Burma Campaign UK welcomes the release of around 180 political prisoners in the last two weeks. Burma Campaign UK has been campaigning for the release of political prisoners in Burma for more than 20 years.
It is great news that some political prisoners are being released, and being reunited with their family members. However, there are many political prisoners remaining in jail. For example, Kachin farmer Lahpai Gam, who was sentenced to 20 years in jail under false accusations, is still in jail.
Burma Campaign UK was established after the military regime refused to accept the election result in 1990. Now at last, after years of campaigning in Burma and internationally, there is an NLD-led government that the people of Burma have voted for. And already we are seeing positive changes, with political prisoners starting to be released.
Burma Campaign UK will continue our campaigns to draw the attention of the NLD-led government to all the remaining political prisoners until there are no political prisoners in Burma.
“I am very excited to see the release of the political prisoners and thank the NLD-led government for their releases,” said Wai Hnin, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK. “These activists have been campaigning for freedom and democracy in Burma for a long time, and they should not have been arrested in the first place. I hope that the remaining political prisoners are not being forgotten and hopefully they will soon be released too.”