My immigration paper

Those are my travel documents. I did not have a passport since I fled Burma. The mug shot picture was taken at the Bangkok Immigration Detention Center. Thai government sentenced me for an illegal entry to the country. I believe I was fined for that (the sponsor NGO paid the fine, I guess.) and ordered to leave Thailand. At the same time, the US immigration issued a one way entry parole visa (based on humanitarian ground). Welcome to America!

Coming to America

We were holding bags from IOM. IOM stands for International Organization for Migration(http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp).
I remember going for medical check up at IOM office. 4-5 of us (all guys) were lined up against the wall. The doctor told us to drop our pants and cough. ( We were in the 20s and 30s.) Now, I am a physician myself, I am not sure what conclusion to draw regarding the conduct of that physician. I guess he was just trying to be efficient in processing as many refugees as possible in an allotted time. We did not really feel offended but were embarassed a bit.

Coming to America

with my friends at the airport

Coming to America

I looked really silly (and skinny). That was the first time for me being on a jetliner.

Coming to America

me, Ko Aye Kyaw and Ko Yin Htwe. Ko Aye Kyaw resettles in Canada. Ko Yin Htwe is in Silverspring, Maryland now.

Ko Yin Aye, me and Ah Nge Lay. Ko Yin Aye later resettles in the US. Ah Nge Lay went to Australia and went on finishing a master degree. He now works for Democratic Voice of Burma. They both were from my camp (ABSDF 102).

Coming to America

Naing Lin Oo (second from left with a black jacket) came to my university one year later.

My friends. Some of them later resettled in the US, one in Canada and one in Australia.

These pictures were taken at Bangkok (Don Muang) airport. The people in the middle were from IIE ( http://www.iie.org/ ), the organization who managed our program.

Front row: (left to right) Ah Phwar Gyi (remember the picture in which she was training with a bamboo gun), resettled in Silverspring, MD. Yan Naung (lives in Northern Virginia), Phoe Thet (resettle in Northern Virginia)
Back row: Thida (resettle in Australia), Moe Moe (resettle in Silverspring, MD), me and Bae Oot (resettle in Canada).

Ko Myo Aye, me and Nai Lin Oo at Bangkok Dunmong airport before I left. Nai Lin Oo later re-settle in the US and eventually went to the same university I went (Virginia Commonwealth University).