Myanmar beauty queen Han Lei publicly criticized the domestic military coup. She was stranded in Thailand airport for a week and was granted asylum in Canada. She arrived in Canada on the 28th local time.

(Reuters)

[Central News Agency] Myanmar beauty queen Han Lay, who has publicly criticized the domestic military coup, arrived in Canada today.

She was stranded at an airport in Thailand for nearly a week and has been granted asylum in Canada.

Han Lei, whose real name is Thaw Nandar Aung, and Tin Maung Htoo, a member of the Burmese Canadian Action Network, said she had "arrived safely in Toronto, Canada." )".

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"She's currently waiting for a (connecting) flight to Charlottetown," said Dinmondo, in eastern Canada, where she plans to settle and continue her campaign against the Burmese coup.

The coup overthrew the civilian government led by Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

Dinmondu also confirmed that Han Lei's request for political asylum has been approved by Canada.

Myanmar suffered a coup in February 2021, when Han Lei, who was studying at university in Yangon, competed with other 63 countries for the Miss Grand International crown in March in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand.

At that time, she publicly condemned the repression of civilians by the Burmese military government and called on the international community to save the Burmese people.

"I'm here to tell the world, please help the people of Myanmar... Many people in Myanmar have died at the gunpoint of the army... Please help us," she said in an interview with the Thai newspaper Khaosod English.

Han Lei has been living in Thailand for more than a year after her public remarks were rumored to have made her wanted by the Myanmar military government.

Han Lei went to Vietnam a few days ago and was refused entry by the Thai immigration unit when she entered Thailand from Vietnam on September 21.

It was rumored that Han Lei was arrested, but Thai immigration officials later clarified that Han Lei was not arrested and was just stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Thai media reported that Han Lei was refused entry because of a suspected problem with her passport, which may have been cancelled by the Myanmar military government.

A post on Han Lei's confirmed Facebook page said she was worried that Myanmar police would go to the airport to arrest her, so she turned to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) for help.

Phil Robertson, a member of Human Rights Watch, accused Myanmar's military ruling authorities of using passports "as a weapon against their own people" and laying a "trap to force Han Lei to return to Myanmar, where she will Immediately arrested, subject to possible ill-treatment in custody, and then convicted and jailed".

According to a local watchdog group in Myanmar, more than 15,000 people have been arrested and more than 2,300 civilians have been killed in the military crackdown on dissent.

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