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Thinzar Shunlei Yi

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In thisBurmese name,thegiven nameisThinzar Shunlei Yi.There is no family name.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi
သဉ္ဇာရွှန်းလဲ့ရည်
Thinzar Shunlei Yi,c. 2016
Born(1991-11-14)14 November 1991(age 32)
Sagaing,Myanmar
EducationBachelor of Education
Alma materYangon University of Education
Occupations
  • Television host
  • author
  • teacher
Years active2012–present
Known forAnti-Tatmadawactivism, organizingBurmese anti-junta protests,mental health activism, hostingUnder 30 Dialogueand organizing the#Sisters2Sisterscampaign
Awards
  • Emerging Young Leader Award
  • Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia (Media & Communications)
  • Magnitsky Human Rights Award
  • Obama FoundationLeader for Asia Pacific
Thinzar Shunlei Yi's voice
On theTatmadaw's use ofwartime sexual violencefollowing the2021 Burmese coup d'état(in English)
Recorded 16 December 2021

Thinzar Shunlei Yi[a](Burmese:သဉ္ဇာရွှန်းလဲ့ရည်;born 14 November 1991) is a Burmese pro-democracy activist and television host. Following the2021 Burmese coup d'état,she helped organizemass protestsagainst theTatmadaw(Myanmar's military). Born inSagaingto a military family, she originally trained to become a high school teacher, graduating from theYangon University of Educationin 2013. Between 2012 and 2016, Thinzar Shunlei Yi was politically active in executive positions of several youth organizations, and later became a television host onUnder 30 Dialogue,a youth-oriented television programme. In 2018, she was charged for unlawful protest against theRohingya genocide,and was convicted in 2020. After organizing protests against the Tatmadaw in the wake of the 2021 coup d'état, she fled to the jungle and briefly joined an armed rebel group. She lives in exile inThailandas of 2022, and runs the#Sisters2Sistersanti-wartime sexual violencecampaign. She has received the Magnitsky Human Rights Award, and further honors from Women of the Future, theObama Foundation,and theUS Department of State.

Early life[edit]

Thinzar Shunlei Yi was born in militarybarracks[2]on 14 November 1991[3]inSagaing,Myanmar, to aKachinChristian[b]mother[1]and a Burmese Buddhist father who was an army captain.[5]She is the eldest of three children.[4]Being the daughter of a military family, she spent the first sixteen years of her life on military compounds, rarely leaving.[6][7]According to Thinzar Shunlei Yi, her family felt "superior to the other people" outside of the compounds[7]or of lower military rank than her father[4]and enjoyed deference from them.[7]Conversely, her family was expected to respect soldiers of superior military rank and their families.[4]Receiving most of her education from military high schools andBamarBuddhist institutes, she supported the Tatmadaw as a child.[8]She was taught to "despise"Aung San Suu Kyi.[4]In high school, she witnessed theSaffron Revolutionand the ensuing government crackdown, and began "hating" the military regime. Her family disallowed her from attending any of the protests.[9]As a teenager, she was sexually assaulted by a tutor. She experiencedclinical depression,and attributed the incident tokarmafor her actions in apast lifeat the time.[10]Her family moved every two years, living inRakhine StateandMon State,among others, and finally settled inYangonaround 2007[4]to 2010.[1]

She attended theYangon University of Education,[11]training to become a high school teacher.[12]There, during one of her presentations on voter education, she was forced off stage by a teacher in an incident that would inspire her later political activism.[13]She graduated in 2013 with aB.Ed,[11]and subsequently worked as a teacher.[14]

Political activism[edit]

Before 2021[edit]

Thinzar Shunlei Yi speaking at an International Youth Day event

In Yangon, Thinzar Shunlei Yi underwent an ideological change.[1]She grew less supportive of the military after she visited several open forums at the localAmerican Center,[1]takingAung San Suu Kyias a role model because she spoke against the Tatmadaw.[2]She learned English at the Center and also volunteered at an orphanage.[4]

She first became politically active in 2012,[15]when she helped organizeInternational Day of Peace[16]and attended a youth forum inCambodia.[17]She eventually became the first female national coordinator for theNational Youth Congress,and the president of theYangon Youth Network,serving two terms.[18]In 2014, she co-organized theASEANYouth Forum, and aInternational Youth Daycelebration, which focused on mental health awareness.[19]During this time, she was frequently harassed online, and her phone number was leaked on pornographic sites.[20][21]She stopped organizing youth forums in 2016, and began working with theNGOcoalition Action Committee for Democracy Development, becoming an advocacy coordinator.[18][22]

Aung San Suu Kyi is an accomplice to the Rohingya genocide, and her influence in the country is too much, beyond imagination. She’s beyond a national leader. She’s become more like a goddess. We need a new leadership for the younger generation.

