Burma Campaign UK
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, has today described the military attacks against the Rohingya as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. Since 25th August, more than 300,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh in the face of a military offensive by the Burmese Army. Rohingya sources estimate 5,000 or …
From the Office of Rushanara Ali MP 157 Parliamentarians have called on the Government to suspend and review its military training programme of the Burmese military in light of the recent escalation of violence towards Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Following attacks against government buildings on 25th of August by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation …
Burma Campaign UK today warned that Burma is undergoing its biggest human rights crisis in decades, which has in turn created a major humanitarian crisis. However, unlike in the past, there has been virtually no corresponding international response. In just two weeks: Official figures say hundreds have been killed by the military, reliable Rohingya sources …
Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government to immediately halt training programmes being provided for free to the Burmese military. Last year the British government spent more than £300,000 training the Burmese military, 67 percent of the spending comes from the overseas development budget. The Burmese military is engaged in a new …
This is the response from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Burma Campaign UK supporters who emailed them to call for a UN Security Council meeting on the crisis in Rakhine State: 31 August 2017 Dear Sir/Madam Thank you for getting in touch about the situation in Rakhine State. The British Government shares your …
Burma Campaign UK today called on British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to ask for a meeting on rising tensions in Rakhine State, Burma at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Britain leads on Burma at the UNSC. Anti Rohingya tensions are on the rise in Rakhine State, and there are fears there could be a …
Burma Campaign UK today condemned the governments of Germany and Austria for inviting Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military, to visit their countries this week. Earlier this year, the United Nations reported how Min Aung Hlaing’s soldiers had raped ethnic Rohingya women, shot civilians and burned villages. They said these violations could be …
On the 2nd anniversary of the rape and murder of two Kachin teachers in Northern Burma, Burma Campaign UK marks the anniversary by delivering a petition and campaign postcards to the British government. 3254 people are calling on the government to do more to help stop rape and sexual violence in Burma. Two Kachin teachers, …
The government of Burma has today published an interim report of the Commission established by the President to investigate violence in Rakhine State since October 2016. The findings confirm concerns that the investigation is a farce. It claims that there is ‘insufficient evidence’ of human rights violations such as rape, which have been widely documented, …
Burma Campaign UK today publishes a new briefing paper, ‘Time for a rethink on policy towards Burma’s military’, calling for a debate on new ways to influence Burma’s military. The commentary briefing paper argues that the international community has yet to develop a strategy for effectively promoting human rights under the new political structure in …
A British citizen has now been in jail in Burma for two years despite not being convicted of any crime. He has been accused of being part of an international credit card fraud ring. The case of Niranjan Rasalingam is an injustice in and of itself. It also highlights flaws and inefficiencies in Burma’s justice …
Burma Campaign UK calls on the NLD-led government in Burma to establish an independent investigation into who is behind the killings of police officers in Rakhine State on October 9th, and into the subsequent killings of Rohingya villagers in the following days. The families of policemen killed and Rohingya villagers killed have the right to …
Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to back a UN Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in Rakhine State, Burma. Last week a major report came out which found ‘strong evidence’ that genocide is being committed against the ethnic Rohingya of Burma. The report, a legal analysis by the Lowenstein …
Burma Campaign UK is calling on Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP to ensure his department stops issuing misleading statements and instead explain why he has not asked the Burmese government to release British political prisoner Phil Blackwood. “When called out about abandoning a British political prisoner in a Burmese jail, the response of the …
Burma Campaign UK today accused Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP of failing in one of his most fundamental duties, the support and protection of British citizens overseas. Hugo Swire, the Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Burma, has abandoned Philip Blackwood, a British political prisoner serving hard labour in Burma’s notorious Insein Jail. Philip …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed a new report by the British government, in which they finally admit that there are ‘a number of worrying setbacks’ in Burma’s reforms process, which are ‘of significant concern.’ The admission came in the annual human rights report by the British Foreign Office, following a months’ long campaign by Burma …
Burma Campaign UK condemns the violent attacks on and arrests of protesting students in Letpadan yesterday. More than 100 students were arrested and a similar number believed injured. The crackdown exposes the shallow nature of Burma’s reform process. Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government, European Union, USA and other donors to conduct …
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 …
Burma Campaign UK today publishes a new briefing paper responding in detail to the British government’s misleading claims and the selective use of information that it uses to defend Burma’s reform process and its own trade-led policy. The briefing paper is available here. In November 2014, Aung San Suu Kyi said that for the past …
Burma Campaign UK has confirmed reports that two ethnic Kachin teachers were raped by Burmese Army soldiers overnight on 19th/20th January. Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to implement provisions in its Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative and dispatch a team of experts to Burma to investigate the case. Burma Campaign UK is …
The influential Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament has published a report today which calls on the British government to support the re-imposition of European Union sanctions on Burma in 12 months’ time if there is no improvement in the situation of the Rohingya, and if all political prisoners are not unconditionally released. The …
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, more than 2,000 campaign postcards are being delivered to the British Foreign Office calling on Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond to support the establishment of an international investigation into rape and sexual violence committed by the Burmese Army. The postcards were signed by supporters of …
Following a debate on human rights in Burma in the British Parliament yesterday evening, Burma Campaign UK today accused the British government of being in denial about the reality of the reform process in Burma. Burma Campaign UK called on the British government to formally accept that the reform process in Burma has stalled, that …
Burma Campaign UK today accused Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire of sticking his head in the sand, trying not to see or talk about human rights problems in Burma which don’t fit the positive picture he is trying to present. The accusation comes following his ducking questions in the British Parliament yesterday about the growing …