Interviews with Khin Ohmar

And at one point, I would say, like particularly in 2008, in the Cyclone Nargis, I thought the whole world by this time shall have no doubt of how manipulative this regime is for their own credit and benefit. And yet, I’m so sad to see that there are still people from the international community, organizations, still fall in that trap of this regime. And they still get manipulated. And they still get trapped into these lies.

And they still are given this false hope that the space will be open, you know. So as much as I would like those NGOs to continue to work in the country and assist the people, one thing that I really want is I really want them to really empower our people. Not to be the population relying on the aid, but to really be empowered to stand up for their own rights. You know, be self reliant, I would say. I don’t want my people to be aid-reliant communities. I wouldn’t like that.

But on the other hand, I would like to see the international community — they have the responsibility to stand up. They have the responsibility to raise their voice for what is happening. Because they don’t right now. If you look at all these NGOs in the country, in Burma, they don’t want to talk about what is really happening, even though they know.

Because they know if they speak loud, or if they speak out what is happening really, then of course the risk is that they will be de-registered or they will be kicked out of the country. But to me, yes, you may be kicked out of the country, but you are, as a part of the international community, you are responsible to speak for those who are not able to speak. And I hope that’s something they realize and they do.

Khin Ohmar is a Burmese democracy activist who lives and works in Mae Sot, Thailand. She is a leader of the Women’s League of Burma, the main umbrella organization for women’s organizations in exile and inside Burma.

Khin has served as a spokesperson for the Burmese democracy movement in the United Nations General Assembly and in other international forums. She also serves as coordinator of the Burma Partnership, a regional coalition of civil society groups supporting democracy in Burma, and she is an organizer of the ASEAN civil society and human rights consultation processes.

Admitted to the United States as a refugee after being persecuted for her participation in the 1988 student demonstrations, Khin became a United States citizen and worked for refugee and human rights organizations in Washington, D.C., before moving back to the Thai-Burma border area in the late 1990s.