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Title – Burma court jails more protesters
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 14th November 2008
It is always difficult to decide if this blog is really the right place to highlight the problems in Burma and to add our voice to the call for a free Burma; after all this is really about Gap Years and Independent Travel. The world is full of very worthy causes that we should be promoting; Zimbabwe; Congo; Sudan; China & Tibet; The Middle East; the list seems endless…
My justification for it is this; we don’t ignore other parts of the world where very terrible situations are occurring, there is no merit in comparing one situation with the next to see ‘which is more worthy’ and certainly during our workshops we examine the issues of Ethical Travel to those countries candidates are planning to travel to; but it is better I believe to concentrate efforts in this blog and in my life personally on one or two causes that I can be truly passionate about; where I feel I have a direct emotional link to the subject. For now we concentrate our efforts on raising the profile of; the street children in Mongolia through the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, their child sponsorship programme; and to raise the profile of the disaster that has befallen the Burmese people for the past 60 years.
So with this in mind I look at what is happening in Burma at this very moment and see yet more evidence of the insanity (literal) of the generals, who illegally ‘rule’ the country. Much as their insanity is evident in their actions, it is also clear that they are the masters of subtle but devastatingly effective suppression and that nothing anyone inside or outside of the country thinks makes even the slightest dent on their non-existent consciences.
However as much as they have never paid any attention to the opinion of rest of the world, they also like the ‘quiet life’, probably more for the effect pressure has on their trading partners, rather than any pressure they might feel from ‘western’ powers.
Maybe I’m cynical, but if I am it is only because the history of the Burmese Military Regime has proven that cynicism when it comes to their actions is usually closer to the truth than any other approach. Can it really be a coincidence that this seemingly rushed ‘judicial process’ and the disgraceful consequences have taken place when the world is consumed by the worst financial crisis in a generation, when news headlines are dominated by economic meltdown and the inside pages by the crises in Congo? There is little space or time for news agencies to print or report on this story and the lack of credible information makes them more reluctant still.
To think, if I were in Burma writing this Blog I would be looking at 20 years in one of the world’s worst gaols; my family and friends would be facing persecution and any privilege they were afforded would be removed; and many of their friends would have no option but to shun them for fear of reprisals through association…. It makes me feel quite sick to even write this with that thought in my mind…
I have written before on this blog my justification for urging people not to visit Burma on Ethical grounds. I urge you now to visit the Burma Campaign website. Anything we can do to make sure the world does not forget those people who have more courage than we in the ‘west’ can even understand, are not just locked up and forgotten, is worth doing. I have never known a Free Burma, looking at the history of Burma, few people alive in the world have and then only for a few years; I hope in my lifetime I have that opportunity and more then that I hope one day the Burmese people have the opportunity to choose that course for themselves.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us on Facebook. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 14th November 2008
It is always difficult to decide if this blog is really the right place to highlight the problems in Burma and to add our voice to the call for a free Burma; after all this is really about Gap Years and Independent Travel. The world is full of very worthy causes that we should be promoting; Zimbabwe; Congo; Sudan; China & Tibet; The Middle East; the list seems endless…
My justification for it is this; we don’t ignore other parts of the world where very terrible situations are occurring, there is no merit in comparing one situation with the next to see ‘which is more worthy’ and certainly during our workshops we examine the issues of Ethical Travel to those countries candidates are planning to travel to; but it is better I believe to concentrate efforts in this blog and in my life personally on one or two causes that I can be truly passionate about; where I feel I have a direct emotional link to the subject. For now we concentrate our efforts on raising the profile of; the street children in Mongolia through the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, their child sponsorship programme; and to raise the profile of the disaster that has befallen the Burmese people for the past 60 years.
So with this in mind I look at what is happening in Burma at this very moment and see yet more evidence of the insanity (literal) of the generals, who illegally ‘rule’ the country. Much as their insanity is evident in their actions, it is also clear that they are the masters of subtle but devastatingly effective suppression and that nothing anyone inside or outside of the country thinks makes even the slightest dent on their non-existent consciences.
However as much as they have never paid any attention to the opinion of rest of the world, they also like the ‘quiet life’, probably more for the effect pressure has on their trading partners, rather than any pressure they might feel from ‘western’ powers.
Maybe I’m cynical, but if I am it is only because the history of the Burmese Military Regime has proven that cynicism when it comes to their actions is usually closer to the truth than any other approach. Can it really be a coincidence that this seemingly rushed ‘judicial process’ and the disgraceful consequences have taken place when the world is consumed by the worst financial crisis in a generation, when news headlines are dominated by economic meltdown and the inside pages by the crises in Congo? There is little space or time for news agencies to print or report on this story and the lack of credible information makes them more reluctant still.
To think, if I were in Burma writing this Blog I would be looking at 20 years in one of the world’s worst gaols; my family and friends would be facing persecution and any privilege they were afforded would be removed; and many of their friends would have no option but to shun them for fear of reprisals through association…. It makes me feel quite sick to even write this with that thought in my mind…
I have written before on this blog my justification for urging people not to visit Burma on Ethical grounds. I urge you now to visit the Burma Campaign website. Anything we can do to make sure the world does not forget those people who have more courage than we in the ‘west’ can even understand, are not just locked up and forgotten, is worth doing. I have never known a Free Burma, looking at the history of Burma, few people alive in the world have and then only for a few years; I hope in my lifetime I have that opportunity and more then that I hope one day the Burmese people have the opportunity to choose that course for themselves.
Please visit our website at www.safegapyear.com or join us on Facebook. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.
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