Photo Courtesy of May Thagyan Lin THE LIN FAMILY stands at the Chaung Ma Gyi River along the Thai-Burma border in 1989 after leaving Burma following an uprising. From left: children Tayza Yeelin, May Thagyan Lin, Thuya Lin, Ne Lin Tun and Aung Phyo Swe, with parents Han Lin and HtayHtay Yeelin.

Han Lin is starving.

The facilities attendant from the Office of the Physical Plant is hungry, and not just because he hasn’t eaten in 10 days. It is both a physical and psychological hunger that reaches far back into his childhood and has followed him and his family to this day.

“My dad is not [a] politician but he wants justice, he wants goodness for people,” said Han Lin’s daughter, senior May Thagyan Lin. “He hates inequality. His teaching principle is always to give a fair chance for everybody.”

Han Lin is one of seven people from the southeast-Asian country of Burma who have not eaten since 10 a.m., Sept. 21. He is participating in the hunger strike as part of a large protest outside of the United Nations building in New York City. The group’s plan is to protest and fast until the United Nations enforces sanctions against the Burmese government. The government has been cited for human rights violations.

Han Lin experienced the government’s aggression as a child. He witnessed an event that made his mother cry. His father owned a farm that had passed down from many generations before him. One day, the government came and told them the land was not theirs, and that the land was now public property.

In 1988, Lin was one of the thousands of people nationwide who rose up in Burma against the military rule. He was also one of the few to escape the massacre that took place to suppress a political uprising.

As part of the protest, Han Lin walked for more than 170 miles from Albany to New York City during the first weeks of September to draw attention to the cause of the people of Burma.

“The U.N. is not doing anything, they’re just talking,” said sophomore Tayza Yeelin, Han Lin’s son.

Yeelin and May Thagyan Lin’s childhoods were not like that of other students at the college. As young children, they lived with their grandparents and mother in southern Burma. Of the little the two remember from childhood, both recalled visits from armed soldiers who invaded his home, threatened his mother and searched for their father, who was in hiding due to his affiliation with a political organization. Han Lin was part of National League for Democracy, a large organization in Burma trying to take down the militaristic government that has ruled since 1962.

Lin and his family soon left the country illegally and lived in the jungle on the border of Burma and Thailand.

“We could have died in the jungle,” May Thagyan Lin said. “One could have died of malaria, or one could have died shot by the military government. Or my mom could have [been captured] by Thai police.”

In 1990, an election was held and the pro-military party was defeated by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi of the National League Democracy. But despite the landslide victory by the opposition party, the ruling junta refused to hand over power, according to the Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook.

The Lin family was not able to return home, and through the United Nations, was brought to Ithaca as political refugees in 1997.

While he’s in New York City protesting, Lin’s co-workers in the Physical Plant are pitching in to cover his absence. Matthew Huddle, Lin’s supervisor, said he had to send in a written recommendation to grant Lin the month off, and supports what Lin is trying to do.

“He’s very passionate about what he believes in, and I really respect that passion in him,” Huddle said. “I find that you don’t find that much any more. Someone that believes in their beliefs so much, that it really effects their life.”

Yeelin said he has a lot to think about. He struggles to manage typical student demands like classes and homework, but he also worries about his father, and the fight in Burma.

“All the people of Burma are suffering, and they’re not living like us in the United States right now,” Yeelin said. “We also want opportunities for them, going to school, education, all that stuff.”

He said his family has a lot of respect for their father and husband, even if it means risking his health.

“My dad, he’s willing to give up everything, he is willing to [face] death, until the UN takes action,” Yeelin said.

Both Yeelin and May Thagyan Lin visited their father last weekend. Lin compares her father to world leaders like Nelson Mandela or Gandhi who fought for what they believed in.

“He is still very strong, but his face is kind of down,” she said. “You know that he’s sick, but his spirit is pretty up.”

Han Lin was not available for comment due to his involvement in the hunger strike.