Burma Campaign UK
Members of the European Burma Network today called on Germany to come clean over whether it is working behind the scenes to have Burma downgraded as a priority for the United Nations Human Rights Council. The European Burma Network brings together advocacy organisations working for human rights and democracy in Burma. Discussions have been taking …
Burma Campaign UK today called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to use his influence to ensure that the new committee set up to review political prisoner cases genuinely addresses the problem, and isn’t simply used to alleviate international pressure. Burma Campaign UK has welcomed the announcement by Burma’s President Thein Sein to establish a …
Burma Campaign UK today called for the immediate release of Mading Zau Bawk and other remaining political prisoners in Burma. Mading Zau Bawk is a 23-year-old Kachin farmer who was arrested in May 2012 and tortured brutally by the military-backed government in Burma. To draw attention to the hundreds of political prisoners still in jail, …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the announcement by the office of President Thein Sein that a Committee will be formed to review political prisoner cases in Burma. The formation of the committee was originally announced in November, with a promise that arrangements would be discussed by the end of 2012. Five weeks after this deadline, …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed Early Day Motion 838 on Burma, tabled by members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma (APPG Burma). So far 57 MPs across all parties have signed the motion, calling for international observers, full international access to deliver humanitarian aid, and the repeal of the racist 1982 …
Media Release from Jubilee Debt Campaign UK Campaigners criticise ‘premature’ Burma debt cancellation $5.9 billion to be written-off and new loans to military dictatorship to begin. Western countries, in a body called the Paris Club, have agreed to cancel 50 per cent of the debt owed to them by Burma. The World Bank and Asian …
Statement by Members and Observers of the European Burma Network on the ongoing attacks by the Burma Army against the Kachin people We, the undersigned members and observers of the European Burma Network, condemn the ongoing attacks on the Kachin people and call on the international community to put pressure on President Thein Sein and …
We are movements and organizations calling on the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to add its voice and heed mounting international calls for an immediate stop to the continuing attacks on the Kachin people in Burma. The Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) and the signatories below urges all ASEAN governments to end its …
Burma Campaign UK today welcomed the release of Aung Hmine San, Than Htike, Min Naing Lwin and Thein Aung Myint who were arrested for protesting without permission. However, Burma Campaign UK urged the military-backed government in Burma to repeal the current protest law which doesn’t give genuine rights and freedom to protest. Aung Hmine San, …
Burma Campaign UK today urged the Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP to call in the Burmese ambassador to Britain to question him regarding why people are still being arrested under the right to protest law in Burma. Burma Campaign UK also urged the Foreign Office Minister to demand the military-backed government pass a protest …
Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government and United States to adopt a much more robust approach with the government of Burma in order to persuade President Thein Sein to halt Burmese Army attacks against the ethnic Kachin minority in Burma. Three civilians were killed, including one child, and four others were injured, …
Press Release from the Women’s League of Burma First use of airstrikes in twenty years brings fears of increased civilian fatalities and human rights abuses. Chiang Mai, Thailand – The international community should act immediately to ensure that Thein Sein’s government stops military attacks and human rights abuses in Kachin State, the Women’s League of …
Lord Alton of Liverpool has asked the British government whether it might be possible to arrest Thein Sein for human rights abuses if he goes ahead with a planned visit to the UK early next year. The UK applies universal jurisdiction for the use of torture, but only under certain limited conditions. Baroness Warsi, responding …
Burma Campaign UK today urged the Foreign Office Minister Hugo Swire MP to make the unconditional release of U Gambira and all the remaining political prisoners one of his main priorities on his visit to Burma next week. Despite increasing human rights violations in Burma, the main purpose of Hugo Swire’s visit is to …
Civil Society and Community Groups Condemn the Violent Crackdown on Protest Against the Letpadaung Copper Mine in Burma We, the undersigned civil society and community based organizations, condemn yesterday’s brutal crackdown against protesters who have been calling for the suspension of the Letpadaung copper mine near Monywa, Sagaing Region in Burma. This violence is …
Today the military-backed government in Burma released around 50 political prisoners. Two of the released activists had been highlighted as part of Burma Campaign UK’s campaign, No Political Prisoner Left Behind, which highlights a political prisoner case every month. Myint Aye and Zaw Zaw Aung were released under a Presidential order. Burma Campaign UK …
Burma Campaign UK is today calling on Hugo Swire MP, British Foreign Office Minister with responsibility for Burma, to pressure Burma’s military-backed government to agree to the formation of a joint domestic and international board, with the involvement of the UN, to investigate how many innocent civilians and political activists remain in Burma’s jails and …
As organisations that work to promote the rights of all people of Burma, including the Rohingya community, we express our deep concerns about the shortfall in funding for the humanitarian operation to assist people in Rakhine State who have been affected – directly or indirectly – by the June and post-June violence. Out of $32.5 …
Burma Campaign UK today called on the British government to work for UN mandated international observers to be stationed in Rakhine (Arakan) State, Burma, following almost five months of violence, arrests, and restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Burma’s ethnic Rohingya minority. Burma Campaign UK has written to British Foreign Secretary William Hague asking him …
More than one year on, Sumlut Roi Ja, an ethnic Kachin woman abducted by the Burmese Army, is still missing and President Thein Sein is still failing to take action to investigate and prosecute the soldiers who abducted her. Sumlut Roi Ja is a 28-year-old mother who was arrested by Burmese Army soldiers on …
On Saturday 20th October Wai Hnin Pwint Thon, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK, will be making a parachute jump from a plane two miles high to raise money for Burma’s political prisoners. Money raised by the jump will be split between helping those political prisoners who have been released, and campaigning for the release …
Burma Campaign UK today called for the immediate release of Tun Aung and all remaining political prisoners in Burma. Tun Aung is a 65-year-old medical doctor and a respected community leader who has been arrested and jailed for political reasons. He was sentenced to 3 years in prison under Section 24 (1) of The Foreign …
Press release by the Kachin Women’s Association Thailand International donors have failed dismally to respond to humanitarian needs of about 60,000 Kachin villagers displaced along the China border since conflict broke out in northern Burma over a year ago, according to data compiled by the Kachin Women’s Association (KWAT). From persecution to deprivation, a brief …
Burma Campaign UK today accused Burma’s President Thein Sein of playing games with the lives of political prisoners, using them as pawns in his efforts to persuade the international community to lift sanctions. An unknown number of political prisoners, thought to be less than 100, have been released this week ahead of Thein Sein’s …