Campaign News

Doug Janke, Head of Development, on Burma Campaign UK’s stall at this week’s Trades Union Congress in Manchester. Thank you to the TUC for supporting human rights and democracy in Burma.

The Shan Human Rights Foundation reports that the Burma Army conscripted porters, shot indiscriminately into a village and detained over 50 elderly people, women and children during “clearance operations” near the Upper Yeywa dam site in northern Shan State. Local villagers are strongly opposed to the Upper Yeywa dam. In southern Shan State, Burma Army troops and …

Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK, was interviewed for Al Jazeera’s Listening Post on the sentencing of two Burmese journalists working for Reuters to seven years in jail for obtaining state secrets as they researched the killing of 10 Rohingya men in 2017. A police witness alleged that the journalists were victims of a …

Aung San Suu Kyi’s government has not spoken out for the Rohingya nor used its powers to release the two Reuters journalists imprisoned for reporting on their plight, says the Christian Science Monitor. The military are responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Rakhine State. “They have all the levers of power,” says Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s director. …

Catherine West, Labour MP and member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on International Trade, joined Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK and others on the panel at a roundtable discussion in London on Monday organised by the Justice For Rohingya Minority, reports Turkey’s Anadolu Agency. “The UK can play a leading role in ending the crisis and bringing …

Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, joined the panel at a roundtable discussion held in London on Monday by the Justice For Rohingya Minority on the genocide against the Rohingya. Also on the panel was Catherine West MP, who said that Britain should use its influence at the United Nations Security Council and table a motion to …

The new Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, promised during today’s debate in the House of Commons said he would raise the case of the imprisoned Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, when he visits Burma. “The two journalists were doing what is in the very best traditions of all journalism: exposing evil and bad …

The UN’s Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar calls for the Burmese military to face the International Criminal Court for genocide as well as for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Yet, as Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK told the Diplomat, no world power has come forward to state their acceptance of the Fact-Finding Mission’s recommendations …

The Karen Community Worldwide welcomed the UN report calling for the Burma military to be referred to the International Criminal Court to be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against the country’s ethnic people. The Karen Community Worldwide pointed out in their statement, endorsed by 36 Karen organisations, that the UN …

International human rights groups support the UN report call for the Burma military to be investigated by the International Criminal Court, reports Karen News. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Save the Children, Fortify Rights and Burma Campaign UK called for the ICC to investigate. Burma Campaign UK director, Mark Farmaner, said “It is simply not credible …

Facebook’s ban of Tatmadaw (military) officials and organisations coincided with the release of a scathing report of Burma’s military leaders by the UN Human Rights Council’s fact-finding mission. This is the first time Facebook has blocked members of the military in any country. The company has taken down 18 Facebook accounts, one Instagram account and 52 Facebook …

Mark Farmaner, of the Burma Campaign UK, told The Times: “The [report] specifically stated it is up to the international community to act. It is disturbing that, even with a finding of genocide, the Foreign Office have not accepted the recommendations and come out in support of an ICC referral.” Read the article here (paywall)

The UN report on violence inflicted on the Rohingya and other minorities is damning, but whether the guilty will ever face justice is open to serious question, says the Guardian. Much now depends on the willingness of the UK and other UN security council members to forcefully pursue the allegations of genocide and crimes against humanity. …

Burma’s military has been accused of genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State in a damning UN report that alleged the army was responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, against minorities across the country. The UN mission called for Burma to be investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to the Guardian report, …

A UN report published today has said Burma must be investigated for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The UN Fact Finding Mission said “top military generals, including Commander in Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, must be investigated and prosecuted for genocide in the north of Rakhine State, as well as for crimes …

Doug Janke, Head of Development, represented Burma Campaign UK at Vale Earth Fair, Vale Castle, Guernsey today. Thank you to Vale Earth Collective, who have supported human rights and democracy in Burma for over 15 years.

Interview with Radio France International Next week the UN will discuss the Rohingya crisis, and a report if an 18-month UN fact-finding mission will be published on Monday. Many campaigners hope that the UN Security Council will refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to answer allegations of ethnic cleansing and even …

OpEd by Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, in the Eurasia Review When Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military, launched his military offensive against Rohingya civilians in August 2017, there was international outrage. One year on, the European Union (EU) has yet to implement a single practical sanction or other action to …

Rushanara Ali, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma, writes in the Guardian: “The international community must urgently find a way to allow the Rohingya to rebuild their lives in safety and security.” On the UK’s lack of support for referring Burma to the International Criminal Court, she writes “The sad reality …

30 years since massive, student-led uprisings threatened the military government and gave rise to the National League for Democracy, Time reports that the goals of 1988 are still far from being realised. “The NLD is not a government that is respecting human rights and the kind of freedoms that people were on the streets protesting for,” says …

A village headman was severely tortured by troops of the Burmese Army and a local pro-government militia on June 27, 2018 in Wan Mu Ser village, southern Shan State, reports the Shan Human Rights Foundation. The headman was accused of links to the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA). Read Shan Human Rights …

Burma Campaign UK’s written evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s human rights work has just been published. Read BCUK’s written evidence FCO’s Human Rights Work inquiry