—Thinzar Shunlei Yi (2021)[4]

In 2017, she co-founded and began hostingUnder 30 Dialogue,a political youth-oriented television programme onMizzima TV.[17][23]Sensitive topics such as theRohingya genocidewere often discussed.[5]As a result, the military often attempted to prevent journalists from interviewing her.[5]Followingnational elections in 2015,Suu Kyi's party, theNational League for Democracy(NLD), came into power.[13]In May 2018, Thinzar Shunlei Yi, along with 16 other activists, including poetMaung Saung Kha,were charged with unlawful protest for organizing solidarity protests forinternally displaced personsinKachin Stateand against theRohingya genocide.[23][24]After a two year long trial, they were convicted in July 2020.[24]Given the choice between paying aK5,000 fine or staying in jail for a week, all 17 activists chose the former.[24]Thinzar Shunlei Yi experienced severe disillusionment with Suu Kyi, whom she described as an "accomplice to the Rohingya genocide"[4]with a "personality cult"[25]who is not suited to lead a younger generation.[4]Prior to the2020 elections,Thinzar Shunlei Yi was planning on establishing a new political party with other activists to challenge the Suu Kyi-controlled NLD and the Tatmadaw.[4]She ultimately boycotted the election because the Rohingya peoplewere not allowed to cast ballots.[26]As of April 2023, her plans to establish a new party are still on hold.[4]

Thinzar Shunlei Yi in a 2021 online interview

2021–present: Post-coup d'etat[edit]

On 1 February 2021, GeneralMin Aung Hlaingdeposed the democratically elected Suu Kyi ina coup d'état,ushering in a military regime that revokedMizzima TV's license soon after.[27][17]Thinzar Shunlei Yi, who was residing in her parents' home in Yangon at the time,[5]immediately left and went into hiding to avoid arrest.[28][5]A warrant was announced in March or on 20 April.[22][29]She attended and organized severalprotests during this period,[13][27]and led a march to theSule Pagoda.[29]Inter Press Servicedescribed her as a "main organiser" of theCivil Disobedience Movement.[30]Frequentdo xingby pro-junta accounts posed a significant security risk, so she often switched hiding places in the Yangon region.[5][20]According to her, approximately thirty of her friends were arrested, and all were physically or sexually abused in custody.[29]In mid-March, she fled Yangon to avoid endangering her family,[4]took refuge in the dense Burmese jungle, joined a rebel group, and trained in the usage of firearms.[5]After a month of training, she decided that she did not want to kill, and left the group.[5]In May, she testified viavideo linkbefore theForeign Affairs Select Committeeof the BritishHouse of Commonsabout the state of Myanmar under the military junta.[31]In June 2021, she told news media that she was near a border, but refused to specify which one.[4]Soon after, she fled to neighboringThailand.[5]

She refused to disclose her exact whereabouts in January 2022 for safety reasons.[5]She is a frequent contributor on Western news outlets such asCNNandThe Australian,[5]and published an autobiography with a French journalist in 2022.[5]In 2021, Thinzar Shunlei Yi announced the establishment of the #Sisters2Sisters campaign, which aims to raise awareness aboutsexual violence perpetrated by the military junta,by posting a staged photo of herself with bruises.[32]She invited participants in the campaign to "stage torture photos in solidarity with women in interrogation centers".[32]In 2023,#Sisters2Sisters,in collaboration withMyanmar Witness,analysed over a million posts from 100 pro- and anti-regimeTelegramaccounts and discovered that abusive language against women increased eightfold following the 2021 coup d'état.[20]

Awards and honours[edit]

