24 Facts About Zoya Phan

Zoya Phan was an outspoken critic of the Burmese government when it was under direct military rule, repeatedly calling for democratic reform in Burma, as well as economic sanctions from both the British government and the United Nations.

Zoya Phan was born in Manerplaw, then the headquarters of the Karen National Union, on 27 October 1980, the second of her parents' three biological children.

Zoya Phan's father was Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan, General Secretary of the KNU, and her mother was Nant Kyin Shwe, a former soldier for the KNU.

The name Zoya came from her father, who named her after the Russian World War II hero Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya; he said he saw several parallels between the Soviet fight against the Nazis and the ongoing Karen conflict with the Burmese government.

Zoya Phan spent most of her early life in the Karen village Per He Lu, an hour's walk away from the KNU headquarters in Manerplaw.

When Zoya Phan was 14, the Burmese army attacked Manerplaw and Per He Lu, forcing her and her family to run to Mae Ra Moe, a refugee camp just across the border in Thailand.

At Bangkok University, Zoya Phan enrolled in the business administration program, as that was the only program her scholarship permitted her to enter.

Zoya Phan's mother died a few weeks later, and Zoya considered staying to help her father; however, he insisted that she go.

When Zoya Phan was in her early teens, her father frequently used her name as a pseudonym for his writings, something she only found out about many years later.

Zoya Phan first saw her father speak while her family was in Ther Waw Thaw, inspiring her to become an activist herself.

Zoya Phan attended one rally in traditional Karen dress, and was asked on the spot to be the master of ceremonies.

Zoya Phan accepted, and soon afterward, she was asked to do an interview with the BBC, and rapidly became a sought-out speaker for issues related to Burma and Burma-UK relations.

Zoya Phan accused the Military-run Burmese government of using child soldiers and violent repression tactics, including torture, ethnic cleansing, religious discrimination, and killing of political opponents and protesters.

Zoya Phan has called for both the UN and the British government to place economic sanctions on Burma, and to cease all arms deals with the government.

Zoya Phan was very critical of the UN for failing to impose an arms embargo on Burma after Russia and China blocked a Security Council motion.

Zoya Phan pointed out that the junta had already bent to international pressure by allowing workers in at all, and said that the international community should have pushed harder, which she said would have forced the junta to allow more essential aid.

Zoya Phan urged the UN to judge the Burmese government by their actions instead of their official statements.

Zoya Phan stated that, despite assurances from Thein Sein that reforms would take place, attacks on minority groups in Burma were only increasing in frequency, further bolstering the need for caution.

In speeches and interviews, Zoya Phan frequently speaks about her experiences to describe conditions in Burma.

Zoya Phan said that the goal of her book was to share her story as a Karen living in Burma, and to raise international awareness of the ongoing fighting and human rights abuses in Burma, especially in the east, which she says does not receive enough attention.

Zoya Phan maintains that the situation in Burma is exactly the same as when she fled the country, and that only pressure and sanctions from other countries will bring about the reform necessary to create democracy within Burma.

On 14 February 2008, just before she received her MA from the University of East Anglia, Zoya Phan's father was assassinated by agents of the Burmese junta.

Zoya Phan received her MA in politics and development from the University of East Anglia in May 2008.

Say Say, her older brother, was adopted by her parents when she was four months old, and her younger brother Slone Zoya Phan was born when she was two.