An interview with Dr. May Yi, the lecturer who joined the CDM and conducts a research on CDM staff taking shelter in India.
Since the military coup on 1 February, 2021, the people across the country have been engaging in different kinds of anti-coup protests against the military dictatorship. Likewise, the civil servants participated in the CDM along with the slogan: “Don’t go to office, break away.”
Chin State has seen the strongest CDM in Myanmar, and according to civil society organizations, more than 70 percent of government staff in Chin State participated in the revolution against the military dictatorship through the CDM.
Although the government staff play a crucial role in the front line as a revolutionary front with the slogan: “Don’t go to office, break away”. CDM staff who fled to neighbouring India are facing a lot of difficulties. They have no jobs and don’t get support as long as the revolution is prolonged.
Some civil society organizations estimate that there are more than 1,500 CDM staff who have fled Myanmar and sought refuge in India. About one-third of them have returned to their homes due to accommodation difficulties.
Khonumthung Media Group (KMG) interviewed Dr. May Yi, a lecturer who is conducting a research on the survival of the CDM staff taking shelter in India and the difficulties and challenges they are facing.
Q: How many CDM staff have arrived in India?
A: I compiled the list of CDM staff in Manipur, Nagaland, Delhi and Mizoram. My list will not be perfect. According to the data I have collected, the number of CDM staff is between 1,200 and 1,500. I cannot say the exact number of CDM staff as they are moving from one place to another.
Q: Where are the most CDM employees from?
A: Most of the CDM staff are from Chin State. There are few CDM staff from Sagaing and Magway Regions.
Q: How do CDM staff who arrived in India survive? How do they live and what do they do?
A: Normally, the CDM staff are mixed with refugees here. Some people rent houses as they have families. Some people are living together with refugees. Some people are living in the houses of their relatives. There may be a difference in employment opportunities. A person who rents a house will be more independent. Those who are living among the refugees may have some pressures as they have to follow the rules set by the refugee camps. The situation is different. For those in Aizawl, it will be an obstacle. Mostly, relevant authorities and local governments in Aizawl do not allow CDM staff to do their jobs. They have no employment opportunities. On the other hand, we don’t get regular allowance. I myself have never received a subsidy. There will be many such things. Maybe they themselves don’t make contact. There may be the reasons that my turn hasn’t come yet in the list. There are a lot of reasons.
Most of the people here do manual labor. The reason is they don’t have official documents. So in some places they are experiencing wage exploitation. There are cases where wages are not paid immediately. They don’t know how to solve it. There is some difficulty. Some CDM staff are selling goods on a small-scale while some CDM staff are helping the businesses of their relatives. Some teachers and health workers can practice their work here. Teachers are teaching at the camps. As for the health workers, they can work again in health-related sectors.
Q: What types of staff are more common among CDM staff?
A: I saw a wide variety of staff, health staff, education staff. I think the CDM education staff is mostly from the basic education sector. University teachers from the higher education sector are in the minority. Most of the education staff are the basic education teachers. Other railway staff and staff from the different ministries are present here.
Q: It is reported that many CDM staff who arrived here have also returned home. Why did they go back? Can you explain that situation?
A: Take a look at my environment, many of them have gone back. When we check the reason, some CDM staff have gone home due to the health of their families. For instance, some people inevitably have to return home as their parents are unhealthy. In fact, they have to go back even though they are very dangerous in terms of security. Some of them returned to the ground to perform their duties. For instance, doctors, nurses and basic education teachers have to return home for the education of children amid the danger. Some CDM staff have returned to Myanmar as they do not get cash assistance, have no employment opportunities, have no hope to go to the third countries and face delays. Others return to Myanmar for family reunification.
Q: It can be said that CDM employees are the ones who took the lead in the Myanmar Spring Revolution. They opposed the military dictator with the slogan ÒDon’t go to office, break away.” They gave up their jobs and engaged in the revolution. Now, as the revolution goes on, the CDM staff themselves are saying that they are forgotten. As a CDM teacher, what would you like to say about this?
