From Colonization to Liberation: How a Burmese Refugee Population in South Philadelphia Created Liberation from Colonization

Background and Purpose: In 1988, a pro-democracy uprising against the military junta provoked bloodshed and turmoil in Myanmar (Burma). Ethnic minority groups, such as the Karen and Chin, fled to camps on the Thai-Burmese borders. As of 2021, approximately 21,000 people, including many terrified farmers and their families, fled Myanmar into the jungles to hide or to neighboring India to escape the Tatmadaw, the Myanmar military, who ousted Myanmar’s elected government.

Approximately 90,000 Burmese refugees comprise the largest group of refugees resettling in the United States in the last decade or 19% of the total refugee population. Many of these refugees resettled in south Philadelphia. However, resettlement posed similar challenges. Just as in Myanmar, refugees encountered resistance from hostile community residents during resettlement in Philadelphia. Through my analysis, it gradually became evident that the study participants I interviewed fought against not only their histories of trauma, but adversity and oppression as they established a new place - and new homes – in south Philadelphia.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Karen and Chin Burmese (Myanmar) adult refugees who participated in a community garden program in Philadelphia (ages 28 to 82). All interviews were conducted via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic, from June, 2020, through December, 2020. Interviews lasted between 23 and 69 minutes (n=17). The sample was predominantly female (16 females; 1 male) with nine Karen and eight Chin participants. All study participants had resided in the United States between 4 and 18 years. Participants were recruited in-person, facilitated by the program director of the refugee organization. Karen and Chin interpreters translated all interviews into English. All interviews were transcribed verbatim. The data was thematically analyzed using conventional content analysis with two cycles of descriptive and axial coding. All data was uploaded to Dedoose, a qualitative software program.

Results: Study findings illustrated the struggle of the participants to re-create a place (and for some participants, a home) in south Philadelphia. With great fortitude, they sought to do this in a collaborative way using meaningful action. Findings revealed how study participants navigated resettlement challenges, including prejudice, conflicts with hostile community residents, exclusion, language barriers, and nostalgia. Participants described examples of racism from the community residents in Philadelphia and the ways they mobilized place to counter these experiences – similar to the place-based assaults of the Karen and Chin populations that collided with experiences of prejudice, racism, and oppression in Myanmar.

Conclusions and Implications: These resettlement challenges did not deter these participants and they adapted in a variety of ways as evidenced by their narratives with persistence and resilience in the face of adversity and nostalgia, using creative approaches and collaborating with one another. With assistance from a supportive community program director, they overcame language barriers, conflicts with hostile community residents, and prejudice from community residents. Moreover, Borwick et al. (2013) found that refugees were able to move forward from past traumatic experiences when they focused on new possibilities to shape their future, based on the concept of post-traumatic growth.