One evening when Zaudanawng “Jay-Dan” Maran and his friends were walking home after an exercise for a Thanksgiving concert at a local church in his hometown of Putao, Kachin State, Myanmar, they encountered a woman who was sexually assaulted by two soldiers.
“We told them to stop and asked them to let them go home. The soldiers told us to get out of here, it wasn’t our problem or our business. Otherwise you will get into trouble – go to jail or be killed, ”Maran said.
The three refused to obey the soldiers’ orders and acted quickly to get the woman to safety.
“My friends and I tried to separate the girl from them. The soldiers started fighting us, ”said Maran. “We were young – only 20, 21.”
Maran grabbed the woman and managed to bring her home while his friends stayed behind and fought off the soldiers. That was the last time he’d seen or heard from them.
When Maran returned home, his frightened mother warned him that soldiers had already come over looking for him.
“She told me that I had a problem with soldiers that I could no longer live here. You’ve been looking for me, ”he said. “My mother prepared clothes and food for me. I left my hometown at midnight. Just like that.”
That was in October 2007, after Maran graduated from the University of Myitkyina, Myitkyina, with his bachelor’s degree in statistics earlier this year.
With nowhere to go, he decided to return to Myitkyina to hide with a friend in the meantime.
“It took me eight days to go there. It was difficult – it was just jungle, ”he said.
When he finally got to Myitkyina, one of Maran’s friends agreed to protect him for two weeks.
“I was still in touch with my mother and wanted to go home. But my mother said no, the soldiers are still looking for me, ”he said. “They told her they wanted me. They came often so my mother said don’t come back or they will keep looking for me. “
As Maran put it, he had no idea what to do next. Fortunately, the mother of one of his friends connected him to someone in the Myanmar city of Yangon, who said they could help him obtain refugee status if they were willing to move to Malaysia.
“They told me to go there because they are helping people like me. Otherwise they will keep looking for me when I stay in Myanmar, ”said Maran.
After borrowing money from a friend, Maran traveled by train for four days to meet with the compound in Yangon. They then took a bus to Kawthoung – a city in the southernmost part of Myanmar. You would have to cross Thailand if you want to go to Malaysia.
“We had to cross the ocean in a paddle boat. It took about 45 minutes to get to Ranong, ”said Maran.
It took them five days to get to Malaysia via Thailand, where Maran would find work in the state capital, Kuala Lumpur. In November 2007, Maran worked on a chicken egg stall in a local market for seven months to pay the agent who brought him to Malaysia.
“I worked because I had no money. I went overnight, ”he said. “My connection in Yangon – the agent who brought me to Malaysia – had to be paid.”
While he was working to pay his dues, Maran stood every morning – along with 50 to 100 people – at the office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Kuala Lumpur to apply for a refugee card.
Priority was given to families with children, and it wasn’t until the summer of 2009 that Maran finally received his card.
It was around this time that Maran began dating his future wife, Ah Nin, after meeting her at a church in Kuala Lumpur. However, this wasn’t the first time the two met.
“We met in Malaysia. She is from Myitkyina. I met her at school when I was 18 or 19, ”he said. “She used to sell food and snacks off a cart. She also had a problem with a soldier, so she left the country. “
Ah Nin got her refugee card a few months after Maran got his and the two married in Malaysia in 2010.
But at home in Putao, Myanmar soldiers continued their search for Maran. Frustrated with their lack of success in finding him, the soldiers turned their attention to Maran’s younger brother, Naw Naw.
“They came to my house, couldn’t find me, and said they were going to take my brother to jail. He was 14 or 15 years old, ”said Maran. “He didn’t want to go to jail. He didn’t do anything wrong. “
Maran helped his younger brother flee from injustice, and by 2010 Naw Naw met again with his brother in Kuala Lumpur, where he too would receive his refugee card from the UNHCR.
While Maran and Ah Nin were waiting for their new home, they had their first child in 2012. A year later they had their second child. According to Maran, it was not legal to have children as refugees in Malaysia, so Ah Nin and the children stayed inside until it was time to leave.
In 2014, the Creston Refugee Committee sponsored Maran and his family to come to town. In December of that year, he, his wife and children, and his brother, left Malaysia for Canada – a 36-hour flight to Creston via Malaysia, Germany, Vancouver and Cranbrook.
“In Malaysia the temperature is over 30 ° C. We came here in December and never went outside in our first winter,” said Maran. “We always stayed inside because we were cold. People would say it’s not that cool, but it’s really cold for us. “
In addition to the climate, Maran noted that the other significant challenges upon arriving in Canada were language, culture, and racism.
“Sometimes we don’t understand the work culture. Some people don’t understand what we are. We are exposed to racism sometimes, ”he said.
Even so, Maran said that he and his family are very happy and grateful to be here.
“When I grew up, my father was a farmer. It feels more like that here. The Creston Refugee Committee feels like our family, ”he said. “If we need something, they help us. Still, they help us a lot. “
Reflecting on his experiences as a refugee, he said that he would never experience such a trip again.
“It was so difficult,” he said. “When I talk about it, I get very emotional. Big time. Very difficult for sure. “
Maran became a Canadian citizen in 2019. He described Creston as his Canadian hometown.
“In Canada, Creston is our hometown,” he said.
Do you have anything to add to this story or anything else we should cover? Email: aaron.hemens@crestonvalleyadvance.ca
@aaron_hemens
aaron.hemens@crestonvalleyadvance.ca
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Get local stories you won’t find anywhere else straight to your inbox.
Sign in here