A: Our staff has started non-violent civil disobedience together with the people. In addition, students have been making a revolution by joining the CDM. Our CDM is still strong throughout the revolution. It continues along with the revolution. Sometimes some facts that have to be prioritized in the revolution are kept in the head. There is a situation where the CDM issue has become blurred due to the fact that some small things have to be prioritized. It is also true that we have been forgotten. We ourselves are being forgotten. Another thing is that at the beginning of 2021, they will formulate policies on CDM. CDM staff had high expectations for it. Drafting CDM policies must listen to the voices of CDM staff. However, I failed to collect the data as I did not know whether a survey on the needs of CDM staff was taken or not. I lost contacts with them in some cases. These policies cover the fact that CDM staff will get certain ranks after the revolution, and action will be taken against non-CDM staff under the services regulations and management rules if their cooperation with the military council is evident. We don’t know how long the revolution will last. We hope that the rights of CDM staff and our capacity are promoted. But the policies do not include the above-mentioned points. Some ministries provide aid for their CDM staff. For instance, defense, education, health and media sectors can establish links with their staff. However, the National Unity Government (NUG) has no ministries. For instance, railway staff have no ministry. They are not included in the list. Where do they go? That’s why some staff said they are forgettened.
Q: When I asked some of the CDM staff who came to India, it is known that there are people who have never received a subsidy from the NUG. How is that? What do you want to say about this?
A: I don’t know whether I lost contact with my job and information. I am not connected with the mother ministry. We have to fill in the CDM form. After filling in the CDM form, you get a CDM recognition code. But at that time, the internet lines were cut off, so it was not possible to fill in the form. We could not fill in the form. Now I want to get CDM code. If you want to fill in the form, I can help you. You can still fill in the form. I think they don’t get information. I don’t know the situations in Sagaing and Magway Regions. Chin State has CDM lists for respective townships. I don’t know whether they fail to register their names. Or else, as there are no strong CDM organizations, they don’t know where to report their information. Information is missing.
Q: What arrangements should be made by relevant officials for CDM staff?
A: We have the Spring Lottery. This aims to mainly support CDM staff. However, it is not known what percentage of CDM is supported each time the Spring lottery is opened. Maybe I don’t know. If you tell us what percentage of the CDM we can support on a national scale, we will not run out of information. The NUG is providing support. There are a lot of CDM staff. So even if we don’t get our turn, we feel good when we see that our partners are getting it. Some CDM staff have to struggle hard. It is required to document and research the life record of CDM staff and their struggles. I would like to call on researchers to expose the facts about the CDM staff. The media are required to occasionally cover the news about CDM staff in order that the CDM staff come to know that they are not forgotten by the public.
Our CDM staff have different classes. They come from different ministries. Sometimes, some opportunities are not the same. For instance, we should conduct capacity building courses as CDM staff have different years of services, educational qualification and experience. It would be truer if we told it to the NUG directly. We came here. We don’t know how long the revolution will last. We will be patient with it. We face difficulties. We have to struggle for our families. However, we cannot do our capacity building.
The NUG will use us when the revolution achieves success. Meanwhile, our skills have deteriorated. We can’t progress anymore. Our reconstruction period will be completed in about five years, but if we reconstruct the country with the people living as refugees, it may take us ten years. In the meantime, our capacity building should be carried out. If we have already improved our capacity once, the reconstruction will be quickly completed in two years instead of five years.
Q: As far as I study, CDM staff themselves have to earn their living and stand in their own way. Some people get aid and some don’t, so what are the effects if this continues? What should be done?
A: It is possible that there is a decline in trust in the NUG. We are no longer interested in the revolution and do not want to know the existence at all. It can happen until you want to forget it. Their parents, relatives and communities may put the blame on them. There will be psychological pressures blaming them that your revolution will end in a short period of time. You have no jobs and don’t get assistance. When we can’t practice our professional work, our performance will decrease. Our self-confidence has decreased. I feel like I’m nothing anymore. As for me, some thoughts come to my mind that do I fulfill my responsibility just by doing CDM? What should I do for the revolution? On the other hand, what we see in the media seems to be that the revolution is happening only around us. The things are operating normally in other places. I think I am crazy when I see the people from my community rejoining the military council’s community. Non-CDM staff will say their acts are true. Our acts are wrong. This wrong concept will be handed down from one generation to another. This CDM is going with the revolution. We will go till the end. But if we continue in this way, we will not be able to gather. There will be more and more splits.
Q: Do you have anything to add?
A: I want the NUG or relevant organizations to pay attention to the CDM organization. The armed revolution will go as usual. We need our non-violent revolution to be stronger. In my view, both things are required to go parallel.
Sent by KMG