Interviews with Cheery Zahau

It’s very difficult to make, you know, the definite line on who is supporting and who is not. But in the 20 years of struggle for democracy, the democratic countries have been very supportive to our cause in the name of democracy and freedom. And we are very grateful. But the neighboring countries like China or Thailand or India have been not so supportive for the cause because they need natural resources. They need something else from Burma, which they can get through the military regime.

If Burma has a proper government, democratic government, these natural resources might not be available as much as available at this stage. So these neighboring governments are not supportive for our cause, you know, in exchange for natural resources that they need for their country. Which is very unfortunate.

But then the other countries, they try to highlight the situations in Burma. They try to give some assistance, technical, financial, more assistance to the democracy movement in many ways. In a country like the United States that has been vocally critical to the SPDC [State Peace and Development Council, official title for the military regime in Burma at the time of this interview], should maintain their positions to be very critical against the regime – especially in the cause of human rights and democracy. So they should maintain.

And the other EU (European Union] countries also have to maintain their criticism against SPDC. Otherwise, we cannot recognize this military regime as a government at all, because they are not doing the government job. They are oppressing the people. So if I can recommend to them, it’s don’t deal with this military regime because by dealing with them, it’s not helping the people of Burma.

Cheery Zahau is a human rights activist from Chin State, Burma, and is now based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. As a high school student, she was advised by her teachers that her independence and intellectual curiosity would get her into serious trouble if she remained in Burma. She sought refuge in India, where she became an advocate for thousands of ethnic Chin faced with forcible return to Burma.

Zahau also became a leader of the Women’s League of Chinland, an organization that works to call international attention to the situation inside Chin State, including the use of rape as an instrument of conflict by the Burmese military regime. She has spoken at the United Nations and in other venues around the world.

When Zahau relocated to Thailand, she began working as an advocacy officer at the Human Rights Education Institute of Burma, focusing on the U.N. Human Rights Council, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the ASEAN human rights process. She is also a management board member of the Network for Human Rights Documentation in Burma and is pursuing an advanced degree in international relations.