Myanmar’s ethnic minority groups banded together for a protest against the coup in Melbourne today. A thread

Mie Mie and Khine say they want to free Burma from dictatorship. Hundreds of young protesters have been killed, celebrities are being detained.
“We are worried about our families every day. It’s hard. It’s so sad.”

Blossom is Karenni, which she describes as a forgotten group. She remembers being terrified of the military since she was 8. She said she saw her grandfather killed in front of her. ‘The whole of my life I ran. We don’t have peace.’ She wants stronger action from Australia.

Habib is Rohingya. ‘We cannot stand by when bloodshed is happening.’ Some Myanmar people have apologised for the Muslim minority group for ignoring the military’s campaign of ethnic cleansing in 2017.
‘We know they ignored us, we have resentment ... but they are with us now.’

Dai Naw La La is from the Kachin community. ‘We need federal democracy for our people ... Now, we are united all together, to fight to bring the military junta down.’
Her parents are still in Myanmar. ‘They are in a really dangerous situation now.’

Jed Din, from the Chin community, points out the military has a long history of persecuting ethnic minorities.
‘We have been very fragmented in our response to the military’, he said, but this newfound unity is ‘phenomenal’. ‘It’s huge, it’s something we never had before.’