Thuzar Maung, 46, is a pro-democracy activist from Myanmar and a refugee rights leader in Malaysia. She serves as chair of the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and Myanmar Migrant Workers Committee. Since 2021, she has worked closely with Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG).
Thuzar Maung has over 93,000 followers on Facebook, where she criticizes abuses by Myanmar’s military, which took power after a coup on February 1, 2021. Her friends and colleagues expressed concern that she was targeted for her activism and work with the NUG.
2015: Thuzar Maung, her husband and three children, sought asylum in Malaysia fleeing violence against Muslims in Myanmar. They became registered refugees with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Malaysia providing them status and protection under international law.
2015-2021: Thuzar Maung becomes chair of the Myanmar Muslim Refugee Community and Myanmar Migrant Workers Committee in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - which is home to over 150,000 refugees from Myanmar: 102,000 Rohingya and over 47,000 Kachin, Chin and Muslim refugees, states the UNHCR.
2021-2023: Thuzar Maung continued in her role as a Myanmar refugee community leader in Malaysia. She gained over 93,000 followers on Facebook, where she posted criticism of the abuses perpetrated by Myanmar’s military, which ousted the National League for Democracy government, and detained its leaders State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint in February 2021.
Thuzar Maung expressed her support publicly for the newly-formed NUG, the democratic opposition to military rule in Myanmar. She began to use her office in Ampang Jaya district in Kuala Lumpur to organize on behalf of the NUG among the Myanmar refugee community in Malaysia.
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