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.”

Avsnitt(515)

Working Class Hero

Working Class Hero

Stephen Campbell has spent the last twelve years studying labor movements in Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries. Going back and forth across the history of the country’s labor movement, he de...

23 Juni 20221h 21min

Lives in the Balance

Lives in the Balance

“You can you hear from how I speak that these days, I am very distracted and distressed by the development of the entire thing,” Han Htoo Khant Paing admits during this urgent and emotional interview....

16 Juni 20221h 34min

The Power of Dialogue

The Power of Dialogue

Soeya Min first got his start in the travel industry, then switched to the entertainment field. When the pandemic struck, with a lot of free time on his hands, he started learning about psychology.All...

9 Juni 20221h 56min

The Karenni Resistance

The Karenni Resistance

Like many of his Bamar colleagues, Khun Be Du and his Karenni community first attempted to resist the military coup through non-violent means. When that could no longer be sustained, he banded togethe...

2 Juni 20221h 13min

The Hope of R2P

The Hope of R2P

The days turned dark in March 2020 when the Burmese military began attacking and killing nonviolent protesters. Soon after the crackdown, activists still courageous enough to take to the streets began...

26 Maj 20221h 41min

The Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi Returns

The Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi Returns

The Myanmar military’s violent response to the democracy movement has caused angst among many devout Burmese Buddhists about how to defend themselves and their fundamental freedoms, while remaining tr...

19 Maj 20222h 14min

A Delicate Balance

A Delicate Balance

Kenton Clymer joins the podcast to speak about his book, "A Delicate Relationship: The United States and Burma/Myanmar since 1945." In the waning days of World War II, Americans were primarily concern...

12 Maj 20221h 57min

A Voice of Conscience

A Voice of Conscience

Ma Thida’s book, Prisoner of Conscience, details her remarkable and inspiring life journey.She was attending medical school when, in 1988, the military violently suppressed peaceful protesters. Soon, ...

5 Maj 20222h 5min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
aftonbladet-krim
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
rss-expressen-dok
motiv
aftonbladet-daily
spar
blenda-2
rss-sanning-konsekvens
svd-ledarredaktionen
rss-vad-fan-hande
olyckan-inifran
rss-krimreportrarna
dagens-eko
rss-frandfors-horna
kungligt
svd-nyhetsartiklar