Gay Nay from Myanmar : ”When people ask me now, I say I’m from Tassie”

Myanmar, known also by some as Burma, is a nation that has spent decades under military rule. Minority groups have been persecuted, mistreated, driven from their land and even killed. One such group is the Karen people, who live predominantly in the south-east area of Myanmar bordering Thailand. It is estimated that around a million Karen are living as refugees in Thailand, but in recent years many have been accepted into countries such as Australia, Canada and the US. Tasmania also now hosts a sizable Karen community, who make up the overwhelming majority of Myanmarese living here.

Gay Nay left her homeland as an infant. Her parents were farmers who were forced to flee with little more than the clothes on their backs and then spent over a decade in a refugee camp in Thailand before finding that they were going to Tasmania. Like many others, they faced the challenges of the cold, the language and finding work but over time they overcame these and now both Gay Nay and her parents are in employment. Many Karen have, however, left Tasmania for the bigger mainland cities where they have more community support and employment opportunities. Gay Nay also followed this path, moving to Perth for 3 years, but eventually returned to Tasmania, where she feels now is very much her home.