An Irish missionary brother has been deported from Burma by the country’s military regime. Brother Kevin McEvoy, who was working as a teacher as part of the De la Salle Brothers’ mission since 2009, had his passport seized by the military and a week later was escorted out of the country and into neighbouring Thailand.
58-year old Brother McEvoy, from Rosenallis, Co. Laois, had planned to spend three years in Burma, (or Myanmar as the ruling junta has re-named it), but is now to return to Ireland.
“Last year I finished up working in Kenya where I was since 2001 and was looking for a new challenge and they don't come more challenging than Burma,” he said. His order needed help with training local personnel and he taught English, prayer, aspects of pedagogy and human development.
Bro McEvoy said he believed his western appearance drew him to the attention of the military authorities. When his passport was taken he was told that he could get it back if he accompanied an immigration official to Rangoon but ended up being brought to the airport and put on a flight to Thailand.
His passport was handed over as he stepped on the plane. The Rosenallis man does not know why his passport was seized, and held for a week. "I was never given a reason for why my passport was taken and felt very concerned because your passport in any country is something very important to you, very personal, your DNA in your pocket, and it's not something you give up lightly.”
“When it's confiscated, it must be for a serious reason but I was never advised of any such reason," he said. Brother McEvoy said he was given no explanation for his deportation.
"I think towards the end there was a suggestion that my name wasn't officially on the staff in our Learning Centre but it wasn't unusual for foreigners to teach English in such centres I was there with a valid visa - they could just as easily have allowed me stay but they choose not to," he said.
Brother McEvoy said the Irish consulate in Bangkok – which he praised for being helpful to him – suggested, “for the sake of those left behind in Burma that I do not make too much noise about my situation.”
“I go along with that approach, there are elections in the country on November 7 - the first in twenty years - and the country will be in a state of high alert over the next few months.”
He said he would not be surprised if all foreign nationals were asked to leave the country in the lead up to the elections.
SIC: CIN/IE