Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Burmese migrants in Thailand

30 May 2012 Last updated at 02:06 GMT ... 

 

 

Aung San Suu Kyi was greeted by well-wishers as she arrived in Bangkok

Aung San Suu Kyi is to visit Burmese migrants in Thailand on her first trip outside her native Burma in more than two decades.

The opposition leader arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday night and was greeted by cheering well-wishers.
She is attending the World Economic Forum on East Asia.

For the past two decades she has been either under house arrest or afraid that if she left Burma she would not be allowed to go back.

But recent reforms led to her election to parliament last month and she is confident she will be able to return.
The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party was given a passport in early May.

Meeting workers
 
On her first full day outside Burma since 1988, Ms Suu Kyi is expected to leave the Thai capital to meet some of Thailand's many Burmese migrant workers, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher.

Aung San Suu Kyi

• 1989: Put under house arrest as Burma junta declares martial law
• 1990: NLD wins election; military disregards result
• 1991: Wins Nobel Peace Prize
• 1995: Released from house arrest, but movements restricted
• 2000-02: Second period of house arrest
• May 2003: Detained after clash between NLD and junta forces, more house arrest
• November 2010: Released from house arrest
• April 2012: Stands for parliament for first time, wins seat in NLD landslide

• Profile: Aung San Suu Kyi

An estimated 130,000 Burmese refugees live in camps in Thailand having fled persecution at home. 

Many more work in Thailand both legally and illegally, mostly in construction, factories or the fishing industry.
She is also scheduled to meet the Thai prime minister during this trip and participate in sessions and discussions at the global forum on Friday.

Meanwhile, Burma's President Thein Sein, who was originally scheduled to attend the forum, has postponed his trip to Bangkok to next week.

After her trip to Thailand Ms Suu Kyi plans to return to Burma before travelling to Europe in June.

She intends to go to Norway to formally accept the Nobel Peace Prize which she won in 1991, and will also visit the UK where she has family.

She has accepted an invitation to address the British parliament on 21 June. It has been reported that she would also travel to Geneva, Paris and Ireland.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18260160