Statement from the Kachin Community in Australia

By Kachin Association of Australia • November 11, 2013

We, the Kachin organisations in Australia, are aware that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is scheduled to visit Australia this month and meet with Burmese community members and representatives. As we are invited to attend events welcoming her, we as a Kachin community, have collectively decided not to attend any events and public forums related to her visit.

It has been 29 months since the Burmese army launched brutal military offensives indiscriminately targeting thousands of Kachin civilians resulting in violent displacement of over 100,000 Kachin. At the hands of the Burmese army countless Kachin lives have been lost, Kachin girls and women raped and gang-raped with impunity, many civilians tortured ruthlessly, ordinary citizens arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned as well as numerous Kachin villages burned to the ground. While grave human rights violations became common and the plight of the Kachin worsened Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as the Opposition Leader and the Chairperson of the Lower House Committee for Rule of Law, Peace and Tranquility in the Myanmar Parliament, has not only remained silent but actively whitewashing the immensity of the issues by openly admitting her fondness for the military and campaigning for increased military training and assistance from the international community. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s continued silence and failure to condemn the actions of the Burmese army and government disregards the suffering of the Kachin people.

Individual attendees at these events wearing traditional Kachin clothes are not representatives of the Kachin organisations in Australia and therefore their comments and opinions are their own. The under signed Kachin organisations have collectively agreed not to attend nor show support for any events organised for Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Kachin Association of Australia (KAA NSW)
Kachin Association of Australia (KAA Wagga Wagga)
Kachin Association of Australia (KAA Melbourne)
Queensland Kachin Community (QKC)

Contact Email: [email protected]

Download the statement in Burmese here.