In a powerful call to action, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace laureate and veteran of the Anti-Apartheid struggle is urging the UK to impose sanctions against Burma. The call comes in support of the Burma Sanctions Coalition which launches today. The Coalition, representing business, unions and campaign groups includes the Body Shop, the Co-operative Bank, MSF and Friends of the Earth.
In a statement to mark the launch of the Coalition, the Archbishop says: “Burma is the next South Africa. Its people are engaged in an epic struggle for freedom. Burma’s military has put millions of civilians into forced labour, imprisoned hundreds of political prisoners, has created more child soldiers than any other country in the world, and has forcibly ‘relocated’ half a million ethnic people.” On UK policy toward Burma he is clear: “We find ourselves in a situation where governments are waiting on other governments to act – and so everyone simply waits. A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Collective action is the gathering of many individual actions. The UK can take a lead within Europe by imposing sanctions against Burma now. It can also encourage others to follow.”
Burma’s military dictatorship has refused to hand power to the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a landslide election in 1990. Though the regime has been in talks with NLD leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi for 18 months, no progress on any substantive issues has yet been made.
The Burma Sanctions Coalition is calling for a ban on new investment in Burma, fearing that any major new business deal with the regime could wreck the fragile talks process underway in Rangoon. Pressure from the boycott movement, US sanctions and EU measures have forced the regime to talk with Aung San Suu Kyi. If that pressure is prematurely eased the Generals may walk away from the process. In 1988 when the regime was bankrupt and on the verge of collapse, foreign multinationals came to its rescue – the Coalition hopes to prevent history from repeating itself.
The Archbishop also addresses this point: “The UK government, and indeed the governments of Europe must prevent their companies from investing in tyranny. The United States has already taken such action. If other countries follow suit, then sanctions will have a powerful political, economic and psychological effect on the regime. We cannot depend on either the altruism of a few companies to leave Burma, nor the successes of the boycott movement to force them out.” He says of the Burma Sanctions Coalition: “The people of Burma need support in the same way we South Africans did. The Burma Sanctions Coalition aims to provide such support. Our aim is to transform this coalition into a movement, to push on, until we reach our goal of a free and democratic Burma.”
Notes to Editors:
- The Burma Sanctions Coalition comprises: Anti-Slavery International, The Body Shop, The Burma Campaign UK, The Co-operative Bank, Free Tibet Campaign, Friends of the Earth, Global Witness, Graphical Paper and Media Union, MSF, National Justice and Peace Network, People and Planet, Tourism Concern, World Development Movement, and the United Nations Association.
- Archbishop Tutu’s statement can be read in full in the foreword to the Burma Sanctions Coalition launch briefing. To reproduce Archbishop Tutu’s statement in full, please obtain permission from The Burma Campaign UK on 020 7281 7377. Extracts from this release can be reproduced respecting the embargo date above.