Burma Human Rights Network’s report: “We also have dreams” The same 24-year-old man told BHRN, “We don’t just want to go back to Myanmar. We have been longing to return there. But we would return there as long as we can fully enjoy our rights. Otherwise, we would rather die here than return there without rights. 99% of us would consider this question to be a stupid one since all of us have been longing for it.1% of the people are those who had always been underprivileged by the Myanmar government forces. It got so hateful for them to be in Myanmar and they are traumatized and unable to understand the situation. That’s why they [would] say that they don’t want to be repatriated back to Myanmar.” While the majority of refugees interviewed by BHRN said they thought they would go back to Burma at some point, about a quarter said they didn’t think it would happen. Life in the camps, the failure of the international community, and the absence of any likely plan to return refugees all contributed to disillusionment. Those who felt they would go back were also pragmatic about what must happen first in order for them to return and the obstacles that remained in their way. A 27-year-old man told BHRN, “Yes, I think we'll be able to go back to Myanmar if the international community addresses our situation and helps to ensure a purely democratic government in Myanmar. Otherwise, I’m afraid that Myanmar will be like another Syria.” www.bhrn.org.uk 48