Flag brings hope to Karen refugees-Two communities, far apart in experience, were brought together yesterday with the raising of the Canadian and Karen flags in front of the Orillia Opera House and the singing of both nation’s anthems.
For decades, the Karen people — one of several ethnic groups that live in Burma — have been persecuted, driven from their homes and killed by the Burmese military.
Project Umbrella Burma, founded by David and Cathy Downham of Washago, has been providing help to Karen refugees, many of them children, through work in a medical clinic, hostel and school on the Thailand/Burma border.
Yesterday, surrounded by members of the Karen community now living in London, the Downhams, local politicians, Project Umbrella Burma board members and supporters watched as the flags were hoisted toward the sunny sky.
“It means we’re getting started and our city has recognized international responsibility,” said Cathy Downham, in between hugs and handshakes from the Karen people who made the trip to Orillia to see their flag raised.
In November 2007, the city officially declared Project Umbrella Burma its International Outreach Initiative.
Mahn Kyaw Swe came to Canada from Burma in 1994. He’s now president of the Karen Canadian Community.
“Karen people in Burma are being placed in ethnic cleansing by the Burmese military,” Swe said yesterday. “The international community aren’t aware of that. It’s people like Cathy and David who come to Burma and see what is going on and come back to do something (that makes a difference),”
The Karen flag was officially recognized by the British in 1938 and the Karen people are allowed to raise the flag once a year on the Karen New Year.
The flag provides a great sense of pride for the Karen people, Swe told the crowd yesterday. He tell the story of how humiliated they were when, in 1997, Burmese general Maung Aye took the flag and stepped on it during a televised surrender ceremony with a battalion of Karen freedom fighters.
So yesterday’s flag-raising held great meaning to the Karen people, he said.
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