Thinzar Shunlei Yi at the 2016 Emerging Young Leaders Award ceremony

In 2016, Thinzar Shunlei Yi won one of ten Emerging Young Leader Award from theUS Department of Statefor her organization of theASEANYouth Forum andInternational Youth Daycelebrations, along with her mental health activism.[19][33][34][11]Three years later, she won in the Media & Communications category of the Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia.[35][22]That same year, she became an inauguralObama FoundationLeader for Asia Pacific.[22][36]Post coup d'état, she was awarded a Magnitsky Human Rights Award for Outstanding Young Activist for her advocacy for internally displaced persons in Kachin State, her organization ofpeace marcheson theInternational Day of Peace,and her establishment of the#Sisters2Sisterscampaign.[22][33]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Also transliteratedThinzar Shun Lei Yi[1]
  2. ^The Timesrefers to Thinzar Shunlei Yi's mother as Buddhist[4]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcde"5 female activists who are changing Myanmar".Myanmar Mix.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  2. ^ab"Livre international -" Mon combat contre la junte birmane "".RFI(in French). 10 December 2021.Retrieved1 December2023.
  3. ^Thinzar Shunlei Yi [@thinzashunleiyi] (14 November 2021).""On my 30th Birthday, I want to simply say, thank you to the people of Myanmar esp women...""(Tweet).Retrieved7 April2023– viaTwitter.
  4. ^abcdefghijklmnParry, Richard Lloyd."Thinzar Shunlei Yi and the future of Myanmar: 'Aung San Suu Kyi broke my heart'".The Times.ISSN0140-0460.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  5. ^abcdefghijklPatrick Zoll; Aung Naing Soe (19 January 2022)."Inside the rebel groups fighting Myanmar's ruling regime".Neue Zürcher Zeitung.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  6. ^Sargent, Allison (18 October 2021)."Perspective – Myanmar activist: 'The risk I'm taking is nothing compared to people on the ground'".France 24.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  7. ^abcSlow, Oliver (2023).Return of the Junta: Why Myanmar’s Military Must Go Back to the Barracks.Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 34.ISBN9781350289635.
  8. ^Davis, Matt; Worthington, Anne (28 July 2021)."Swe got shot by a 'stray bullet'. Then a chilling message revealed the truth".ABC News.Retrieved30 November2023.
  9. ^Rising Above Hatred - A Myanmar Story | #ExtremeLives with Thinzar Shunlei Yi full episodeonYouTube.August 23, 2018
  10. ^Droulers, Annabelle (18 December 2015)."Breaking the silence on youth depression in Burma".DVB.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  11. ^abc"2nd International Conference on Youth Volunteering & Dialogue Participants"(PDF).UNESCO.p. 50. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 October 2017.Retrieved23 September2023.
  12. ^"Freedom Lecture: Thinzar Shunlei Yi"onYouTube.July 3, 2021.
  13. ^abcWalker, Tommy (13 March 2021)."We 'Have the Mind to Win This Battle' – Myanmar Activist Speaks Out About Coup, Crackdown".VOA.Retrieved6 June2023.
  14. ^Baker, Nick; Mason, Brett (6 June 2019)."Activist who once idolised Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi warns political system has 'failed' the country".SBS News.Retrieved8 June2023.
  15. ^Bociaga, Robert (1 February 2022)."Myanmar's Military Mindset".The Diplomat.Retrieved30 November2023.
  16. ^Chen Shaua Fui (13 September 2013)."In Burma, the Internet is the new political battleground".IFEX.Retrieved30 November2023.
  17. ^abcMandhana, Niharika; Solomon, Feliz (11 March 2021)."Youths Take the Lead In Myanmar Protests"(PDF).The Wall Street Journal.p. A10.
  18. ^ab"Thinzar Shunlei Yi | One Young World".One Young World.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  19. ^ab"Emerging Young Leaders Award – Thinzar Shunlei Yi".Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs Exchange Programs.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  20. ^abcMunsi, Pallabi (7 February 2023)."They released a sex video to shame and silence her. She's one of many women in Myanmar doxxed and abused on Telegram by supporters of the military".CNN.Archivedfrom the original on 22 May 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  21. ^McLaughlin, Timothy (11 February 2021)."Why Did It Take a Coup?".The Atlantic.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  22. ^abcde"Thinzar Shunlei Yi | The Magnitsky Human Rights Awards".29 November 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  23. ^abNaing, Shoon; McPherson, Poppy (1 December 2018)."Lost idol: New wave of Myanmar youth activists look beyond Suu Kyi".Reuters.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  24. ^abcNaw Betty Han (27 July 2020)."Myanmar activists face a new opponent: the public".Frontier Myanmar.Retrieved25 August2023.
  25. ^Gunia, Amy (15 February 2021). "Taking down a tarnished icon".The Brief.p. 13.
  26. ^Nachemson, Andrew."Ethnic tension, conflicts key concern for Myanmar's incoming MPs".Al Jazeera.Retrieved30 November2023.
  27. ^abChen, Aria (23 March 2021)."'Risking Everything.' Myanmar Activist Talks About Her Fight ".Time.Retrieved8 June2023.
  28. ^Goldberg, Jacob (15 February 2021)."Myanmar Activist: We Want Our Own Script".New Naratif.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  29. ^abcJha, Preeti (28 June 2021)."'Life is at a turning point': Inside Myanmar's resistance ".New Internationalist.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  30. ^Jagan, Larry (8 February 2021)."Myanmar Faces Increasing Uncertainty as Opposition to the Military Coup Grows".Inter Press Service.
  31. ^"Oral evidence: The Myanmar crisis, HC 203".House of Commons.25 May 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 1 April 2023.Retrieved1 April2023.
  32. ^abPrasse-Freeman, Elliott (2023). Bullets and boomerangs: Proleptic uses of failure in myanmar's anti-coup uprising.Public Culture, 35(1), 73-112.https://doi.org/10.1215/08992363-10202416
  33. ^ab"Thinzar Shunlei Yi".InterviewHer.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  34. ^Dockins, Pamela (20 April 2016)."Young Leaders Honored for Innovative Initiatives".VOA.Archivedfrom the original on 2 April 2023.Retrieved2 April2023.
  35. ^"Myanmar women win big in Women of the Future Awards Southeast Asia 2019".Mizzima Myanmar News and Insight.Archivedfrom the original on 20 March 2021.Retrieved2 April2023.
  36. ^"Leader Thinzar Shunlei Yi from 2019 Leaders Asia-Pacific".Obama Foundation.Retrieved26 August2023.

External links[edit]

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