The Burma Campaign UK today strongly condemned Intrepid Travel for its decision to return to Burma. Intrepid Travel, an Australian travel company with offices in the UK, USA and Canada, pulled out of Burma in 1999 saying it was concerned that its presence was not only benefiting Burma’s dictatorship financially, but also amounted to a tacit approval of the regime.
“By resuming tours to Burma Intrepid Travel are resuming their funding of the dictatorship”, says Yvette Mahon, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “There is no way for tourists to visit Burma without money going to the regime.”
Tourism is a vital source of income for the dictatorship in Burma, providing it with millions of pounds every year. The regime spends forty percent of its annual budget on the army. Burma Campaign groups in Europe and Australia will ask supporters to bombard Intrepid with emails calling on them to change their minds.
Two years ago Intrepid organised an online vote to gauge whether or not they should go back to Burma. At the time they stated: “we were concerned that our involvement in Burma was signalling a tacit approval of the SPDC regime (previously called SLORC). While we tried to minimise funds flowing to SLORC or SLORC controlled entities, some flow through was inevitable. The SPDC is widely regarded as one of the most totalitarian, unjust regimes in the world.”
The votes were overwhelmingly against Intrepid returning. As recently as January this year Intrepid denied they were planning to return to Burma, saying they were waiting for the political situation to change.
“The situation in Burma is getting worse, not better”, says Mahon. “They claim their presence will improve the lives of Burmese people, but Intrepid will now be funding the generals that oppress them”.
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