Caught in the Crossfire

Episode #273: The 4th International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies (ICBMS), hosted by Chiang Mai University in August 2024, brought together over 800 scholars, activists, and experts to discuss Myanmar's political, social, and economic challenges, including the impact of the 2021 coup. Insight Myanmar Podcast was given exclusive access to cover the event, where we recorded brief interviews with a number of guests and covering a wide range of diverse topics. These interviews are being presented in a special, four-part series, of which this episode is the first. Guests include: Aung Zaw, founder and editor of The Irrawaddy. He has dedicated his career to independent journalism since the 1988 uprising, facing significant threats and intimidation from the Burmese regime, while remaining committed to democracy, press freedom, and exposing the truth about Myanmar's situation. Dr. Mar Mar Gyi, a Burmese anthropologist and filmmaker. She focuses on gender issues and the overlooked roles of women in Myanmar's history, emphasizing that feminist movements have deep local roots, and that Burmese women historically enjoyed significant rights that have been eroded by colonialism, nationalism, and militarism. Katie Julian, an education expert deeply involved in Myanmar's higher education system. She focuses on developing curriculum and training programs in non-state and ethnic-run sectors, emphasizing locally relevant materials and skills-based learning; she remains hopeful post-coup due to the resilience of Burmese educators and the emergence of informal education structures in IDP camps. Amy, a law graduate and activist. She has spent three years working on gender-based violence and child abuse cases, collaborating with NGOs to support human rights defenders and is now building networks in Thailand and Myanmar to provide legal aid and raise awareness about human rights issues in post-coup Burma. Sitthu, a law student and member of the Civil Disobedience Movement. He focuses on human rights research and believes in using law as a tool to address ethnic divides and expose Myanmar's human rights violations to both regional and global audiences, advocating for inclusive and just legal frameworks in the face of military oppression.