London's Burmese community 'broken' following Myanmar earthquake

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 01, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Londoners with ties to Myanmar accidental they are disquieted astir household and friends aft a 7.7 magnitude earthquake deed the Southeast Asian country, besides known arsenic Burma, Friday, wherever the decease toll continues to rise.

"We're emotionally broken. We cannot sleep," said Londoner Min Thu Hlaing, who has household successful Mandalay, Myanmar's second-largest city, adjacent the epicentre of the earthquake. 

Thu Hlaing has spent the past 3 days trying to interaction his sister and cousins, helium said, but has been unsuccessful reaching them since energy is cutoff successful the region.

"We cannot interaction them, but we support seeing each the quality and the updates," said Thu Hlaing. "A batch of my friends are suffering due to the fact that their household members and their friends person mislaid contact."

More than 1,700 radical died successful the earthquake, according to a study by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) connected Monday, and much than 3,400 are injured.

Many radical are present homeless, OCHA said. 

"The people's location and everything has abruptly disappeared; they don't person thing close now," said Londoner Su Myat Noe, who has contacts successful Myanmar. Her household remains harmless successful Yangon, southbound of the earthquake's epicentre. 

Members of the London Burmese Community person already raised $6,000 to nonstop to Myanmar for on-the-ground relief, said Myat Noe, with a absorption connected providing nutrient and cleanable water. 

"We request assistance from not lone the Burmese community, but besides from different communities," said London Burmese Community organizer Tin Maung Htoo. 

There were 175 Burmese radical surviving successful London successful 2021, according to census information from that year. Maung Htoo said helium estimates determination are present betwixt 300 to 500 Burmese Londoners, but said that's not capable radical to assistance with the devastation brought connected by the earthquake. 

"We recognize the economical hardships that we are going through, but there's astir apt immoderate originative ideas that the government, citizens and assemblage efforts tin bash to articulation successful this effort."

On-the-ground alleviation challenging 

Volunteers from the Canadian Red Cross person been responding to the earthquake for days, said nationalist operations pb Chrian Livera.

"We haven't seen a ample exigency similar this successful rather immoderate clip successful Myanmar, truthful it's precise chaotic," helium said, adding that volunteers are providing contiguous alleviation assistance done distributing food, h2o and aesculapian assistance passim bluish Myanmar. 

The London Burmese Community is sending their fiscal donations to section unpaid contacts to guarantee the wealth goes straight to radical astir affected, specifically successful Mandalay and Sagaing, Myat Noe said.

Livera said earthquakes are communal successful the region, truthful the Red Cross already had warehouses passim the state with indispensable supplies, but is having challenges distributing them.

"The roads are damaged truthful getting the instrumentality successful is going to beryllium the main situation going forward," Livera said. 

He said the Canadian Red Cross is besides raising wealth to donate to alleviation efforts.

"Then, implicit the adjacent fewer days and weeks arsenic we participate the betterment phase, radical volition person assistance for them to rebuild their lives and homes again," Livera said.