Burmese immigrants gather to commemorate uprising

Burmese immigrants gather to commemorate uprising: Uprising that left thousands dead is remembered

(Source: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)By Amy Rabideau Silvers, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Aug. 09--Like Burmese refugees throughout the world, immigrants in the Milwaukee area gathered together Sunday to remember the one date that no one from Burma can ever forget.

It was on Aug. 8, 1988, that peaceful demonstrations for democracy -- now known as the 8888 Uprising -- spread across the country. They ended the next month with a military coup and the slaughter of thousands of protesters by the military-led government.

And so the day is one of pride and solidarity, sorrow and remembrance. It is a day to dream of a Burma free from military rule. Twenty-two years later, the Burmese people are still waiting.

"We're still fighting," said Moe Aung, 44, a case worker with the Lao Family Center in Milwaukee and a volunteer with the Burmese Community of Wisconsin. "Even though I am a U.S. citizen, we want to get our country to democracy. We want to send the message throughout the world."

While the country is officially called Myanmar, its expatriates say that they are from Burma and call themselves Burmese. They include people from all walks of life, different ethnic groups and faiths. Refugees fled to camps in India, Malaysia and Thailand and continue to make their way to the U.S. and other countries.

In the Milwaukee area, there are an estimated 1,500 Burmese people, many from the Karen ethnic minority.

"People still come every month," Aung said. "Now almost 500 come so far this year."

Life can be difficult for the refugees, already traumatized by events at home and now strangers in a strange land. Most need to learn English, find jobs and a hundred other things, but there is more help for newcomers now than a decade ago, said Aung.

"I've been here for 10 years," Aung said. "When we came here, only a few people are here before us.... It's still hard for them. Some don't even speak A-B-C or 1-2-3."

Zaw Oo, 38, now a bilingual support specialist with the International Learning Center in Milwaukee, was another early immigrant from Burma.

In 1988, he was a 16-year-old high school student in Rangoon, where students were involved early on in the peaceful protests.

"The government arrested me," he said. Oo was held for six months until he promised not to be involved in politics.

"After jail, I run away in the jungle," he said, with a laugh. "And we make up a student army."

That was his life for 10 years, until he decided to try for a new life elsewhere. He arrived in the U.S. nine years ago and is now a citizen.

"We need democracy, human rights," Oo said. "It's still a military government. They never make it 'people power.' "

New elections were promised for 2010, but for many, the question of free and fair elections in their homeland is a moot point.

In 1990, the people elected Aung San Suu Kyi, who was already under house arrest for leading the people's movement. She is considered their democratically elected leader. She remains under house arrest.

There is one more reason the annual event is held.

"We want the new generation to know," Aung said. "They weren't there in 1988 to know the true story.

"We do this every year," he said. "And we pray for whoever passed away during the demonstrations and got shot and stay in the country. We do not forget our country."