BCHS recognises Karen allies this ANZAC Day
- Thursday 20 April 2023
- Written by Lauren Mitchell
Bendigo Community Health Services will acknowledge Karen people’s WWII contribution this ANZAC Day, when it lays a wreath for the very first time.
BCHS has helped thousands of Karen refugees settle in Bendigo since the first families arrived in 2007. They bring with them a unique culture, a lived experience of trauma and displacement, and hopes for a safe and peaceful future. They also bring a little-known shared history with Australia, as allies to the British forces.
The Karen is an oppressed ethnic group from Burma. During WWII, when Japanese forces invaded the then British-colonised nation, the Burmese army sided with the Japanese, while the Karen fought alongside the British as allies.
One of those soldiers was Chit Khin, the grandfather of BCHS refugee project worker Nido.
Chit Khin served as a captain in the Second Burma Rifles, alongside British troops, recruiting and training other Karen in guerrilla warfare. He was awarded a host of medals for his service, now buried in the earth on the Thai side of the Burma (Myanmar) border.