Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
W
herever you have ended up for whatever reason, it is natural that you maintain an attachment to the place where you were born and raised, and miss what you may even still consider home.
For many of the millions of people from Myanmar who are now based overseas, this longing has been translated into efforts to help their countrymen back in their homeland – from providing humanitarian aid to supporting the armed resistance movement to lobbying to get their host governments to impose sanctions on the military junta.

Indeed, there seems to be a conscious attempt for these efforts to maintain their momentum as fundraising in Myanmar itself is being limited by the country’s worsening condition. At the same time, there is a growing perception that the international community has relegated the country’s plight to the backburner.
The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw’s Official Fundraising Program (CRPH-OFP), thus says that between April 2021 and April 2022, it raised US$15 million through its network that spans 35 countries. Part of that amount went to the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), local defense forces, and Myanmar’s internally displaced people. The global initiative Diaspora Emergency Action and Coordination (DEMAC) meanwhile says that several Myanmar diaspora organizations successfully raised over US$3 million specifically to aid those affected by the Kayah state massacre on Christmas Eve in 2021.
In the United States, diaspora groups campaigned for the passage of the Burma Act; it was eventually included in the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law by U.S. President Joe Biden last December.
“Fundraising and advocacy are two main areas that the diasporas have been significantly contributing to the homeland,” says Nyein Chan May, chairperson of the German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy e.V. (GSwMD). “As an activist, I myself engage with the MPs, media, and politicians at the Germany and EU level.”
London-based Ma Khin explains further: “Because of the diaspora advocacy in the host country, the governments of the host countries have been reluctant to engage with the military. At least, they are well-informed that the military regime lacks public support, even though recognizing the legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG) might have certain limitations.”
Adds Ko Lynn, who now resides in the United Kingdom: “Though there are not many encouraging outcomes from the international community, advocacy is something we need to continue, to keep the international community informed and represent the voices of people from home.”
Those who are involved in fundraising efforts, for their part, say that their ability to connect directly to individuals and groups in Myanmar means that they can pinpoint immediate needs, and in which particular community. Maung Tshin, a Germany-based diaspora civil-society researcher, observes, “Unlike the previous resistance in history, the diasporas take advantage of technology well and directly engage with the people on the ground, understand the real needs, and contribute to (meet) these needs accordingly.”

