This year, of course, we appealed for political and financial support to the peoples of Burma/Myanmar after the military putsch of February 1. To date, we have collected and sent €6,080 to groups in Burma/Myanmar. Our website offers a wealth of information on the development of the situation in Burma/Myanmar, and on the country’s history. We have forged links to support the development of a broad and united solidarity movement.

At first, the putsch was thwarted by the speed and massiveness of the popular response which demonstrated the illegitimacy and isolation of the ruling junta. Unfortunately, the international sanctions against the military regime (and its economic conglomerates) were far too timid to prevent an all-out war against the population - a war made particularly deadly by the regime’s heavy weaponry (air force, tanks, long-range guns). Popular resistance has adapted to a longer-term struggle and continues under extremely difficult conditions. The Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) includes forms of armed self-defense across the country and not just in outlying areas populated by ethnic minorities.

When we called for financial solidarity with the people of Burma/Myanmar, we hoped that this would be a one-off campaign, lasting just a few months. We now know that this is not the case: we must ensure financial support to accompany long-lasting resistance.

With the addition of Burma/Myanmar, therefore, we are now running a long-term solidarity campaign with five countries. The ESSF Asia permanent solidarity fund also enables us to respond to emergencies. In the past, we have carried out targeted campaigns, such as in 2011 after the tsunami and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, or in 2017 during the devastating battle of Marawi in Mindanao.

We do not want to reduce aid to our partners in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mindanao (Philippines) and Pakistan. The emergency resources provided by our Asia permanent solidarity fund are limited and in demand. We therefore need to broaden the basis of our financial appeals. You can help us do this by making our fundraising efforts known to those around you.

We would like to stress two very important points:

1. ESSF’s campaigns are interconnected. This is not just a series of national campaigns, this is support to synergy at the regional level. Not only are the progressive movements in this part of the world working very concretely in solidarity with one another, but in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Philippines, in particular, our partners are engaged in many broad mobilization networks in South Asia. South and Southeast Asia.

ESSF’s partners offer us irreplaceable knowledge of the field. We had, for example, no partner in Burma/Myanmar when the putsch occurred. Our partners helped us better understand the situation, its rapid development, and the components of the resistance movement which we can best support. This is all the more important as the panorama of resistance in Burma/Myanmar is complex and changing.

2. The Burmese crisis is crucial for the whole region. Burma/Myanmar is today the “hot front” of struggle in East Asia. Neighbouring regimes have understood the regional dimension of the Burmese conflict - powers like India and China actively support the junta. Meanwhile, progressive movements across the region have affirmed their active solidarity with the peoples of Burma.

The region is experiencing, similarly or perhaps more than elsewhere, a hardening of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes. There has been a powerful wave of democratic resistance across Asia, crushed in Hong Kong, in great difficulty in Thailand.

The situation is particularly dire in the Philippines where Duterte’s dictatorial regime is waging an all-out, merciless war against everything it deems “communist” or “subversive.” The situation is very dangerous in Pakistan, where Islamist extremists, the secret services and the military pose a constant threat against social and democratic movements. In Bangladesh, the big landowners send their thugs against the leaders of popular organizations. In Indonesia, progressive or “class” feminism, defending the interests of working women, risks finding itself marginalized by currents that are close to the dominant, neoliberal order, often in the name of Islamic feminism.

Everywhere, to varying degrees, the coronavirus pandemic weakening populations and complicating militant activity, while those in power are are using the pandemic to justify increased measures of social control.
In these conditions, our financial aid is an essential counterpart to our political solidarity.

As our association does not receive any subsidies or grants, it has always been you, our donors, who have allowed our financial campaigns to continue. Since 2005, all of your donations are transferred to our partners — ESSF self-finances all its operation costs. You can consult the latest information on the use of the ESSF permanent solidarity fund here.

We cannot thank you enough.

Adam Novak, Pierre Rousset
ESSF

To send donations

Cheques
cheques to ESSF in euros only, payable in France, to be sent to:
ESSF
2, rue Richard-Lenoir
93100 Montreuil
France

Bank Account:
Crédit lyonnais
Agence de la Croix-de-Chavaux (00525)
10 boulevard Chanzy
93100 Montreuil
France
ESSF, account number 445757C

International bank account details :
IBAN : FR85 3000 2005 2500 0044 5757 C12
BIC / SWIFT : CRLYFRPP
Account holder : ESSF

Through PayPal
You can send money through Paypal: see the PayPal button on ESSF English home page: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?page=sommaire&lang=en

Through HelloAsso
You can also send money through the association HelloAsso: see its button on ESSF English home page: http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?page=sommaire&lang=en
Or go directly to:
https://www.helloasso.com/associations/europe-solidaire-sans-frontieres/formulaires/1/widget

We keep you regularly informed via our website of the situation and use of the solidarity fund.