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<v Speaker 1>There is nowhere else quite like Messos. This town marks

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<v Speaker 1>the border between Thailand and Miyamma. In fact, it runs

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<v Speaker 1>right along where I'm walking now. These stores, all Burmese run,

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<v Speaker 1>are actually on the other side. However, since the military

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<v Speaker 1>coup in Maama five years ago, Messot's population has swollen

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<v Speaker 1>by about four or five times as people fleeing the

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<v Speaker 1>civil war over there have sought sanctuary here. This has

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<v Speaker 1>become a town of fugitives, rebels, and spies, a town

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<v Speaker 1>of hope and despair. And because it's so hard for

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<v Speaker 1>people over there to speak freely, this is also one

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<v Speaker 1>of the best places to hear what the people of

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<v Speaker 1>Miyama feel about what's happening in their country. The military

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<v Speaker 1>regime they ran away from is now more firmly entrenched

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<v Speaker 1>than ever. With help from Russia and China, the army

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<v Speaker 1>has been winning back territory it lost to armed opposition

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<v Speaker 1>groups and coup leader Min online to give himself some

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<v Speaker 1>legitimacy by holding an election rigged so the military's own

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<v Speaker 1>party was guaranteed to win it. He's now getting greater

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<v Speaker 1>recognition from regional powers like China. The revolutions so many

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<v Speaker 1>young Burmese dreamed of has stalled, with the regime once

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<v Speaker 1>again in control. On the other side, Nesot's border crossings

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<v Speaker 1>have reopened. Most of the trade between the two countries

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<v Speaker 1>passes this way, yet the civil war is not over.

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<v Speaker 1>Large numbers of Burmese still make their way across this

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<v Speaker 1>river informally without documents. Union Ong is one of them.

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<v Speaker 1>She traveled one thousand miles to get here because her

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<v Speaker 1>little boy needs an operation. Two years ago, she was

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<v Speaker 1>among thousands of families driven out of her village by

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<v Speaker 1>soldiers who charged in firing weapons. They had to survive

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<v Speaker 1>in the forest for six months before starting the long

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<v Speaker 1>trick to safety in Thailand.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm a b b y'all. I'm an am Ama aima,

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<v Speaker 2>oh lady.

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<v Speaker 1>The heart of any town in Thailand is its main market,

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<v Speaker 1>and here in Messots, pretty much everything they sell is Burmese.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of the people working here are Burmese. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>the influx of people from Miama has been so big

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<v Speaker 1>that Messots become pretty much an all Burmese town Now.

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<v Speaker 1>A lot of people have come here to get away

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<v Speaker 1>from the civil war. Some want to continue resisting military

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<v Speaker 1>but there are also a great many people who have

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<v Speaker 1>come simply to get better livings that they can't have

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<v Speaker 1>back at them. This couple came for the birth of

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<v Speaker 1>their first baby. The father is a former bartender turned

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<v Speaker 1>fighter with one of the insurgent armies, so we can't

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<v Speaker 1>identify him or his family. He's already keen to get

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<v Speaker 1>back to the jungle to rejoin the fight against Minong

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<v Speaker 1>Lions regime. Do you think one day you'll be able

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<v Speaker 1>to go back to yangon.

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<v Speaker 2>Ye? Sure?

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<v Speaker 3>You're not sure. Maybe you have to.

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<v Speaker 1>Fight for all of your life.

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<v Speaker 2>Can I be somewe.

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<v Speaker 1>Over on the other side of the border. His comrades

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<v Speaker 1>keep up their unequal struggle against the army. But after

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<v Speaker 1>more than five years of this war, with tens of

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<v Speaker 1>thousands killed by air strikes, by land mines, and by

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<v Speaker 1>a military regime with no regard for civilian casualties, some

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<v Speaker 1>of those who joined the opposition are now exhausted and

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<v Speaker 1>ready to stop this Warren of Rooms is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the many safe houses that's been set up in Masop

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<v Speaker 1>to shelter those who've just arrived from Yammar, And behind

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<v Speaker 1>every one of these doors is a harrowing personal story.

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<v Speaker 1>We're about to meet one young man who took up

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<v Speaker 1>arms against the military regime at the age of just seventeen,

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<v Speaker 1>was captured, jailed and dreadfully tortured. That now he says

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<v Speaker 1>he's had a change of heart. He told me how

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<v Speaker 1>he got involved in the mass protests which broke out

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<v Speaker 1>all over mea after the coup. These were brutally suppressed

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<v Speaker 1>by the army, and like so many young activists, he

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<v Speaker 1>took up arms against the regime, launching attacks on the

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<v Speaker 1>security forces in Mihama's main city, Yangon, and I.

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<v Speaker 3>Put a timerbone near the policeician and I tried to

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<v Speaker 3>assnake the informer of military government. I don't know the

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<v Speaker 3>casual of these.

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<v Speaker 1>He was eventually caught, and he says tortured and sexually

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<v Speaker 1>assaulted by prison guards. In that time, he began to

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<v Speaker 1>question the armed struggle.

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<v Speaker 3>When I was in prison. My opinion is totally changed,

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<v Speaker 3>and I think that I'm sureguis is over because they

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<v Speaker 3>don't unite at all, They fight each other, and I

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<v Speaker 3>feel like this kind of situation.

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<v Speaker 1>So you lost faith in the armed struggle.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I saw many casualty in wars, and it's really

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<v Speaker 3>difficult to see like like that and and give up Amstragger,

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<v Speaker 3>and not only Amstragger, but also in other kinds of

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<v Speaker 3>struggle in politics.

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<v Speaker 1>You've given up altogether. You're not involved in the struggle.

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<v Speaker 3>Now, Yeah, I just choose another way.

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<v Speaker 1>So he's decided to study online and to teach children.

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<v Speaker 1>Living in the safe house. Today they have a new neighbor,

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<v Speaker 1>yuinion Ong has had to move here. She reached the

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<v Speaker 1>limit allowed by her old safe house. She told me

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<v Speaker 1>she really wants to return to her village. That while

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<v Speaker 1>Men Online still runs the country, she doesn't dare go

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<v Speaker 1>back tomorrow.

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<v Speaker 3>Lucian or.

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<v Speaker 2>Koramed or Hello, I'm Dushin, no nim Laza, not.

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<v Speaker 1>Mania over here. She has no job and no status.

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<v Speaker 1>She's always at risk of arrest or deportation. But she

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<v Speaker 1>also has no choice. She needs to raise the money

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<v Speaker 1>for her son's operation, so for now she must stay

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<v Speaker 1>in Massot, just one of the millions of Burmese who've

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<v Speaker 1>been forced to leave their own country.