Asean special envoy to Burma, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar's announcement that he will "check the progress of democracy" and "to see what is happening on the ground" is welcomed.

My friend from Burma sees much hope in this development. The atrocities of the ruling junta are well documented by local and international human rights groups. On Nov 27 this year the junta renewed the detention of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi for a further six months.

Vang (not his real name) is concerned with the increase in refugee movement out of Burma in recent months. There is every possibility that this may be caused by renewed or increased persecutions of the population at home. Further, Malaysia has no protection in law and in policy for refugees and asylum seekers.

Last week about 15 Burmese were detained allegedly for demonstrating at KLCC at the end of the 11th Asean summit. We mused that the occasion was an excuse to round up undocumented persons who happen to be in the area.

Refugees get arrested and detained all the time. The only difference is that on an eventful day, it gets noticed. He mentioned the difficulty of identifying those detained that day from the 'outside' as some of the Burmese used Thai passports to enter Malaysia and often forgot the Thai name they had assumed. His eyes laughed for a split second.