Burma Campaign UK
Pope Francis visits Burma and Bangladesh next week amid international outrage over what the US describes as the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslim minority, reports the Voice of America. In an interview with VOA News, Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s director, explains: “If he uses the word Rohingya, some of the Buddhist nationalists might …
Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, criticised the deal between Burma and Bangladesh to repatriate Rohingya refugees who have filled out their personal details on forms. He described the deal as a way of “buying time”, since sluggish bureaucracy in both countries means that it could take years to cross-check refugees’ identities. “When people …
Commenting on The Irrawaddy’s reporting on the Rohingya crisis, New York’s Daily Beast says the Yangon-based paper, which receives funding from USAID, has parroted Burmese government propaganda. “Decades of hard work building the reputation of The Irrawaddy has been undermined by the editor in chief deciding to abandon journalistic independence and come down on the …
“On several issues she’s part of the problem”, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told MPs. Giving evidence to the International Development Committee, Mark Farmaner is quoted in the Guardian: “She has kept political prisoners in jail. Although she hasn’t the power to stop their arrests, she has the power to release them – including …
In testimony to the House of Commons International Development Committee, Burma Campaign UK’s director said Aung San Suu Kyi was complicit in the persecution of the Rohingya. Mark Farmaner said her “near heroine status” should now be re-evaluated, drawing attention to what he called her “authoritarian tendencies” and her decision not to repeal repressive laws. …
Commenting on the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s forthcoming visit to Burma, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said the Trump administration has done “very little to pressure either the government or the military in Burma over the Rohingya crisis,” and the visit will send important signals one way or the other. “Failing …
Frontier Myanmar reports on Burma Campaign UK’s decision to revive the ‘Dirty List’ of human rights violators. Anna Roberts, executive director, told Frontier Myanmar “The new list will mainly focus on companies involved with the military, as the military are responsible for most human rights violations in the country, and blocking democratic reform. We hope …
Beyond some sanctions, little action has been taken toward accountability, reports TIME. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, says the lack of international action over the crisis has essentially given Min Aung Hlaing a green light for murder. “You have to hand it to Min Aung Hlaing,” Farmaner tells TIME, “he is a very …
As the US joins the EU in taking action against the country’s military leadership and considering targeted sanctions, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, says neither have gone far enough. He told the Irrawaddy it was “very disappointing” that the EU decided not to impose any sanctions on the military, “only suspending invitations to senior military …
“The Bogalay massacres of Karen villagers in October 1991 are as much a part of Burma’s history as the 88 uprising”, writes Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, for Karen News. “It may not have had the same nationwide political repercussions, but it is too significant an event to pass by year after year …
Aung San Suu Kyi used her State of the Union speech to finally break her silence on the escalating conflict in the Rakhine State, reports ASEAN Today. However, her address was a mixture of excuses and misinformation and offered little comfort or encouragement to the persecuted Rohingya communities. The report quotes Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma …
The EU is to cut back ties with Burma’s military in response to the brutal security force crackdown on Muslim Rohingya areas of Rakhine State, reports the Financial Times. “Only to suspend invitations to some Burmese military officers to visit Europe is an absolutely pathetic response to ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya,” said Mark Farmaner, …
The European Union has done absolutely nothing to pressure Burma Army head Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing and his military to stop its campaign of what the United Nations has described as a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” against the Rohingya, writes Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK, in the Democratic Voice of Burma. Calling for …
Burma’s military has launched an internal investigation into the actions of its soldiers in Rakhine state, from where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims have fled in recent weeks, reports the Independent. “This isn’t an investigation, it’s a public relations effort,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK. “It does appear that the government …
A persistent myth that the military in Burma are looking for an excuse to retake direct control of the country is now being used to justify inaction over the ethnic cleansing and possible genocide of the Rohingya. While a misplaced fear of a coup is understandable given Burma’s history, it misreads the current political set-up …
Bangladesh has offered Rohingya refugees shelter, says an AidEx writer for the Diplomatic Courier, but aid organizations face challenges such as restrictions by the Bangladeshi government and difficult logistics. Burma Campaign UK’s Director Mark Farmaner said: “While Bangladesh has understandably been praised for allowing refugees in, they have not given official refugee status to them. …
The Foreign Office has confirmed that Prince Charles will not visit Burma on his tour of southeast Asia and India later this month, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma. “To have someone of Prince Charles’s stature go to visit the country would be seen as a reward, and giving legitimacy to the government and the …
Pakistan’s Daily Times reports that Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s director, has urged St. Hugh’s College to confirm that the removal of Aung San Suu Kyi’s portrait is connected to her refusal to acknowledge the ongoing genocide against Rohingya Muslims. He has also urged the college to write to Suu Kyi and urge her to …
An impromptu recital of a Kipling poem by Boris Johnson on a visit to the Shwedagon pagoda was so embarrassing the UK ambassador was forced to stop him, reports the Guardian. “It is stunning he would do this there,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK. “There is a sensitivity about British colonialism and …
The Guardian reports that St Hugh’s College Oxford, where Aung San Suu Kyi studied as an undergraduate, has removed her portrait from public display and placed it in storage, following international criticism over her role in the Rohingya crisis. Burma Campaign UK’s director Mark Farmaner said “This seems a rather cowardly action by St Hugh’s. …
Frontier Myanmar reports on Britain’s suspension of its educational training courses for the Myanmar military due to the violence in Rakhine State. Burma Campaign UK’s director Mark Farmaner told Frontier Myanmar “Ending this training should have been a no-brainer, not something to dither over for three weeks while ethnic cleansing happens … A major rethink on …
Interviewed by Al Jazeera, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, raised concerns about media coverage ignoring Min Aung Hlaing’s role in the Rohingya crisis, the government whipping up tensions using social media and the lack of press freedom inside Burma. Listen to Al Jazeera interview
Asked if tourists should boycott Burma, Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK said there is no current call for a tourism boycott. “Anyone choosing to avoid holidaying in Myanmar is making a personal moral choice, but it won’t do anything to help the Rohingya”, he told Coconuts. “A danger of people staying away from Myanmar is that …
An early day Parliamentary motion on Rohingya refugees, calling for independent observers to visit the region, an end to the violence, and humanitarian action, has so far attracted the support of 71 MPs. Text of early day motion 255