A plight we can ignore no longer

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Title – A plight we can ignore no longer
Source – The Independent
Date – 26th July 2007

The Independent newspaper should be commended for having the courage of conviction and to highlight the situation in Burma on its front page. The situation in Burma is and has been for sometime, one that we should all be screaming about from the roof-tops. Nearly 20 years since the military 'government' felt it had oppressed it’s own people so much that it was safe to hold an election (that they could not loose because of the level of fear they had created in the country, yet somehow the Burmese people had the bravery to stand up and vote for the National League for Democracy who won a landslide) they remain in power and they have continued their oppression through forced labour, rape, murder, torture, illegal imprisonment and some would claim systematic genocide; to this day unabated by the international community which has stood by and abandoned those people who came to their aid during the second world war in the pacific basin.

Beyond The Blue prides itself on a reputation or providing impartial and transparent advice to anyone taking one of our Gap Year and Independent Travel Safety and Awareness workshops. We will not provide guidance or advice on certain countries for a number of reasons. These may be as simple as a location like Colombia where in 2005, over 800 kidnapping cases were reported (many believe the actual figure is much higher) and foreigners are regularly targeted, as they generally command a higher ransom. We believe Colombia is an unsuitable destination for the average independent traveller and as such advise against travel to the country (and therefore do not provide information on it) on the grounds of safety.

Another reason we may choose to advise against travel is for political reasons. Burma for example, is a country ruled by an illegal military dictatorship, their record on Human Rights is one of the world’s worst and tourism is one of the primary ways that this corrupt government generates foreign exchange. Much of this income is then used by the military to allow it to better oppress its own people. The list of reported atrocities is a long and disturbing one.

In 1990 Burma held the first free and fair elections since the military regime came to power. By way of demonstrating exactly how out of touch the military regime was with the will of the people and reality in general, they believed that the fear they had instilled in the Burmese people would land them and overwhelming victory. As it turned out Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory with over 82% of all the votes cast. The military’s response was to place her under house arrest and either imprison torture or kill most of her party. Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest to this day in one of the most flagrant displays of Human Rights abuses that the world seems able to ignore. She has however made it abundantly clear that she feels it is not in Burma’s interest at this time to have tourists visiting the country and providing the dictators with funds to further oppress her people.

A snapshot of the worst atrocities committed by the brutal military regime reads like one of history’s horror stories from hundreds of years ago, but it is happening today :

Widespread use of forced labour. Over 1 million people forcibly moved from their homes, At least 1100 political prisoners (many of whom are routinely tortured), an army of over 500,000 soldiers (The UK has just over 100,000) of whom 70,000 are child soldiers (more then any other country in the world), rape as a weapon of war against ethnic women and children, nearly half the government budget spent on the military and only 19p per citizen, per year, on health and one in ten babies die before their 5th birthday. (Source The Burma Campaign)

Burma used to be one of the richest countries in the region providing exports it now has to import.

However there are other pressure groups that disagree with this advice. Beyond The Blue believes that it is the right of every individual to choose if going to Burma is the right or wrong thing to do. We also believe that the will of the only democratically elected leader of Burma is one that represents the views of the Burmese people. We would never seek to dictate people’s choice of destination and our workshop would be very useful to anyone travelling to Burma, but by way of showing our support for the people of Burma, Beyond The Blue will not provide specific information on this country. We ask anyone planning a trip to Burma to research their trip carefully. The first step of this research should be www.burmacampaign.org.uk.





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