Burma Refugee Delegation visits UK
A delegation of refugees from Thailand-Burma border visited the UK this week for a lobbying trip focusing on the situation of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) along the Thai-Burma border, and the need for more humanitarian assistance.
The delegation spoke in Parliament at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma. The delegation consists of Sally Thompson, Executive Director of The Border Consortium (TBC), Luiz Kaypoe from the Karenni Refugee Committee (KnRC) and Naw Ta Mla Saw from Karen Women Organisation (KWO). TBC provides food, shelter, camp management and livelihoods support for 110,000 refugees in Thailand and 120,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Burma. KnRC is a grassroots organization that provides support to Karenni and other ethnic minority refugees from Burma currently residing in two camps in Thailand. KWO is a community-based organisation with a membership of over 49,000, working to empower Karen women to develop their own communities in education, health and social welfare. KWO also provides assistance for refugees and IDPs along the border areas.
Naw Ta Mla Saw, Baroness Sue Nye and Luiz Kaypoe in the British Parliament.
Naw Ta Mla Saw, David Ward MP and Luiz Kaypoe in the British Parliament.
Sally Thompson, Luiz Kaypoe, Baroness Glenys Kinnock and Naw Ta Mla Saw in the British Parliament.
Campaign Aims to Highlight Ongoing Human Rights Plight in Burma
Our rose-tinted glasses campaign is reported in Karen News.
“A campaign by the Burma Campaign UK is trying to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma.
To make its point, Burma Campaign has delivered more than 2,000 rose-tinted glasses, and issued photo petitions to the British Foreign Office to put pressure on the British government to a “return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma,” the group said.”
NGO calls for repeal of repressive protest laws
Our campaign for the repeal of Burma’s repressive laws and the release of political prisoners like Sein Than is featured in Mizzima News:
“Burma Campaign UK has launched a campaign to call on the Myanmar government to repeal the protest law and other repressive laws used to jail political activists and call for the release of political activist U Sein Than, jailed for two years for a peaceful protest.
The UK-based NGO called February 5 for people to email President U Thein Sein calling on him to free U Sein Than, the most prominent victim of the laws, and repeal the repressive laws used to jail him and other political activists.
Several other local and foreign activist groups have called for the repeal of the laws, claiming they hamper the freedom of citizens to protest peacefully, with courts delivering harsh sentences out of all proportion to their alleged “crimes.” Amnesty International has the activist on its list of prisoners of conscience and continues to call for his release.”
New campaign poster – please share
Rose-tinted Glasses Delivered to British Foreign Office
Burma Campaign UK was today joined by Baroness Kinnock, Baroness Nye, and supporters to deliver more than 2,000 rose-tinted glasses, photo petitions and campaign postcards to the British Foreign Office as part of our campaign to persuade the British government to stop looking at Burma through rose-tinted glasses, and return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma.
Political prisoner Dr Tun Aung released
Dr Tun Aung, a 65-year- old political prisoner, was released yesterday. Thank you for those who took action to free Dr. Tun Aung.
He was arrested and jailed unlawfully by the military-backed government in Burma. He is a chairman of the Islamic Religious Affairs Council in Burm and was arrested and accused of fuelling the communal riots in his hometown, Maungdaw, Rakhine State. He was arrested in June 2012 and charged under six different counts, including the Myanmar Wireless Telegraphs Act and Section 24 (1) of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison but under a presidential amnesty, his sentence was reduced to one year in prison.
Burma Campaign UK is quoted in this news article about his release in Mizzima News:
“He [Dr Tun Aung] was arrested in June 2012 as part of the Burmese government’s efforts to arrest and detain Muslim community leaders to stop them from talking to international observers and journalists,” Burma Campaign UK said in May 2013.
Where the Executioners Sue Their Victims
Article in Foreign Policy quotes Burma Campaign UK:
Will the Burmese army ever face justice for its past war crimes?
“Those who committed crimes against my people are not only free but still in government,” said Zoya Phan.
She’s an ethnic Karen activist with Burma Campaign UK (BCUK), who fled her home in Manerplaw, eastern Burma, when it was invaded by the Burmese army in 1994. She was 14.
Human Rights Group says UK Government Should Support A UN Inquiry of Abuses in Burma Following Damning Report
Burma Campaign UK is quoted in Karen News:
“The human rights advocacy group, Burma Campaign UK, has called on David Cameron’s government to support a UN Commission of Inquiry into violations of international law in Burma, amid concerns that the country’s reform process under President U Thein Sein has stalled.
“Anna Roberts , Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK, said that the report showed that Burma’s government was running out of time to convince the international community of its reformist agenda.”
UK MPs call for change of policy on ‘backsliding’ Myanmar
Article in Mizzima:
UK MPs have called on the British government to reassess their relations with Myanmar, concerned about continued fighting in the ethnic states, the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, and the effective block on constitutional change.
Twelve MPs, led by Labour MP Ms Valerie Vaz, have called on the British government to support an international investigation into sexual violence in Myanmar and to fund women’s organisations which help survivors and document abuses, according to the report of an Early Day Motion tabled in the UK parliament on December 2.
“This Motion reflects how the mood of Parliament has changed,” Mr Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told Mizzima on December 4. “There is now a much greater understanding that serious human rights abuses are continuing, and that the reform process is deeply flawed. The British government is also facing growing pressure from MPs over its policy of supporting President Thein Sein.”
UK MPs Group Urges Return of Burma Sanctions if Abuses Don’t Stop
Burma Campaign UK is quoted in the Irrawaddy:
“Anna Roberts, the executive director of Burma Campaign UK said, “the Foreign Affairs Committee has taken a much stronger stance on human rights in Burma than the British government. There is a growing recognition of the many problems with Burma’s reform process and of the huge scale of ongoing human rights abuses.”