Navigating the Legal Pathways Down Under
Insight Myanmar30 Jan 2024

Navigating the Legal Pathways Down Under

Episode #215: Ko Ko Aung's life journey is a testament to resilience and purpose amidst Myanmar's political unrest.

He was raised in a middle-class family in southern Myanmar, yet unlike his two brothers, Ko Ko Aung chose to focus on academics rather than the family business, making ngapi. He went to study law in Australia, aiming to aid his homeland's transition to democracy.


Upon graduation, Ko Ko Aung specialized in immigration law, unknowingly preparing for the post-2021 coup crisis that saw countless Burmese seek asylum. He found himself confronting an Australian system that often rejected Burmese visa applicants without proper review, contrasting starkly with the more positive treatment of refugees from Hong Kong, Ukraine, and Afghanistan. He labored pro bono, developing guides to navigate Australian immigration bureaucracy, yet faced a daunting rejection rate for Burmese applicants.


Despite the grim scenario, Ko Ko Aung remained hopeful, spotlighting options like the Protection Visa and the Skilled Refugee Visa Program. These alternatives gave a glimmer of hope for Burmese refugees, with the latter allowing community sponsorship. He also expresses the need for the Burmese community in Australia to do more outreach to educate people, including immigration officials, about what is happening in Myanmar


“During these difficult times, because we come from a Buddhist country, the teaching of the Dhamma, we cannot be we cannot forget about that. Meditation and our Buddhist teachings have been helping me a lot going through this,” he says in closing. “During these tough times, being mindful will help a lot in terms of getting through these tough times.”

Episoder(541)

A Rose by Any Other Name

A Rose by Any Other Name

Episode #526: “I actually was anti-Muslim when I was in high school!” recalls Thet Swe Win, describing how he was influenced by nationalist propaganda in his youth. But his involvement in the 2007 Saf...

27 Apr 2h 20min

Knocking on Malaysia’s Door

Knocking on Malaysia’s Door

Episode #525: Heidy Quah, founder of Refuge for the Refugees in Kuala Lumpur, describes her work supporting migrants and refugees in Malaysia, particularly those fleeing Myanmar. She began volunteerin...

24 Apr 1h 57min

The Path in Question

The Path in Question

Episode #524: Max Ante’s story begins not with a gradual curiosity, but with a sudden rupture. At twenty, after a series of chance encounters, he found himself on a ten-day Vipassana retreat in the Go...

23 Apr 2h 40min

A Life In Motion

A Life In Motion

Episode #523: The fourth episode in our five-part series brings you conversations recorded at the 16th International Burma Studies Conference at Northern Illinois University, where scholars, students,...

21 Apr 1h 30min

The Transparency Paradox

The Transparency Paradox

Episode #522: “We became interested in understanding how distrust toward official institutions influences the way humanitarian aid actually moves on the ground, and how donors decide where to place th...

20 Apr 1h 24min

Victims of Success

Victims of Success

Episode #521: “The weapon itself just cannot tell the difference between a soldier stepping on it, or a kid on the way to school, or your grandma on her way to the place of worship.” For Erin Hunt, E...

17 Apr 1h 18min

The Akha Way

The Akha Way

Episode #520: “Ancestors are not dead. They’re not the living dead. Rather, they should be best thought of as ‘the always living.’” Dr Micah Morton, a cultural anthropologist and professor at Northern...

16 Apr 1h 59min

Aniccā with Feeling

Aniccā with Feeling

Episode #519: Friedgard Lottermoser, a German student of Sayagyi U Ba Khin, describes the unique character of meditation at the International Meditation Center (IMC) in Rangoon between 1959 and 1971. ...

14 Apr 3h 8min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
aftenpodden-usa
forklart
popradet
stopp-verden
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
fotballpodden-2
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
aftenbla-bla
rss-espen-lee-usensurert
rss-dannet-uten-piano
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
frokostshowet-pa-p5
e24-podden