Dr Cynthia Maung founded the Mae Tao Clinic 38 years ago along the Thailand-Burma border, in Mae Sot. Since the 2021 coup, Mae Sot has become a sanctuary for many Burmese refugees, in particular tens of thousands of ethnic Karen and other Burmese minorities who subsist on the fringes of the Thai economy and await a brighter future.
At the invitation of MCN, Dr Cynthia visited Australia in February to meet with civil society organisations, academic institutions, medical professionals, faith-based groups, diaspora communities, and Australian parliamentarians in Melbourne, Canberra, and Sydney.
She highlighted the situation along Myanmar’s contested border areas since the 2021 military coup and escalating humanitarian crisis: the impacts on local communities and how local health and humanitarian organisations respond to the situation. She also briefed on the impacts of the military junta’s sham elections for communities and service providers along the border issues and raised the need for humanitarian funding after US aid cut along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
Ko Saulsman, Myanmar Campaign Network.
Dr Cynthia and the MCN delegation met parliamentarians for two days, including briefings for Minister for International Development Anne Aly, Tania Lawrence, Matt Gregg, Lisa Chesters, Joanne Ryan, and staff from the office of the Foreign Minister. Dr Cynthia discussed the importance of directing a portion of Australian humanitarian aid to support the Mae Tao Clinic’s efforts. They also highlighted the implementation of the ILO Article 33, as well as the formation of the Parliamentary Friends of the Democratic Myanmar.
In Sydney, Dr Cynthia met with Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation ASMOF – the Doctors’ Union, New South Wales Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) and Union Aid Abroad–APHEDA supporters to brief them on the increasing humanitarian crisis on the Thailand-Myanmar border and the need for continued support from union solidarity.
Inside Myanmar, while the military junta is attempting to form an illegal Parliament in Naypyitaw, they continue to conduct air strikes on civilians. Attacks have been reported on 13 March in the Bago region, with one of the attacks killing 41 innocent civilians, including 18 children. The junta used “kamikaze drones” and jetfighter. China has been a key arms supplier to the Myanmar military for decades, equipping it with everything from bombs to aircraft, though Beijing has denied providing support to the regime.
Almost 8,000 civilians have died since the military coup in 2021.