Burma Campaign UK at NASUWT conference
Ban Yone and Amy Rosenberg from BCUK are at the NASUWT Teachers’ Union conference in Birmingham, raising awareness about the situation in Burma.
Since the 2021 coup teachers joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, peacefully striking against the brutal military takeover. Since then, hundreds have been imprisoned and thousands have had to flee to avoid arrest. The Burmese military has escalated attacks against civilians including attacking schools, with more than two hundred attacked in recent years.
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Ban Yone and Amy Rosenberg at NASUWT conference in Birmingham.
The military cosplay democracy but people demand the real thing – the Guardian
“It appears likely that Min Aung Hlaing will swap his leadership of the army for the presidency. Whatever the details, the junta will still be running the show, and bombing civilians – just while cosplaying as democrats”, says the Guardian in its editorial about Burma’s sham elections.
Min Aung Hlaing has now been appointed president.
Minn Tent Bo speaks at Bristol fundraiser
Minn Tent Bo, Burma Campaign UK’s Advocacy and Communications Officer, spoke at this year’s Myanmar documentary film screening and Burmese food fundraiser in Bristol.
Minn spoke about how we can stand together in solidarity against the military, the impact of the UK visa ban on Burmese students, and what Burmese students in Bristol can do in collaboration with their student unions and peers from Afghanistan, Cameroon and Sudan, highlighting the importance of writing to your MP.
Thank you to the activists and Burmese families who have been organising this event since 2023.
The UK’s ban on student visas for Myanmar students is an insult to a nation in turmoil – the Diplomat
“The UK’s ban on student visas for Myanmar students is an insult to a nation in turmoil”, writes Minn Tent Bo, Burma Campaign UK’s Advocacy and Communications Officer, for the Diplomat.
“The decision contradicts the values that the U.K. claims to represent, to say nothing of its supposed support for democracy in Myanmar. The United Kingdom should reconsider this policy before it closes the door on a generation that has already lost so much and not let the gates of its universities become the latest casualty of Myanmar’s ongoing tragedy” says Minn Tent Bo.
Living in limbo: Myanmar hopeful scholars mourn UK study visa ban – TRT World
Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining UK university visas, reports Turkiye’s TRT World. The British government said asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025.
Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted”. Programme director Zoya Phan said “The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar.”
Junta grants amnesties to more than 7,300 political prisoners – the Diplomat
Myanmar’s military junta yesterday announced that it had granted an amnesty to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering “terrorists,” its designation for the various groups opposing its rule, reports the Diplomat.
Burma Campaign U.K. said that it was important for the outside world to recognize that the releases were “not a sign of change or reform.” Mark Farmaner, BCUK’s director, said “The Burmese military, fighting for their survival, are cynically using political prisoners as a propaganda tool; this is not a sign of reform. The Burmese military should not be praised for releasing people who should never have been detained in the first place.”
Burma Campaign UK calls for sanctions against Arakha Army – DVB
Burma Campaign UK is urging the British government to sanction the Arakan Army (AA) for carrying out international human rights violations against the people of Burma, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). The AA has allegedly targeted regime soldiers and civilians, including the Rohingya, with summary executions, beheadings, torture, and sexual violence.
“Allowing the Arakha Army to continue to commit human rights abuses with impunity only encourages them to think they can get away with more abuses,” said Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK. BCUK called for international justice and accountability mechanisms to be used against the AA, and for the UK as the “penholder” on Burma to call for a UN Security Council meeting to address the crisis.
Myanmar coup 5 years on – Mark Farmaner interviewed by France 24
1 February will mark five years since the military re-took control in Myanmar in a coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military celebrated the anniversary by declaring a sweeping win for their political party in a general election, widely denounced as a sham. But according to Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, in an interview with France 24, the five years since the coup have gone “horrifically wrong” for the military junta, which has lost control of vast swathes of the country to armed rebel groups.
Mark Farmaner calls for support for the bottom-up democracy being built by local administrations in the border areas, and for the UK government to impose more targeted sanctions on the military, for which there is cross-party support.
Burma Campaign UK’s evidence to UK aid inquiry published
The International Development Committee, a Commons Select Committee, has published Burma Campaign UK’s evidence submission to its new inquiry into the future of UK aid. The inquiry was set up to examine how the UK can continue to deliver high impact international aid and development assistance in the face of a 40% budget cut as the Government seeks to fund increased defence spending in the name of national security.
BCUK’s submission says that cuts in aid to Burma of around 70% at their peak could not have been made based on need as they happened at a time when Burma faced a dramatic and unprecedented
increase in humanitarian need after the 2021 coup. It is not only aid which has been reduced, but also coherent and strategic policy and decision making.
BCUK recommends that the UK return to stable annual budget planning, resume its leadership role and consider broader human rights repercussions and whether the aid cuts will undermine broader UK foreign policy towards Burma.
Ethnic cleansing survivor – Zoya Phan interviewed by LADbible
Burma Campaign UK’s Programme Director, Zoya Phan, shares her incredible story of growing up under military dictatorship in Burma with LADbible TV.
“Born in the remote jungle, Zoya’s childhood ended the moment she saw a decomposing body floating down the river where her siblings played. Years later, under a brutal regime of ethnic cleansing Zoya and her family were forced to flee as bombs rained down on their home. Despite the ongoing threats to her life and surviving three assassination attempts, Zoya continues to follow in the footsteps of her parents and fight for the freedom of the Karen community and the people of Burma.”