By Kirsty Ross
SHERINALD Shwe remembers packing a backpack and watching her home go up in flames before fleeing in the dead of night to the sound of gunfire.
She also remembers being just six-years-old when her father’s face began to appear on wanted posters around Burma.
But here at last, on that frightening night, was their chance to dash for freedom.
Sherinald now 18, lives in Laverton – a long way from the hills of Thailand where the Karen people migrated on foot from Burma to seek political refuge.
She will never forgot where she came from, and plans to dedicate her life to being a voice for the 50,000 displaced people living in a Thai refugee camp.
And for the millions of other refugees around the world.
The Karen is the largest ethnic minority group living in the mountain ranges of eastern Burma, and north-west Thailand.
There are more than six million Karen in Burma and more than 400,000 in Thailand.
Sherinald and her family arrived in Australia 10 years ago, settling first in Yarraville and then Point Cook.
Last week, she received a youth award from the City of Wyndham.
“I was pretty surprised. I thought what I was doing was not enough. I thought it was nothing,” she said.
Council awarded Sherinald $500 for her work in raising awareness of the Karen people’s plight.
She is a youth leader within her community and has spoken at events like Harmony and Refugee Day about her people and other ethnic groups, suffering as a result of a violation of human rights in their countries.
“To me, just speaking is not a big deal,” she said.
“It really is a big deal for my people. That’s why there were so many of them at the meeting supporting me.”
About two dozen supporters watched Sherinald at the award presentation last Monday.
“This is the first Karen girl getting an award in Wyndham, and probably all of Australia.”
She said they would send pictures to the refugee camps to show that a young person can come to a free country where there are opportunities and still make a difference to those they left behind.
Sherinald, the eldest of four children, planned to spend the grant buying textbooks, pencils and clothing to give to refugees at the Thai-Burmese border, when she returns later this year.
She vividly remembers the night she became a refugee.
“In 1996, we lived in Manerplaw, the headquarters for the Karen revolution,” she said.
“That was the place that symbolised our freedom. It was taken over during a fight with the Burmese military and we had to leave. We left our house with nothing there.”
Sherinald’s family set fire to their home and fled.
“Sometimes I can still see the house burning, we didn’t want to leave anything for the Burmese.”
Her father, originally a lawyer, became a well-known Karen leader after seeing the injustice suffered by his people, and had to live away from his family for their safety.
He applied for political refugee status with the UN. It was granted and they moved to Australia.
“The UN knew about the situation my dad was in. The Burmese military posted wanted pictures. They wanted to kill him.”
Sherinald is following in her dad’s footsteps and has just completed her first semester of criminal justice at Victoria University.
One day she wants to be an ambassador for the United Nations.
“I came to Australia to start a new life, but I will never forget my people,” she said.
