The chairman of the largest political party representing Mon people has returned from a visit to Japan. The visit included meetings with members of the Japanese parliament and government, as well as NGOs and the over-seas Burmese community.

Nai Htaw Mon, Chairman of the New Mon State Party (NMSP) was joined by 9 other representatives from the Association of United Nationalities (AUN). Representatives included members of the Kachin, Chin, Karen, Mon, Arakan, Naga, Pao, Palaung and Shan ethnic groups, many of whom now permanently reside in Japan.

Nai Htaw Mon departed form Bangkok on February 6th and returned on the 16th.

The group met with a lower parliament representative of the Liberal Democracy Party of Japan, the deputy-general of Japan’s Asia and Oceania Bureau as well as Japanese groups working to bring democracy to Burma.

Acting as the speaker for the AUN group, Nai Htaw Mon made the 5 following statements during their official meetings

   1. The Japanese government should help the United Nations broker tripartite dialogue between the Burmese military government, ethnic groups and the democracy movement.
   2. Political prisoners must be freed before real political progress can be made.
   3. Burma’s constitution must be modified. If it is not modified, it cannot be accepted by the AUN.
   4. If constitution is not modified, the political situation in Burma will worsen.
   5. If the political situation in Burma worsens, more refugees will seek safety overseas. If more Burmese people become refugees, the Japanese government should provide them with support.

Nai Htaw Mon also celebrated Mon National Day and Burma’s Union Day while in Japan.