are more of these camps. It was like a huge, huge, huge village under the mountains.

"Many families have lived there since the '90s, so they've got used to this way of life, working illegally in the city — which is 20 kilometers from the camp — and getting some humanitarian aid from the UN or other agencies. It's a very poor standard of living. There are just small huts, no roads or whatever, just a muddy place."

PIN's activity in Burma is only one example of help from the Czech Republic. Burma is one of the countries the Foreign Affairs Ministry's recently formed Transition Promotion Unit has been set up to help.

While many people may find it surprising that a post-communist country still trying to address many of its own problems can be so involved in foreign aid, Gabriela Dlouha, head of the department, argues the contrary. She says memories of the struggle for democracy under communism can actually foster a sense of solidarity that Western countries don't have.

"You can't compare a person living in democracy all their life to a person spending most of their life under a totalitarian regime. The psychology is different. ... This direct experience usually gives these countries more understanding and a more urgent feeling that something should be done."

Indeed, it's well known that Havel himself is a strong supporter of the Burmese cause. In 1991 he famously nominated Aung San Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize; he wrote the forward to her book Freedom From Fear; and in September last year, he collaborated with Archbishop Desmond Tutu on a report calling for the UN Security Council to intervene in Burma.

According to the Burmese students, whom Havel agreed to meet before they left the country, he also has a picture of Suu Kyi in his office. Certainly similarities can be found between the two.

Valuch draws further comparisons with the former communist regime. During his trip, he spent two weeks in Burma in which he was able to make contact with the NLD. He recalls being watched by a conspicuous number of people on the streets with mobile phones — usually very rare in Burma.

"Often somebody would approach you just wanting to be friendly and talk but you don't know if he's an intelligence officer or not so you have to turn them away. It was a very unpleasant atmosphere. Then you imagine how it was in the Czech Republic during communism when people were afraid to speak. It was very, very strange to be afraid to speak."

The experience in this country certainly seems to have inspired the interns. Evelyn and Seik want to continue work with youth groups, while Dwelling plans to continue as a human rights trainer. "I think it's very important to educate people about their rights and responsibilities. My main aim is to help them understand what freedom and democracy and human rights mean."