Civil Disobedience Movement in Myanmar

Salween non-profit fundraising group was founded by four youth activists to help sustain the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in which hundreds of thousands of civil servants put their livelihoods on the line for democracy. In wake of the coup in February 2021, Salween members first started fundraising through their social networks to assist student protesters and youth activists in need of temporary shelter to evade arrests by the junta regime. As the CDM gained a greater momentum, Salween strived to sustain the movement by distributing funds efficiently to the activists with the most need and greatest impact; resources are distributed with no expectations of recipients and 100% of every donation goes to supporting the activists. The first group of recipients consisted predominantly of railway workers who were forcibly evicted by the junta forces from their state-owned houses in the compounds of major railway stations in downtown Yangon. As the needs of railway workers and other groups of civil servants for the lost-income support for food, healthcare and housing loomed large, Salween extended its fundraising efforts to collect funds from friends and aid organizations both at home and abroad. Although Salween’s fundraising efforts were hampered to some extent due to suspension of its bank accounts and imminent threats of arrests by the junta regime, Salween has consistently distributed funds to those striking civil servants facing compounded difficulties of their lost incomes, soaring commodity prices and impacts of COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar.