Kyaw Hla Aung

U Kyaw Hla Aung (born on August 16, 1940 in Sittwe in Myanmar) is a lawyer and civil rights activist and member of the Rohingya community.

Kyaw Hla Aung was born in Sittwe, capital Rakhine State as the son of a government official. He grew up and obtained his education in Sittwe and began to work as a court clerk and stenographer in 1960. Motivated by the injustice he saw, he quit his job and started to train as a lawyer himself, graduating in 1982.[1][2]

Activism

In 1986, as the government of Myanmar began to confiscate the land of the Rohingya, Aung represented a group of Rohingya farmers, writing an appeal letter. In retaliation, he was detained and spent two years in prison in Rangoon. In the aftermath of the 1988 protests he could leave prison and returned to Sittwe. He co-founded the "National Democratic Party for Human Rights" and was selected as candidate for the elections in 1990. To prevent his candidacy, he was arrested again and sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 1997 he was released in the course of an amnesty, but has been repeatedly arrested since then.[1][2][3] His home was razed in the course of the Rohingya conflict and he now lives in the Thet Kae Pyin internment camp, where he is one of the camp leaders.[4]

The main goal of his activism has been to organize access to healthcare and education for the Rohingya community and the raise awareness about the conflict.[1][2]

In 2018, Aung won the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.[1][5]

In 2019, he was listed in the Fortune magazine's list of "World's Greatest Leaders on rank 28.[6] The Armenian post office dedicated a stamp to him in 2019.[7]

Aung is married and has seven children.[8]

  • "Kyaw Hla Aung: "We are not from another land"". auroraprize.com. Retrieved 2020-02-15.

References
  1. "Kyaw Hla Aung: "We are not from another land"". auroraprize.com. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  2. Kamala Thiagarajan (2018-09-17). "Rohingya lawyer Kyaw Hla Aung on the price of fighting for justice". devex.com. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  3. "Human rights group deplores Myanmar court extension of Rohingya activist Kyaw Hla Aung detention". abc.au.net. 2014-08-06. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  4. "'Deeply Disturbing' Conditions For Rohingya In Myanmar, And Those Yet To Return". npr.org. 2018-05-29. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  5. "Give us Myanmar citizenship to end exodus, award-winning Rohingya lawyer urges". Japan Times. 2018-06-11. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  6. "World's Greatest Leaders". Fortune. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  7. "New stamp features 2018 Aurora Prize Laureate Kyaw Hla Aung". news.am. 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  8. Kristin Hulaas Sunde (2015-04-08). "A reluctant hero of the Rohingya in Myanmar". Retrieved 2020-02-15.
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