Support for Myanmar refugees

FOR THE PEOPLE: Event organiser Dr Paul Thu showing a three finger salute which is meant as a symbol of resistance; a symbol which has been widely used in Myanmar since the military coup. Picture: Supplied

Tyler Redway

A food festival and fundraiser will be held next week, hosted by the Karenni Community of South Australia in Mount Gambier to raise awareness and support for Myanmar, also known as Burma, refugees.

The event will feature many traditional dance performances, as well as traditional food and cultural activities.

Event organiser Dr Paul Thu said that the event was open to everyone in Mount Gambier and that he had not been involved in an event of this scale before.

“We have about 350 Karen and Karenni community members in Mount Gambier,” Mr Thu said.

“They migrated here about 13 to 14 years ago from Burma as refugees.”

Mr Thu said that his own background was Burmese, as well as a buddhist, while most of the Karenni community members were Christian, which he said was where one of the event’s goals came from.

“The idea is to get everyone together from different religious and ethnic communities to be able to work and achieve something good for others,” he said.

Mr Thu added there were two other purposes for the event to go along with this one, with one involving the long string of conflict after the military takeover in Myanmar.

“The first goal is to raise awareness about what is happening in Burma, or Myanmar, after the military has taken power,” he said.

“Many millions of people are suffering, hundreds of children have been killed and maimed by the armed groups and we have had dozens of political prisoners, including our leader Aung San Suu Kyi.”

He added that the other goal was to raise funds in order to help those who are internally displaced inside Myanmar in order to help with healthcare, shelter, education and other essentials.

“I think the event is going beyond expectation to be honest,” he said.

“I thought it would be a small fundraising thing where we sell food, but now that we are receiving a lot of media attention, we have good contacts from our friends interstate who are coming to join us as well.”

Mr Thu said what he learnt was how the communities can work together harmoniously while accepting any outcome which comes their way.

“If this first event comes up pretty well, we’re hoping we will do an event once a year,”

“We like to send messages about what’s happening in Burma so we can relay them to the broader community.”

The event will be held in and around the Sir Robert Helpmann Theatre, kicking off at 11am on 6 August.