A sad déjà vu
For sure, such activities are not new to Myanmar’s diaspora community. When the 1988 uprising ignited the Myanmar people’s yearning for democracy, those abroad began to speak up louder against the country’s military leaders. Members of the diaspora have also raised funds to address post-crisis needs, such as after the 2004 tsunami, as well as to help the democracy movement in the runup to the 2015 elections — eventually won by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
The NLD won another landslide victory in the 2020 polls, but before the winning candidates could be sworn in, the military staged a coup on 1 February 2021. Myanmar’s people tried to hold peaceful demonstrations and set up the CDM Movement to protest the military’s power grab. But the junta has refused to give up power and has instead jailed or killed several NLD leaders and supporters while going after other political dissenters using brute force.
There is no official data on just how many have been forced to flee Myanmar after the 2021 coup. A 2022 DEMAC report on the Myanmar diaspora, however, estimates that there are at least three million people from Myanmar in five countries alone: Thailand, which has some two million; Malaysia, 500,00; and Singapore, Bangladesh, and Saudi Arabia, with 200,000 each. There are also sizable Myanmar communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia.
While many members of these communities left Myanmar because of the current crisis, many others had decided to relocate overseas because of other reasons, among them economic and educational concerns. Certainly, though, the pull of the homeland has been heightened by the continued heavy-handed rule of the junta and the resulting humanitarian emergency.
“Though the frontline fighters and those on the ground have a key role in this political movement, the support from the diaspora communities is also significant,” remarks Ma Khin in London. “The two groups — the diaspora and those on the ground — are mutually dependent on each other, and their collaboration and strengthened relationship are vital for the success of the revolution.”
Not surprisingly, a good chunk of the monies raised by the Myanmar diaspora has been going to the resistance forces. The International Crisis Group, for instance, says that diaspora groups are the primary crowdfunders for the resistance movement. A February 2022 Voice of America report also noted that financially strapped ethnic armies in Myanmar have been benefiting from funds raised by their compatriots abroad. According to the report, ethnic Chin families overseas had already contributed over US$200,000 to the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), albeit noting that some of the money went to displaced civilians affected by the conflict in Chin state in the northeast and other regions.
Meantime, a senior officer from the U.S.-based CDF-Hakha Support Team of North America confirms that their group had also sent “hundreds of thousands” of dollars to the militia in the Chin capital Hakha; he says that the financial support would continue for as long as it is “feasible.” Even Myanmar self-exiles in next-door Thailand use a certain amount of money they earn to support the armed pro-democracy movement.
Diaspora members, however, confirm assertions by the 2022 DEMAC report that funds generated by Myanmar communities overseas also go to humanitarian assistance and emergency response activities, support for the activists and rights defenders, education projects, and documentation of rights abuses.
Ways and means
The diaspora’s ways to raise funds for their countrymen in Myanmar run the gamut. The Manchester Hin-Oh-Gyi, a diaspora group based in the United Kingdom, has managed so far to raise nearly GBP 200,000 (US$255,000) just by preparing and selling traditional Myanmar dishes. A raffle called One Million Challenge Campaign had a drawing of Daw Suu Kyi’s umbrella on the winning ticket. Film director Ko Pauk made the movie “Ma Thauk Mi Taw Moe Khar Yay” and screened it worldwide, raising thousands of dollars for the resistance movement.
Ko Lwin, a young diaspora member in Sydney, also mentions charity galas as another fundraising activity. He says, “While fundraising campaigns within the country have experienced a significant decline, the fundraising activities carried out by diaspora communities have remained stable and strong. The frequency of these activities has not changed significantly here in Australia.”
Diaspora groups working to keep people informed about Myanmar, engage policymakers, and advocate for policies that promote democracy and human rights in their homeland have been as busy. According to Ko Lwin, they organize protests in front of Myanmar embassies, consulates, and military envoy offices in their host countries “to raise awareness about the situation in Myanmar.” On the second anniversary of the military coup, thousands of people from Myanmar protested in front of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok.
In the first six months after the coup alone, over 300 diaspora-instigated protests against the brazen military takeover were reported across the globe. Myanmar diaspora communities worldwide have also coordinated and organized simultaneous global demonstrations with specific themes. One such global strike took place in 15 countries on 2 May 2021. There was also the Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Weekend, which took place on 12 and 13 June 2021 in at least 25 countries, along with 48 townships in Myanmar. Both strikes had the marching call “G7 Hear the Voice of Myanmar.”
In May 2022, Myanmar diaspora communities in Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America launched another Global Myanmar Spring Revolution event. This time the call was for the entire international to recognize the NUG as a legitimate representative government and impose sanctions against Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise and Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reconsider its ‘Five-point Consensus Plan’; China to suspend all political recognition and support for the military regime; and Russia and China to stop blocking the UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar and its people.
Ko Lwin shares, “The diaspora communities in Australia maintain continuous engagement with MPs and local government authorities for advocacy and lobbying and keeping them updated on the situations on the ground. They also organize occasional protests to raise awareness about the situation in Myanmar. At an intellectual level, (Myanmar scholars) make valuable contributions to Myanmar specialized study groups such as the ANU (Australian National University) Myanmar Research Center and the Myanmar Research Network at the University of Melbourne.”

“While my body is here, my thoughts are always with the people back home,” says a Myanmar diaspora member in England. “Within the diaspora community here, we are strongly bonded and working together to provide support for the revolution in our home country.”
“I have never truly felt a sense of belonging to this country, as my heart remains tied to my homeland,” he continues. “Once given a chance, I will return to the country where I truly belong.” ◉