Sydney: Funds and awareness raised for IDP of Burma

Sydney: Funds and awareness raised for IDP of Burma

 
No.07 - 7/2007
9 July 2007
Human Rights
 
Fund raising helps increase community awareness on internally displaced people, and creates opportunity for refugee community to gather at food fair and musical evening event, said an event organizer.
 
The Sydney based Australian Karen Organisation (AKO) organized a fundraising program for IDP in Burma. The funds raised go through the Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP) and the Free Burma Rangers (FBR) and are directly distributed to displaced people in the Karen State, said Tamla Gaw, an event organizer and a vice Secretary of AKO at the event at Parramatta Town Hall, western Sydney.

_{Photo:Tamla Gaw}

More than 300 people came to enjoy the delicious foods from both ethnic Karen and Burmese refugee communities at the event. The participants were entertained by a live music show from the Young Karen Band. 
 
Documentaries revealing the critical condition of displaced people in war zone were also presented. Tragic stories shown on the screen highlighted the real picture of the situation on the battle field, in which innocent people are being killed, and their houses are burned and destroyed by the Burmese army.
 
According to the organizer, the event is not just a normal fundraising project; it also aims to raise awareness to the Sydney community about people’s lives in Karen state. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced, and as the forced relocation continues every day, these people desperately need help. Spreading these concerns will urge more people to donate money to the cause of displaced people. 
 
“We will raise thousands of dollars after other expenditures. Some Australian guests donated up to $400” said Gaw.
 
The event allows Sydney’s Karen and Burmese communities, who have different backgrounds, to gather occasionally with the hope of sharing one another’s experiences.
 
Some people come to Australia for reasons that may be unrelated to politics, and they are not aware of the issues of refugees and internally displaced people.
 
The Karen communities in other Australian cities and in western countries such as the US, Canada and within Europe organize similar fundraising programs annually.