A growing number of families have been forced to disown their own children for their support of Burma’s pro-democracy movements, reports Newsweek, after the army announced that it would raid family homes, take over the properties of its opponents and arrest people giving shelter to protesters.
These public denunciations are all part of the military junta’s plan to create public dissension and place pressure on protesters, said Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, senior advocacy officer at Burma Campaign UK. “Family members are scared to be implicated in crimes,” she told Reuters. “They don’t want to be arrested, and they don’t want to be in trouble.”