Social workers in Rangoon say that Burmese authorities drove out six people with HIV/AIDS on Thursday from a home they were taking refuge in for treatment in Thaketa Township.

The six patients were refused permission for an overnight stay in the home they intended to rent from the owner, according to local social workers who assisted the patients in getting medical treatment and accommodation.

“The patients regularly sought permission for overnight stays, but the authorities refused them and forced them to leave the house,” said Than Naing, a social worker, who added that authorities have also put pressure on the house owner.

The house had been contracted by the social workers for ten months-of which, five remain. But local authorities intervened to persuade the landlord to cancel the contract. “According to our contract, we still had five months left,” said Than Naing. “But the landlord refunded our rent on August 11 and forced our patients to leave yesterday.”

In Rangoon’s South Dagon Township, authorities have issued a letter to Phyu Phyu Thin-one of the 11 National League for Democracy youth members briefly detained last Monday while trying to organize a ceremony for HIV/AIDS patients at a Rangoon monastery. The letter requested his presence at local government offices to discuss the housing of patients in private residences.

“We also have a problem,” Phyu Phyu Thin said. “The authorities don’t want patients to stay in our homes.” Eight people, including five patients and three care givers, have been living in her home in Dagon Township for the last 10 months.

Pressure on HIV/AIDS patients and their caregivers has increased in recent days, following the disruption of a planned merit-making ceremony by a group calling itself “Friends with a Red Ribbon.” Authorities raided the monastery the evening before the scheduled event and arrested 11 youth NLD members for not securing permission to stay overnight at the monastery.

Subsequent plans to hold a ceremony for Than Lwin, a 44-year-old NLD member who died of HIV/AIDS last week have also hit a snag over permission for an overnight stay. “When I went to seek permission for an overnight stay, authorities scolded me publicly and said that I had brought disease into Burma from outside,” said Khin Htay Lwin. “They refused me permission. What am I supposed to do when they treat me like this?” she added.

The group Friends with a Red Ribbon comprises some 50 HIV/AIDS patients, some of whom are former political prisoners who believe they contracted the disease while in custody. HIV infection rates in Burmese prisons are reportedly high due to communal use of syringes for medical treatment.

The NLD and the ’88 Generation Students group have called on Burmese authorities to stop the intimidation of HIV/AIDS patients and their supporters. “We are just helping them as much as we can,” said Than Naing. “But we need the authorities to stop their shameful harassment.”