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A Burmese opposition youth organization is in Jakarta as part of its efforts to get Asian governments to help pressure the regime in power in Burma to allow democracy into the country.

Generation Wave, which has 50 members comprising various ethnic groups in Burma, is in town for an international forum today at Hotel Nikko in a bid to gain support from Indonesia.

“We want all Asian governments to take concrete actions to put pressure on Burma,” said 23-year-old “Bobo,” who used a pseudonym for security reasons.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, comprised of 10 countries in the region including Burma, has fruitlessly called on the Burmese junta to move toward democracy but has refrained from exerting stronger pressure on the ruling military junta there.

The activist group, formed in October 2007 after the Saffron Revolution, is dedicated to ousting the junta through non-violent youth mobilization.

The group encourages Burmese citizens, mainly youth, to fight for democracy through leaflets, graffiti, art and music.

Two members of Generation Wave, in their early twenties, will perform music and discuss their activities during the forum, called “Good Neighbors? The role of Asian countries in bringing positive change to Burma”.

The forum was organized by KBR68Hs radio network’s regional current affairs program, Asia Calling.

The Burmese junta recently enacted election laws that barred hundreds of thousands of people from meaningfully participating in the election, including at least 2,200 political prisoners and leading pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

The junta has also been accused of widespread political repression and continuing armed conflicts in the run-up to the election.

For security reasons, Generation Wave members also declined to be photographed. Generation Wave is outlawed by the junta and therefore all members risk arrest.

Throughout its two-year history the group has seen 23 of its members arrested and detained.

“We have no freedom of expression. The government chases us because they want to know more about what we are doing,” said Bobo who escaped a few times in 2008 when the military authority tried to detain him at his parents’ home.

Bobo and some other members of Generation Wave currently live in a safe house in a border town in Thailand.

The discussion forum will also feature Rizal Sukma, Executive Director of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Harn Yawnghwe, the youngest son of Sao Shwe Thaike.

Sao Shwe Thaike was the first president of the Republic of the Union of Burma who, along with General Aung San, masterminded the 1947 Panglong Agreement, which formed the basis for the modern nation of Burma.

Activists from conflict-ridden Burma, officially renamed as Myanmar by its military government in 1989, have been fighting for democracy for years.

“We would like to overthrow the military regime then make our country developed and peaceful,” Bobo said.