This text is a text written by Juan Aguilar, co-ordinator for the Student Peace Prize, and Børge Brente, the leader of PD Burma. It is translated from the debate section of Universitas.

Yesterday, the news was out that the Student Peace Prize focuses on Burma this year. The award for 2007 goes to a driving force whose aim is giving education and hope to Burmese refugees. Now, twenty-five year old Charm Tong can rejoice at being backed up by ten thousands of Norwegian students.

The Nobel Peace Prize is not the only peace prize awarded in Norway. The Student Peace Prize has been awarded on behalf of the Norwegian students every second year since 1999. It goes to a student or a student organisation which has made a special contribution in the struggle for peace and human rights.

We believe that the peace prize committee has made the right choice with this year’s prize! Charm Tong belongs to one of the many minority groups in Burma who are persecuted and terrorised by the military regime. Even though she has been lucky compared to many of her fellow countrymen, and has been given the chance to take an education in English and Chinese, Tong has chosen to dedicate her life to fighting for the rights of her people.

Already at sixteen, Charm Tong was active in human rights groups in Northern Thailand. In 2001, she set up a school in Northern Thailand where she receives young refugees from Burma, providing them with an education in English, computer science and human rights. The goal is to make the students capable of challenging the suppression that is taking place in their home country, as well as building a bond of trust between the different ethnic groups in Burma, a bond the junta keeps trying to break down. Charm Tong is also a founding member of Shan Woman’s Network, which among other things has uncovered and documented 173 cases of systematic rape and sexual assaults committed by the junta’s soldiers.

In spite of hopeless conditions and a very low supply of resources, Charm Tong has never given up her goals. Her courage and her drive have given her an authority few people her age can demonstrate. She is a source of inspiration and a living proof that we can all make a difference, as long as we do not give up on hope.

Unfortunately, the Student Peace Prize does not give the award winners any protection against further harassment. In 2005, the prize was awarded to the student organisation ACEU in Colombia. In October 2006, two central members of the organisation were executed. Julián Hurtado Castillo and Milton Troyano Sanchez were both found shot in the head by unknown perpetrators outside their homes. Min Ko Naing, leader of the student organisation ABFSU in Burma, received the Student Peace Prize in 2001. He is a good example of how the Burmese junta treats the opposition. Naing has been imprisoned since 1989. He was temporarily released in 2004, arrested again in September 2006, and released again, only last Thursday. Everything indicates that this last discharge is an attempt to conciliate with the UN Security Counsel, which in a short time is set to discuss a resolution on Burma.

The Student Peace Prize is one of the main reasons why the Norwegian people know about the victimisation and violence against students around the world. However, as the example above shows, it is important not to stop caring as soon as the prize has left the country. The responsibility of following-up and supporting the winner is far more important in the aftermath of the award.

One such definite measure to follow-up the prize winner is the Norwegian Students’ International Assistance Fund, which in the long run will cover both prize money and follow-up projects. The most recent example is ACEU from Colombia. They have received extra financial support in order to establish and follow-up a human rights centre in Bogota, where students on the run from the government can find shelter. At the moment, the coffee is one krone more at most Norwegian student cafés. That krone goes to this fund.

In Norway, there is a very strong network working for a democratic Burma. In addition to the Norwegian students, PD Burma – an organisation started by Bondevik, are delighted that the Student Peace Prize of 2007 goes to a woman which truly deserves it. The junta is strong, and the suppression is Burma hard, but an active and vibrant opposition and international pressure brings hope. We urge everyone in Norway to support the peace prize and Charm Tong.