The latest death toll from the massive earthquake that hit Myanmar on Friday has surpassed the 2,000 mark and is expected to rise dramatically. The 7.7 magnitude quake was shallow, which meant it shook the country violently.
Hawaiʻi's Myanmar community gathered Sunday night at Capitol Modern, Hawaiʻi's state museum, for a film screening that turned into a fundraiser for earthquake victims.
Community organizer Miemie Winn Byrd told HPR that there are about 100 families from Myanmar in the islands who worry for relatives and friends back home. They are also concerned for the safety of their former leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the future of their country.
“There are a lot of refugees in the neighboring countries, but also inside the country, there's about 3.5 million internally displaced,” Byrd said. “So the environment is already dire and the people are very vulnerable before this disaster strikes.”
Byrd said that if people want to send aid to the affected areas, they should do so directly through local groups. She said the country's military has a history of plundering official aid.
"Military has denied foreign correspondents, foreign journalists, to go in to report from there," she said. "They're trying to weaponize this aid, as well as politicize because they really desperately want to have legitimacy, and they think that if, you know, foreign governments start to have to work with them, that raises their legitimacy."
Byrd is also with the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.
This interview aired on The Conversation on March 31, 2025. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m.
