The Asia 2015 Goldman Prize has been awarded to Myint Zaw, a Burmese journalist and activist who used photographs and art to organize protests against a dam on the Irrawaddy River that would have displaced 18,000 indigenous people and impacted millions more.
Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: We want to turn now to Myint Zaw, who’s a Burmese journalist and activist who used art to organize protests against a dam on the Irrawaddy River that would have displaced 18,000 indigenous people and impacted millions more.
Welcome to Democracy Now!
MYINT ZAW: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Tell us how you became involved in the issue of the dam.
MYINT ZAW: As a journalist, I cover pretty much on the environmental issue of our country, and including rivers. So when we heard about that proposed mega dam in the very important watershed area of our main river inside the country, we are very much compelled to act. But back then, we are living under the military regime, a quite oppressive military regime, so we move slowly, and we—but we try to come up with the ideas and the different approaches to raise awareness, to communicate the message across to the people.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to ask about some of the problems you faced while organizing opposition to the Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River. This is social activist Kyaw Thu, who also participated in the protest.
KYAW THU: [translated] To intimidate and suppress us, the intelligence service would try to find out who was organizing these events. Then they’d place us under surveillance.
Read the Full Transcript in Democracy Now!
