Leaving Myanmar: See you later and not Goodbye

It was after the door-to-door raids of my township, Sanchaung, coupled with messages from friends urging me to leave that prompted me to get on a relief flight and leave Myanmar. The initial push was not being able to work and sitting alone in my apartment contributing little of any worth, only listening to gunshots and intimidation. My students were out protesting and the university was closed,

previously opened only to provide support to protesters and later a place to hide from the security forces. The final one came in the form of a notification from the British Embassy in Yangon strongly advising that we leave the country as soon as possible. It is needless to say I did not want to go but the situation appeared to be only getting worse and showed little sign of lessening any time soon.

I contacted my boss, on Facebook, of course, and told him l wished to leave, explained why and then he offered to book my relief flight. He checked the available flights and within an hour one was agreed upon for the following week on Wednesday, March 17th.

The following day was a very tough one: l must have cried many times, not from relief, but terrible sadness at what had happened and what was to continue. I cried because l had been through too much with this country and l did not want to leave it. I wanted to continue the work l had started because l realized the value of it and felt unbearable bitterness towards those thugs and criminals who had brought an end to it all.

My remaining days in Myanmar were spend packing, organizing, and trying to meet people before l left which was something of a bizarre ritual in itself. When meeting in a coup you need a good sense of timing which involves anticipating what the security forces will do next, when, and if you can safely get around your township. I lived in Sanchaung which is one of the main crackdown areas, so you can imagine simple trips became thought out strategies in your mind of how to get to places.

Comments

#Apr8coup Myanmar London Embassy debacle

It seems that l cannot escape the Myanmar Junta even on home soil; the now-former Myanmar envoy to the UK . Kyaw Zwar Minn, was locked out of the embassy in London on Wednesday after speaking out against the coup and supporting the move for Aung San Su Kyi to be reinstated as leader. Of course, the foreign secretary Dominic Raab condemned the 'bullying' tactics of the military but diplomacy has its own rules unbeknownst to you or l and despite Raab's efforts, the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations must be observed. It's a simple process where the government merely needs to inform the host country that the ambassador no longer has the job. Yes, that simple. The relative simplicity makes this situation all the more ridiculous but also all the more frustrating. Equally as serious is the message this gives to Myanmar people; the Junta is the legitimate government. I went on Twitter earlier today and l was disappointed to read comments saying they were not surprised

The Price of International Inaction: Myanmar and Syria

#Mar12Coup The following is an extract from a statement made by Thomas H. Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation on human rights in Myanmar to the United Nations Human Rights Council, 11th March 2021. "Madame President, if we accept that there is a strong likelihood that the Myanmar junta is engaged in atrocity crimes against its own people right now, as we sit here, what do we do about it? Knowing, as we do, the price of international inaction , what action must be taken immediately? Yesterday, the UN Security Council released a statement expressing their deep concern about developments in Myanmar. They condemned the violence against peaceful protesters and expressed continued support for a democratic transition. These words are welcome. But, they are wholly insufficient ." It is the words 'knowing, as we do, the price of international inaction' that resonated with me most in a response to yet another tepid statement released by the president of the Secur

#11MarchCoup Sanchaung Township

Went out this morning. The streets were relatively quiet with neighbors having coffee and light meals at my local caf where the same monk sits and stares into the road in contemplative silence, occasionally lighting a cigarette. Older men gather on street corners exchanging information and some relive the days' previous horrors on their phones where the screams and gunshots crackle from speakers whilst young and old alike nervously walk up and down the street heading back home or to the market to buy fresh produce from stalls. Today was the first-morning l have been out since... l can't remember, ah yes yesterday. Time in a pandemic and a coup tends to move ever swiftly onwards but you, well you have lost your anchor your structure, your everyday. I sat at the caf on the corner opposite my street for the first time since l moved to Myanmar (a year) and stared vacantly into space drinking a very small paper cup of instant coffee. The monk is in his usual place casually smoking

Until the End of the World

Search This Blog