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"There is no sense of ease like the ease we felt in those scenes where we were born, where objects became dear to us before we had known the labour of choice, and where the Outer world seemed only an extension of our personality." George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss... So was born the idea of going home, of those who have been away from a place considered home for various reasons.
From these meetings and discussion with the youth, students, and our leaders, we learned that our people continue to live in various forms of fears and that any positive improvement of situation has been disproportionately small despite so many rapid activities going on along the Thai-Burma border as well in the international community. While we would very much like to be encouraging, we are aware that being able to assess the realities to the fullest extent possible is the only way we can move forward. Our discussions were often painful as we all had to swallow the bitter truth about deterioration in our revolutions – the highest calling to fight against dictatorship and ethnic chauvinism.
Nevertheless, we also found strengths in many of our remaining peoples and leaders whose courage and commitment to bring forth change continue to stand unwaveringly. Likewise, our people living in the active war-zone also continue to demonstrate their determination to retain our homeland at any cost even while many of us are far and away from that land.