In August, Myanmar faced one of the worst natural disasters in recent history, with four of its states being declared natural disaster zones by the United Nations. At least 27 people have died and over 156,000 people are displaced, many losing their homes and an entire season of crops.
It was a lovely Friday evening and people started to gather at the EngageMedia office in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for a screening of five films from West Papua. One of the films (featured below) was produced by Martha Langowuyo, who has been with us for one month as a participant of our new residency programme.
Despite being formerly banned and operating in exile, Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) have captured some of Myanmar’s most historical moments on camera. The media organisation got international attention after the award-winning film, ‘Burma VJ’, which shows the work of their secret video reporters during the Saffron Revolution.
On 13 August, we screened Crossroads, our video collection on migration, and other relevant videos from Southeast Asia in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss the methodology and impact of community video and advocacy in the region.
During Camp Chindwin, our Southeast Asia Video Camp in Myanmar, there were two sessions specifically aimed at discussing women’s issues in the realm of film making.
According to the Global Slavery Index in 2014, the number of victims of modern slavery worldwide went up 300% from the previous year. Research by the Walk Free Foundation (WFF, Australia) in 2013 has stated Indonesia as being one of 114 countries around the world that practices modern slavery and that there were an estimated 210,000 Indonesians who were working in conditions equating to slavery in foreign countries.
Camp Chindwin, our Southeast Asia Video Camp, brought together over 30 video activists, citizen journalists, and filmmakers in Myanmar in June this year, and I’m still trying to digest all the excitement from finally seeing it happen, and the reflections I’ve had afterwards.
Fleeing from prolonged conflict and persecution in Myanmar, hundreds of thousands of ethnic minorities find themselves living as refugees in neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. In Malaysia alone, there are an estimated 150,000 refugees from Myanmar, with possibly a third of them being not being registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
Migrant adalah orang yang berpindah dari wilayah lahir ke wilayah lain dengan maksud untuk bekerja. sehingga dikenal dengan Migran Internal yang merantau dari daerah ke daerah lain dalam Negara Indonesia dengan maksud bekerja dan adapula Migran Internasional yang keluar negeri dengan maksud bekerja. Migran Internasional inilah yang disebut sebagai Tenaga Kerja Indonesia (TKI) atau ada pula disebut Tenaga Kerja Wanita (TKW). Belakangan disebut sebagai Buruh Migran Indonesia (BMI).
