Submission from Burma Campaign UK to Foreign Affairs Committee – Xinjiang’s detention camps
Burma Campaign UK’s evidence to the British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee on Xinjiang’s detention camps, and how it relates to the failure of UK policy regarding Burma, has now been published.
BCUK calls for a national strategy for atrocity prevention, a comprehensive law on Universal Jurisdiction, more effective economic sanctions for human rights abusers, and more active work in United Nations bodies.
Stop the Burmese military using Facebook – Republika
Indonesia’s Republika reports that Burma Campaign UK has asked Facebook to prevent the Burmese army from using this platform to recruit members, promote their companies’ products and improve their business.
Kirin beer can’t tell if it’s funding the military – ASEAN Today
Japanese beer corporation Kirin has said that an assessment of its ties with the Myanmar military was “inconclusive” as to the company’s role in human rights abuses and military operations.
Burma Campaign UK and other rights groups have expressed disappointment in Kirin’s announcement.
“Kirin are making themselves look ridiculous trying to claim they can’t find out if the Burmese military uses its money for military purposes,” said Burma Campaign UK Director Mark Farmaner.
Kirin remains on BCUK’s Dirty List.
Facebook urged to prevent Myanmar army campaign – Anadolu Agency / SonDakika
The Turkish Anadolu Agency and SonDakika report on Burma Campaign UK’s call for Facebook to stop the Burmese military from using its platform to recruit members and from promoting its businesses on the site.
“Donald Trump has been suspended for inciting violence, but the Burmese military commit violence against civilians every day and are free to use Facebook to recruit soldiers to commit that violence,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK.
“Military owned companies are allowed to use Facebook to promote products, the profits from which fund the military and help fund violations of international law, including genocide of the Rohingya,” he added.
Facebook allowing military to recruit for and fund genocide – Dhaka Tribune / Financial Express
After Facebook suspended US President Donald Trump for inciting violence, Burma Campaign UK has repeated its call to Facebook to stop the military using Facebook to recruit members and promote its businesses.
The Dhaka Tribune and Bangladesh’s Financial Express quote Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK: “Facebook appears to have double standards. If you incite violence in America you get banned from Facebook, but if you recruit people to commit violence in Burma you still get an official Facebook blue tick.”
Probe into Japan beer firm’s links to Burma rights abuses “inconclusive” – Urdu Point / Macau Business
Japanese beer giant Kirin said an investigation into whether money from its joint ventures with the Burmese military had funded rights abuses was “inconclusive”.
Burma Campaign UK, which has placed Kirin on its “Dirty List” of international companies doing business with the military, denounced the findings of Kirin’s report as “farcical”.
“Kirin are making themselves look ridiculous trying to claim they can’t find out if the Burmese military uses its money for military purposes,” said director Mark Farmaner.
Kirin Holdings’ audit on Burmese military funding “inconclusive” – Just Drinks
Deloitte’s investigation into the Japanese brewer Kirin’s links to the Burmese military has proved “inconclusive”, the company has said.
Burma Campaign UK today described as “farcical” Kirin’s assertion that after a year-long investigation regarding two joint ventures with the Burmese military, it cannot establish whether the military uses profits for military purposes.
“Kirin are making themselves look ridiculous,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Kirin’s business partner rapes children and faces charges of genocide, and yet Kirin are still delaying the inevitable day when it has to stop doing business with the military.”
Kirin remains on BCUK’s Dirty List.
Bangladesh rejects claims it is forcing Rohingya to move to cyclone-prone island – Sky News
The government of Bangladesh is angrily rejecting claims it is forcibly moving Rohingya refugees to a remote cyclone-prone island against their will. “We took them all voluntarily,” Bangladesh foreign minister Abdul Momen told Sky News.
But Mark Farmaner from Burma Campaign UK told Sky News that was untrue. “These people do not want to go there,” he said. “They want to stay in the refugee camps where they have support systems, where they have managed to establish some forms of informal education, where they have communities around after they being through such a traumatic experience.”
David Arnott, co-founder of Burma Campaign UK, dies – the Guardian
Everyone at Burma Campaign UK is saddened to learn of the death of David Arnott in Mae Sot, Thailand, on 6 December 2020. David was one of the founders of Burma Campaign UK (then Burma Action Group).
David dedicated his life to promoting human rights, peace, education and democracy in Burma. He will be missed.
UK MPs want intervention in The Gambia’s Rohingya genocide case – Bangladesh Daily Star
More than 100 UK MPs have called on the British government to make an intervention supporting The Gambia’s Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as human rights violations against the Rohingyas continue.
Rushanara Ali and Jeremy Hunt, co-chairs of All-Party Parliamentary Group on the Rights of the Rohingya, signed the letter on behalf of 104 UK MPs, who said, “We are convinced that if the United Kingdom joins the case, it will bring significant added value, both legally and symbolically.”
Rushanara Ali is Chair and Jeremy Hunt is Vice-Chair of the APPG on Democracy in Burma, administered by Burma Campaign UK.