Crowdsourcing The Diaspora of Burma

Asking People From Burma What Journalists Should Write About

It has been six years since Myanmar began its historic transition towards democracy, yet the former military dictatorship continues to attract international media. It’s no coincidence, the country formerly known as Burma is resource-rich and borders both India and China, making the now accessible country a source of great interest for the global business community. Reports of “ethnic cleansing” from the United Nations against the Rohingya have sparked discussions of the role of minority rights in a democracy and the treatment of muslims in the world. In brief, Myanmar of interest to many, and thus will likely remain in the news cycle for years to come.

The way I began this article is how most journalists introduce the country of Myanmar. “Formerly known as Burma”, “military dictatorship”, “transition to democracy”, are almost stock lines that journalists use to quickly catch-up audiences about a Southeast Asian country that they have had little reason to think about for the past 50 years. The only thing missing from the first paragraph was mention of “Aung San Suu Kyi”, the defacto leader of the newly-elected National League of Democracy (NLD) party. Yahtzee!

Of course, people from Myanmar are well-aware of the these basic points of the country’s history and political reality. There are over 187,000 Myanmar refugees who have been resettled in the US, not including those who immigrated through more traditional visa processes. A fraction of the diaspora of Myanmar which ranges in the millions with sizable numbers in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and other Southeast Asian nations.

What do these people think about the media coverage of Myanmar? More importantly, what issues do people from Myanmar wish journalists would report? I used a journalistic service known as Hearken in order to crowdsource these questions, and hopefully, get some insight into what people of Myanmar think is lacking international reporting.

The Three “Rs”

It isn’t easy to get candid responses on issues of politics and culture from people who lived under brutal dictatorship, and in many cases worse. But from those who did respond, there were clear themes, and they were not very different from what journalists are already reporting on: Race, Religion and the Rohingya.

QUESTION ONE from a Burmese-American: “Racism is hardcore in Burma, how can we show that racism is unacceptable”

QUESTION TWO from a Burma resident: “Why doesn’t the UN support Myanmar soverignty [sic] and our culture?”

While I see no reason to doubt the courageous and capable journalism on conflicts between the military and various ethnic groups, including the Rohingya, I understand that many in Myanmar would strongly disagree. What I found surprising was how much of the diaspora, many of whom escaped persecution from the military, felt that international media was being unfair to the government over the Rohingya issue.

So I am beginning to interview as many US residents from Myanmar as possible to get a qualitative sense of the diaspora’s views of race, religion and the Rohingya. Here are a few people who were kind enough to talk about their experience with their identity.

First will be the Karen, an indigenous people of Southern Myanmar who have pushed into armed conflict and refugee camps, and now make up the most of the refugees resettled in the US. Coming next week.

Thank you, look forward to any feedback!