Should tourists go to Burma?

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Title – Should tourists go to Burma?
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 19th June 2006

Burma is undoubtedly run by one of the most oppressive, brutal and corrupt governments that is in existence today. It is a country where people are regularly forced into hard labour and where the government actively partakes in attacking its own people with their own army. The list of reported atrocities varies depending who is reporting it, but there is no doubt that the ongoing detention of the democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi (who has been detained for over ten years) is only the most high profile of all the atrocities being carried out in the country.

The opinion on whether tourists should go to visit Burma is one that continues to be played out within pressure groups and the media. Lonely Planet has been openly chastised for printing a guide book to the country, yet even some Burmese pressure groups argue the case for visiting. The arguments in their crudest form revolve around the subject of what the Burmese people themselves want and they too are split into two camps. The first say that outside contact is a good thing as it makes the Burmese people feel less isolated and puts cash into the hands of he locals, empowering local people has long been the starting point for internal revolution. Others say that no matter how hard you try, you can’t help but provide the government of Burma with the much needed foreign exchange required to allow it to continue to oppress its own people.

I believe that individuals should be allowed the freedom to choose where they visit, that after all, is the very principle that the Burmese government is refusing to its own citizens. For this reason I do believe that Lonely Planet has the right to print a guide book and feel that the book reflects a balanced view of the country and problems it faces.

However I have decided to recommend people do not visit Burma and actually to warn against visits for a number of different reasons. There can be no doubt that the people of Burma live in fear and live under a heavy cloud of oppression and feel isolated from the world. But in Burma there is one sentiment shared by the overwhelming majority of the population, which is that the rightful leader of Burma is Aung San Suu Kyi. She has called for tourists to boycott Burma, as the representative of the country, I believe individuals should respect her wishes and stay away until such time as the military regime running the country falls, as it inevitably will, to reveal a county of real beauty and charm.
Beyond The Blue still believes that individuals have to make their own minds up on such matters but will not provide information such as Country Profiles, on Burma at this time and until the situation in that country has been resolved. We will also when asked, advise individuals not to visit the country, but will not judge people who do decide to visit, but just ask them to consider the facts before they leave. More information regarding the situation in Burma can be found at www.burmacampaign.org.uk.

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