Danger awaited in Myanmar. So he made a daring bid to remain in Japan

Written by Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno
The soccer participant’s airplane was on the gate. Ahead of him stood his final likelihood at security.
The athlete, Ko Pyae Lyan Aung, had come to Japan with Myanmar’s nationwide staff. On the sector, earlier than the primary match, he had flashed a gesture of defiance — the three-finger salute made well-known by “The Hunger Games” — towards the navy junta that had ousted his nation’s elected authorities. He was now afraid of what would possibly occur if he returned residence.
Several occasions, he had tried to interrupt away from the staff and declare asylum, and every time he had been caught. The immigration line on the Osaka airport provided another alternative. When an agent waved him ahead and requested for his passport, he offered his cellphone as a substitute. On it was a message in English and Japanese: “I don’t want to go back to Myanmar.”
The gambit labored. He can keep, at the least for now. But whereas Pyae Lyan Aung’s case has riveted Japan and put strain on the federal government, his destiny might in the end hinge on two of essentially the most politically delicate points within the nation right this moment: its hostile immigration system and its response to the Myanmar coup.
Few nations are much less hospitable to refugees than Japan, which settled simply 47 asylum-seekers final yr, lower than 1% of candidates. In latest months, the immigration system has turn into a political battlefield after the loss of life of an emaciated Sri Lankan migrant in a detention cell.
At the identical time, the federal government has been beneath intense strain at residence and overseas to do extra to dissuade Myanmar’s navy because it has ruthlessly crushed protests towards its Feb. 1 coup. But Japan, which has been a high investor in Myanmar and customarily avoids rights points abroad, has been reluctant to make any strikes that may alienate the junta, parting methods with allies just like the United States which have imposed sanctions.
Pyae Lyan Aung’s case is prone to elevate extra questions on Japan’s stance. A rising variety of athletes from Myanmar have refused to symbolize the nation at worldwide sporting occasions, arguing that to take action would danger legitimizing the navy leaders. Myanmar’s participation this month within the Tokyo Olympics may turn into one other flash level.
FILE – The aftermath of protesters and safety forces in Myanmar’ss capital of Yangon(The New York Times)
So far, Pyae Lyan Aung has stored largely quiet about politics, and his journey by means of the immigration system — in distinction to the expertise of so many refugees in Japan — has been clean. In May, the nation introduced emergency measures permitting residents of Myanmar who want to keep in Japan to use for provisional visas. On June 22, Pyae Lyan Aung did so.
In the lead-up to the Japan journey, soccer gamers from Myanmar had begun overtly expressing resistance to the regime. One grabbed worldwide consideration throughout a match in Malaysia when he celebrated a objective along with his personal three-finger salute.
Ten gamers later declared that they’d not play for the nationwide staff. That adopted a call by a Myanmar swimmer based mostly in Australia to boycott the Olympics and name on the organizers to bar the Myanmar Olympic Committee. (The organizers stated they needed to keep out of politics.)
The soccer gamers’ walkout delayed the journey to Japan, and Myanmar’s embarrassed nationwide soccer affiliation pressured the remainder of the athletes to journey.
Before he left, Pyae Lyan Aung determined to make an announcement. He was pissed off and heartsick concerning the scenario at residence, he stated, and felt betrayed when the Myanmar soccer affiliation didn’t distance itself from the junta.
His second got here when his staff lined up for the nationwide anthem earlier than its sport towards Japan’s nationwide staff, generally known as Samurai Blue.
As information protection of his defiant gesture snowballed, supporters turned involved about his security. They reached out to Aung Myat Win, an activist and restaurateur who fled from Myanmar to Japan within the Nineteen Nineties. After years of being detained within the Japanese immigration system, Aung Myat Win had turn into one of many few refugees to obtain asylum within the nation.

Over the years, he had gone to extraordinary lengths to assist different immigrants from Myanmar navigate life in Japan. He messaged Pyae Lyan Aung, arguing that going again residence may very well be lethal, and requested him whether or not he wished to remain in Japan.
At first the athlete was unsure. But earlier than lengthy he had determined to strive.
His staff was beneath shut watch. Its administration was retaining tabs on the gamers, and Japan’s soccer federation had employed a non-public safety agency to make sure that the lads didn’t break quarantine.
Aung Myat Win scouted attainable routes for Pyae Lyan Aung to slide out of his Osaka resort. He must sneak previous his teammates and down a central financial institution of elevators or emergency stairs.
It proved too tough. After a number of failed makes an attempt, Aung Myat Win contacted an immigration lawyer specializing in asylum circumstances, Yoshihiro Sorano, who filed a grievance with the police saying that Pyae Lyan Aung was being held captive.
Officers contacted the Japan Football Association, which assured them that the athlete was free to maneuver round. The officers by no means spoke to him or visited the resort, Sorano stated.
Asked concerning the scenario, the group stated that due to the federal government’s COVID-19 restrictions, it had employed non-public safety to observe all overseas groups in Japan in addition to Japanese gamers who had come into contact with them. It stated it had not been capable of affirm whether or not there have been further restrictions on Pyae Lyan Aung’s motion.

Aung Myat Win and Sorano stored attempting to make escape plans, however journalists had begun gathering outdoors the resort, and the eye quickly made it unattainable.
Before lengthy, Pyae Lyan Aung and the opposite gamers had been on a bus to the airport. Aung Myat Win adopted.
“When you get to immigration, tell them, ‘I don’t want to go home,’” he instructed Pyae Lyan Aung, who speaks little English and no Japanese. A supporter texted him the message in each languages to indicate the agent.
Now that his asylum software has been filed, Pyae Lyan Aung is not sure what’s subsequent. He has no job, has no Japanese language abilities and is unlikely to get assist from the federal government. He hopes to maintain taking part in soccer professionally, he stated, but when that doesn’t work out, he’ll do what he should to remain in Japan.
All he is aware of for certain is that — for now, at the least — he can’t go residence.
This article initially appeared in The New York Times.