LOCAL resident and Myanmar Mindat Chin community member Angelo Maung is one of many community members to call for the Australian government to follow the leadership of New Zealand and the United States and cease military funding and support to Burma.

“One hundred percent I support western countries, such as the US and New Zealand, and the severe sanctions that have been applied against the military dictators by the governments around the world to cut ties with the military dictatorship in Myanmar,” he told News Of The Area.

The communities and supporters staged a protest last week and encouraged attendees to join them in writing to their local members and the Minister for Forign Affairs and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.

At the protest Mr Maung told the crowd that the communities need to stand united together and be strong.

“Even though we live in this free country our worries and our concerns are resurfacing.

“It is like as if we have been having a recent phase of what we have been through before and the trauma we had is resurfacing,” he said.

The military dictatorship has been cutting off the internet intermittently but some community members have been able to get through on lines from India and other neighbouring countries.

Mr Maung spoke recently to his family in Myanmar.

“They were very sad that we all were expecting developments and improvements in our country and we only had democracy from only 2015 to 2020 and we were so hopeful but it is like we have become hopeless at the moment.

“We are so lucky in Australia and we are very fortunate.“

Local community leaders still need your support by writing to the Minister for Defense Marise Payne and urging Pat Conaghan to represent this issue in parliament.

Mr Maung said, “Readers can support us by condemning the military involvement from China and condemn Russia for providing military equipment to my country Myanmar.”

 

By Sandra MOON