We arrived at another of the camps - no more than a few old sacks and tarpaulins spread out along the road opposite the mine entrance - and were immediately surrounded by farmers, who until a year ago, they said, would never have dared to speak to a foreigner about their problems.

BBC: Spirit of defiance at Burma's Monywa mine

One almost never comes across a foreigner - or even an Israeli - who is willing to speak such basic truths in public.

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