As international focus shifts, political prisoners fall by wayside
An article in the Myanmar Times today:
On July 15, 2013 – one year ago this week – President U Thein Sein stood next to David Cameron in London and told reporters, “By the end of the year there will be no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar.”
“The UK, US and rest of the international community made a tactical mistake by treating President Thein Sein’s promise as meaning the problem was solved, and relaxed pressure, rather than applying pressure to make sure he kept his promise,” said Ma Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, a London-based campaigns officer for Burma Campaign UK. “It is now clear that the issue of political prisoners will remain in Burma for years to come.”
Stateless: The Plight of the Rohingyas in Burma
How Britain’s soft engagement with Burma doesn’t work
Is the EU Supporting Authoritarianism in Myanmar?
Burma Campaign UK is quoted in an article in The Diplomat:
“As long as the foundations of military rule remain in place, the large EU funds flowing into Myanmar carry the heavy risk of supporting authoritarianism, instead of democracy. “The process of closer partnership should be frozen, along with all programs building government capacity except for health and education,” said Mark Farmaner, director of the Burma Campaign UK. ‘EU aid should not be used to help build a more modern and efficient authoritarian government.'”
You can read the article here.
Nine Ways British Aid Can Help The People Of Burma
The British government is spending more than £60m a year on aid to Burma, but not all that aid is reaching the people who need it, and a lot is going on programmes which help the military-backed government. Here are nine ways to make improvements.
Read the list here on BuzzFeed.
Debate on Burma in the British Parliament
Yesterday, there was a debate in the British Parliament on the persecution of the Rohingya and other minorities in Burma.
Speaking in the debate, David Ward MP said, “Burma Campaign UK has produced eight steps that it believes the British Government could take to improve human rights in Burma. First, the Government should put human rights—not trade or political reform, but human rights—at the top of the agenda, elevating human rights as the Government’s policy priority in Burma. Secondly, the Government should support an international investigation into human rights violations against the Rohingya. We hear about various internal investigations, but an international investigation is required into what the UN special rapporteur believes to be crimes against humanity.”
How Britain’s soft engagement with Burma doesn’t work
Call for action after sexual violence summit
Article in Myanmar Times this week quotes Burma Campaign UK:
“Activists and human rights groups are urging Britain to maintain pressure on the government to combat sexual violence in conflict, as focus shifts to implementation of a plan to address the issue after Myanmar endorsed a UN declaration earlier this month.
“If sexual violence by the Burmese army continues unabated despite the government signing the declaration, it will be a blow not just to the credibility of the declaration, but also to the British government’s policy of soft diplomacy,” Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told The Myanmar Times last week.”
Our volunteers Pam and Eddie in Brighton today, helping raise awareness of our campaign to change William Hague’s rose-tinted view of the situation in Burma.
Our Rose-tinted glasses campaign at the UNISON conference in Brighton today!
At the Unison conference in Brighton today, where our campaign to highlight the British government’s rose-tinted view on Burma is getting a lot of support!