Burma: Freedom in a Cage

August 5, 2008 – (The Irrawaddy) The American actress and activist, Mia Farrow, visited Thailand recently where she met with Burmese refugees and activists. She discussed her visit with The Irrawaddy in early August.

Question: After visiting with the Burmese community and talking with Burmese women on the border, what are your impressions?

Answer: Until four or five days ago, I had never been to the Thailand-Burma border, only Bangkok, and I came because my friend Jodie [Williams, a Nobel Peace Prize winner] said, “You have to know,” so I came to find out. We spoke to many women's groups, each of them representing tens of thousands of women—what they suffered and continue to suffer, their problems and how extraordinarily courageous and organized they are. My focus has been on certain African countries where women are suffering indescribable abuses daily, but they are not organized in the way that these women I spoke to are. So I feel a lot more hopeful—these are women of courage, women of passion. They are galvanized, and I don't feel that, while there is a sorrow for what they have lost and what they have had denied, I also feel tremendously hopeful and inspired that they will prevail. The men are busy fighting the wars and doing the destruction, but the women are organizing and they may not have guns, but their intention is so fierce that I really believe they will prevail.

Q: What can people do who want to help Burma?

A: Well, it’s a world where most people didn’t know anything about Burma until very recently. One recent image is of monks being shot. People in America sat up and had a sudden interest. That and the tragedy of the cyclone. The junta’s failure to admit assistance was something that Americans were just shocked at. So Burma has defined itself with these two images: of refusing aid to desperately needy people while having an election, a farcical election, and the shooting of monks. Before that I don't think anyone knew anything about Burma. American's have their own problems and are self-obsessed. Sometimes it takes a tragedy or a catastrophe. I think Burma is now synonymous with what it's done to the people.

Q: You have called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, why?

A: I called for a boycott of the opening ceremony. Nobody wants to hurt the athletes, but it's the propaganda ceremony that I'm worried about. US President George Bush accepted an invitation to attend the opening ceremony and this was a very disheartening moment because he missed an opportunity to stand for the principles and ideals of the United States. Many Americans were disgusted and didn't want our president standing there for this propaganda ceremony. But also the missed opportunity to stand up for all the victims in Burma, in Tibet, in Darfur and in China itself. So that's one opportunity missed. We’d like to see China live up to the international standards for human rights. I don't see how they can continue to prop up these brutal regimes. They continue to hear the revulsion of the international community, but it’s not the Chinese way to say, “Oh, I'm wrong, it's time for me to amend my ways.” For China, Darfur is like low hanging fruit, they could easily do something about Darfur, and by that I mean they could persuade their partners in Khartoum to cease the aerial attacks and ground attacks, and they could admit the peacekeepers in their full capacity. For Burma, they have the sticks, and they have the carrots too to persuade the regime to reduce its brutal tactics.

Q: What do you think of the US administration’s China policy?

A: I don't know that the Bush policy is reflective of US sentiment at all. He has I think the lowest approval rating of any president ever. Many Americans, I count myself among them, and many people around the world, are counting the days until we have another president. Both presidential candidates have said that if they were in that position, they would not be attending the opening ceremony.

President Bush has brought America almost to its knees economically, and we've lost whatever moral ground we had and people are either afraid of us or disgusted by us one way or another. Americans too are pretty disgusted by decisions made by this particular cabinet: Bush Cheney and the likes. Personally, I'm voting for [Barack] Obama, and I hope he gets in, and I think a lot of people around the world are hoping he gets in.

Q: What do you think about the UN role and its efforts in Burma?

A: It’s disappointing because around the world, a lot of people hope that the UN is going to do something. In 2004, when I was in Darfur and UN vehicles would come to the camps, people were saying, “UN! The UN is going to save us.” In Rwanda, I saw it too in a memorial where it showed the last words of a boy, which were something like, "The UN will come for us,” as he was being tortured to death. So there's this hope around the UN. And with Darfur, no one's come to protect the people, and they had a peacekeeping operation. The former head of the peacekeeping operation said the UN force cannot protect itself let alone the people of Darfur. So this is deplorable. And with China and Russia on the Security Council, it's really hard to get any kind of resolution representing human rights. We would expect better leadership at the UN to compel the member states to come and represent the people who are most needy and stop this self-serving thing. Otherwise, I don't know how the UN can continue. It is our best hope in principle because it’s a place where nations can come and talk and try to solve problems. The humanitarian branch is bureaucratic, but it does good work and it’s really in there trying. But the political branch of the UN is deplorable.

Q: What is your message to the people of Burma?

A: First, to release Aung San Suu Kyi and the political prisoners who are currently being detained. And to have the kind of democracy and free society that she envisions. We're not going to see this until she is released. She embodies the very idea of freedom for all of us in the world, even if we're not Burmese. Whatever our country, to see freedom in a cage is a tragic image for all of us.

From:http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=13714