Local News

DALY CITY (CBS 5) ― Burmese refugees living in the Bay Area are anxiously waiting for news from relatives while planning to help victims of the cyclone back home.

"Oh, it's very sad," said Jean Gale of Daly City who is originally from Rangoon; one of the worst affected regions of Myanmar.

"Just like we had Katrina here in America," said Gale. "Now, in Burma, we are having this."

Gale said she has been calling back home for days but the phone lines are down.

"It's frustrating," she said, noting that some Internet reports from Burma have described her home region as a war zone.

"We hope for the best because in some townships it's in the news that 75 percent of the buildings have collapsed," said Gale.

Gale is a board member of the Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA) – a Bay Area organization that supports the Burmese refugee community. Gale said the organization's mission is promoting freedom and democracy in Burma. Usually, the organization helps political refugees, but now they are mobilizing to help victims from the storm.

Faw Myat Mar of San Jose is also originally from Rangoon, although she has lived in the United States since 1999. Mar said she was a political prisoners for three years because she supported a political party in opposition to the current military government.

Now she said she is concerned for the safety of the student leaders who are the current political prisoners.

"They have a chance to kill the prisoners because of their stance on the upcoming elections," said Mar, indicating the fear many political refugees have that the military government will use the opportunity presented by the chaos of the storm to lash out at its enemies.

"People are living in hell already," she said, referring to the current military government. "Now, there's another difficult situation."

Mar said she is also concerned about the safety of her relatives who may have been hit by the storm. "I'm worried about my Mom," said Mar. "She's almost 80 years old and she lives my elder sister but nobody answers the phone. The phone lines are damaged, I think."

Gale said BADA is going forward with a planned demonstration this coming Friday, May 9th in downtown San Francisco. The group has been planning a vigil in front of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office at the federal building at 450 Golden Gate Avenue.

The group wants Pelosi to speak out about the military situation in Burma. Now, the vigil will also be a call for folks in the Bay Area to donate to the victims of the cyclone.

Gale said donations will not be going to the government of Myanmar (which renamed itself after a military coup).

"We are organizing an emergency assistance committee, to ask the Burmese community and the community at large to donate funds", said Gale.

"We will find ways and means to get whatever funds we are able to collect to the appropriate organizations," she said.

She said the money will not give money or supplies to the government because "it might not get to the victims."

Gale said she applauded First Lady Laura Bush's public statements on Monday, urging Myanmar's military government to accept international aid.

"She's very sweet," said Gale. "Whenever there's news from Burma, she's always there to support the people of Burma. We love her very much. Every little thing helps."

The Bay Area's Burmese community is made up of an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people.

(Editor's note: For other ways to donate to Myanmar relief efforts, please visit the UNICEF Webpage, or The International Red Cross.)

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