“We Found Strength…”

Written by La Min

Feature Photo:
A banner hanging from a bridge in Yangon – Translation: “May the dictatorship fall.”
Credit: La Min/USCB

Three days before the coup, I was on a work retreat with the NGO I was with at the time, aligning goals and planning projects for the new year. After just one day of the retreat, we were called to a formal meeting the next day where management announced a coup would most probably happen in the upcoming days. Our organization’s founders were leading activists in the 1988 protests with a strong informant network that had shared the news. Since it came from trusted sources, we scrapped our original agenda and immediately took the morning to arrange security measures for everyone. Members in the organization who we expected to be targeted for their past involvement in the democratic movement had to be transported to safe shelters, and we had to cut all contact with them until later notice. In the afternoon, we all said our goodbyes with the promise we would see each other again, no one addressing the lingering uncertainty in the air. I carpooled home with some of my coworkers in complete silence, processing the end of the democratic era, our organization and work, our friendships, and the anxiety surrounding our future. Despite our hopes, that was the last day I saw my team in person again. 

I woke up on the morning of 1 Feb 2021 to the confirmed news of the military coup. The situation worsened as mobile phone networks were soon closed and a nationwide internet shutdown was imposed. I was unable to contact anyone, sitting in confusion and fear. However, my racing thoughts were soon calmed in the late afternoon when I began to hear the faint chants of protestors in my neighborhood. Without any phone lines or any internet, the people of Burma still found a way to come together and organize mass protests. Not just throughout my hometown, Yangon, but across the entire country. In an instant, I left my apartment to join the growing crowd that was slowly filling up the city streets; many other people in my building had the same idea and came down with me. People of all ages, cultures, and religions came united in mutual frustration against the military and with the determination to resist. We found strength in one another’s company and voices as we circled the town until sundown, demanding democracy, respect, and freedom. This continued for several days and in the beginning, I, along with my other fellow activists, felt invincible. We began our own informal communication networks to pass on information about protests occurring across Yangon, encouraging people to join, especially government officers.

However, this was short lived as the junta started their violent crackdowns on protests. Soldiers and police began with arresting peaceful protestors, but it quickly escalated to shootings and killings. By the end of the first week, the entire city of Yangon had become a battlefield, with people literally fighting and dying on the streets for the right to protest. As the junta grew more ruthless and violent, the street protests had to cease. The military imposed a curfew and set up military checkpoints across Yangon. Soldiers had full permission to check your phone and arrest you for anti-military rhetoric, which successfully confined the population into their homes. 

That being said, the military did not account for just how strong this new revolution would be. Having been the first generation to experience democracy, an open economy, and rapid technological advancement, youth activists began to find ways around the junta’s policies. Many began to share resources to bypass internet restrictions, avoid being tracked via phone, receive donations and more, as well as transform street protests into social media campaigns to raise international awareness. These innovations were further directed towards tangible projects and procedures using the expertise of older activists who had real, first-hand experience from past coups and could provide strategic advice. For example, the aforementioned resources, paired with the knowledge of historical safe houses across the country, allowed for the safe transport of government officers wishing to defect and helped further propel the Civil Disobedience Movement. These types of endeavors have kept the fire of the revolution still going to this day, even after two years. 

The people of Burma continue to find the courage and strength to resist the dictatorship every day and need your support. The international community has the most power to apply pressure on the junta to restore democracy but has been the slowest to act on it. Initial warnings from organizations, such as my own, that predicted the coup went ignored in the beginning and hindered the ability to protect the people of Burma through early preventative measures. Development organizations, activists, and humanitarian workers on the ground continue to issue warnings and point to concerning trends within the country. The international community has an opportunity to address these challenges immediately and mitigate any further, severe consequences in the future.