Myanmar Union Day commemorated

Members of the All Ethnics Democracy and Human Rights Network, a group of refugees from Myanmar, hold a rally in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul to commemorate Union Day, Sunday. / Courtesy of John Thang

By John Redmond

A small group of refugees from Myanmar (Burma) based in Korea held an annual demonstration in front of the Myanmar Embassy in Seoul to commemorate Union Day, Sunday.

Members of the All Ethnics Democracy and Human Rights Network read out a statement and delivered a letter to the embassy staff, calling on the Myanmar government to respect democratic principles and ensure ethnic freedom rights.

“We are a group of ethnic people from Myanmar and a collection of other human rights activists. Today, we are holding a pro-democracy and ethnic freedom rights demonstration in front of the Myanmar Embassy,” the network said in the statement.

“This is in commemoration of Union Day, which started in Panglong Town, Shan State, Myanmar, on Feb. 12, 1947,” it said.

Union Day is seen as the birthday of the Myanmar nation. On this day, 23 representatives from four territories, which comprise the Shan state, the Kachin state, the Chin state and mainland Burma, signed an agreement in Panglong to form the Union of Myanmar.

To honor this historical agreement, Myanmar people celebrate the day as Union Day across the nation on Feb. 12 every year. This day is the most important day in modern Myanmar’s history.

When speaking with The Korea Times, John Thang, executive director of the network and resident of Korea for six years, emphasized that delivering the letter in person is a difficult process.

“Because members of the embassy staff refuse to accept the letter, we are forced to put the envelope in a mail box, we then read out a copy of the statement,” Thang said.

“The aim in demonstrating is to bring awareness of our cause to the Korean people,” he continued.

Thang also stated that they will continue to hold peaceful rallies to honor this event.

“Our aim is to seek dialogue and resolve this issue,” he said.

When asked about other methods of getting the message across, he responded, “We do online campaign news, Facebook and other social media.”

The statement emphasized the role in which he hopes Korean citizens can be active in their struggle and support for pro-democracy movements in the Southeast Asian nation.

“Furthermore, we ask that the Korean people and the international community show staunch support for an end to ethnic repression in Burma.”

“Most of our members are refugees that may work at various factories for self-support to earn money.”

The group dispersed in a peaceful fashion after holding the one-hour demonstration.

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