Burma Campaign UK
By Mark Farmaner, Director, Burma Campaign UK Serious questions and doubts hang over the new MOU signed between the United Nations and the government of Burma on a supposed framework for creating conditions for safe return for Rohingya refugees. For a start, to date, it’s a secret deal. It’s about the Rohingya but the Rohingya …
Canada announced today that it will support a referral of the situation in Myanmar by the United Nations Security Council to the International Criminal Court. Canada maintains an arms embargo against Myanmar together with targeted sanctions. The government says it will use Canada’s 2018 Presidency of the G7, the group of seven large industrial economies, …
In the face of atrocity crimes, ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya and continuing attacks against other ethnic groups, the UK can no longer continue with ‘business as usual’ in its interactions with Burma. In a Report published today, MPs on the International Development Committee say that the actions and language of the UK towards Burma need …
Burma Campaign UK’s Campaigns Officer, Karin Valtersson, joined the demonstration by the Kachin community in the UK, calling on the British government to support the UN Security Council’s referral of Burma/Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. Tell the British government to stop protecting the Burmese military
A special edition of Dispatches with exclusive access to Rohingya activists’ secret recordings, which provide evidence of years of repression, violence and mass murder by the Myanmar authorities, was broadcast today on Channel 4. Watch Myanmar’s Killing Fields
The Justice for Rohingya Minority (JFRM) was launched at a ceremony at Amnesty International’s headquarters in London on Wednesday. Mark Farmaner, member of JFRM and director of Burma Campaign UK, argued that the international response to the Rohingya crisis has been muted. Referring to recent army attacks on civilians in Kachin State, Mark Farmaner said …
The Lords Grand Committee today held a short debate on recent developments in Myanmar. Watch the debate
Burma Campaign UK’s Director Mark Farmaner spoke at today’s Kachin protest in front of the UK Foreign Office, calling on the British government to support the UN Security Council referring Burma/Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. Call on the UK government to back the UN Security Council referring Burma to the ICC
Kachin Women’s Association Thailand has called on the UN Security Council to act to end ongoing crimes against humanity in northern Burma, which the UNSC delegation did not visit on its recent visit to Rakhine State. KWAT urges the UN Security Council: To refer the situation in Burma to the International Criminal Court To impose …
The European Union has defended a 30 million euro project to train the Myanmar Police, after a police witness in a case against two local journalists told a court this month that a senior police commander had ordered their entrapment. Burma Campaign UK director Mark Farmaner told VOA, “It’s hard to see how the EU …
“Writing to MPs, or going to meet your MPs, really does make a difference”, Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, told the National Student. Asked how students can pressure the government to change its policies and help alleviate the suffering in Burma, Mark said “We have had MPs standing up in Parliament really putting …
Leeds United Football Club’s announcement that it will be bringing the squad to Burma next month was met with widespread condemnation, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told DVB “There has been no call for a cultural or sports boycott of Burma, but clearly Leeds United haven’t clearly …
The Burmese government has denied that yesterday’s release of political prisoners included seven members of the military who were jailed for 10 years for massacring 10 Rohingya in the village of Inn Din in September 2017. They remain in jail, together with around 90 political prisoners. The New York Times article quotes Mark Farmaner, director …
Article in Mizzima News: Burma Campaign UK yesterday expressed disappointment at the apparent decision by Aung San Suu Kyi’s government to keep around 90 political prisoners in jail. While the statement notes “The reported release of 36 political prisoners today is wonderful news for those political prisoners and their families, but [it] also represents a …
Parliament’s Petitions Committee today held a two hour debate on the Rohingya crisis, triggered by public petitions asking the UK government to impose financial sanctions and stop the genocide. Background information Watch the debate Read the full transcript
The Karen Environmental and Social Action Network (KESAN) pays tribute to one of its most committed land protectors, peace advocates, and Indigenous rights defenders: Saw O Moo. He was ambushed and shot at by Burma Army soldiers on 5 April while travelling home from a community meeting on his motorbike. His death, says KESAN, is …
The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has asked for a ruling on jurisdiction which could allow an ICC investigation into the deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh, based on Bangladesh being a signatory of the Rome Statute. Burma Campaign UK welcomes this step by the prosecutor. It is clear that some of the most serious …
Great support at NASUWT teachers’ trade union conference in Birmingham this weekend. Delegates supporting our campaign to bring Burma’s generals to justice call for Boris Johnson to back Burma’s referral to the International Criminal Court.
Karen News reports on the open letter from 21 civil society organisations urging the EU to take a stronger stand on the Rohingya crisis. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, explained: “We are highly concerned that … the continuing lack of a concrete response sends the wrong message to the Myanmar Army and the …
Burma and Bangladesh are planning to send tens of thousands of Rohingya who fled to Bangladesh back to Burma. Rohingya in Bangladesh haven’t been consulted about the deal, but most say they don’t want to return until it’s safe. Rohingya won’t be allowed to return to their villages, which have been destroyed. Instead they are …
The agreement between Burma and Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees is like expecting 1940s Jews to return to Nazi Germany, says Sky News. Mark Farmaner from Burma Campaign UK told Sky News: “Bangladesh and Burma are effectively playing ping pong with the Rohingya, while the rest of the international community stands by. They will be …
On his visit the pope appealed to Burma’s leading Buddhist monks to combat prejudice and intolerance, but left out any specific reference to the Rohingya. “You don’t counter racism and prejudice by backing down to it,” Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told the Atlantic. “Already nationalists are gloating about the pope not using …
Papal advisers counseled the Pope not to speak about the Rohingya on his visit for fear of a backlash against the 650,000 Catholics in Burma, reports the Voice of America. But human rights advocates urged him to speak out. Mark Farmaner, head of Burma Campaign UK, said on Twitter: “If the pope doesn’t use the …
CNN reports that after meeting Pope Francis during his visit to Burma, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said all faiths in the country are able to worship freely. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, is quoted: “Min Aung Hlaing is the biggest obstacle to improving human rights, democratic reform, peace, modernization, and improving health …