Burma (Myanmar), Monks in exile { 14 images } Created 4 Nov 2008
Nobody really knows for sure what happened with the hundreds of monks arrested after the massive manifestations in the streets of Myanmar (the former Burma), fiercely repressed by the army. The expulsion of foreign journalists and the shut down of Internet made the information very difficult to get. These photographs were taken between October 2 and 9 in the capital Yangon, and the towns of Bago and in the Delta region, and bear witness to the prevailing situation.
In a country where the population of monks is huge, the most striking fact is how unusual it has become to see them in the streets of Yango (the capital city) and Bago, where the second largest monastery of the country is located. Under the apparent calm, repression and persecution against the protesters remains.
Most of the monks who took part in the protests were in their twenties, and young monks are thus the main target of the Military dictatorship now. The biggest monasteries look now empty, as monks who where not arrested during the repression have run away to hide in the hundreds of small monasteries scattered all over the Myanmar countryside.
In a country where the population of monks is huge, the most striking fact is how unusual it has become to see them in the streets of Yango (the capital city) and Bago, where the second largest monastery of the country is located. Under the apparent calm, repression and persecution against the protesters remains.
Most of the monks who took part in the protests were in their twenties, and young monks are thus the main target of the Military dictatorship now. The biggest monasteries look now empty, as monks who where not arrested during the repression have run away to hide in the hundreds of small monasteries scattered all over the Myanmar countryside.
