Burma Campaign UK
Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, interviewed for a Middle East Eye analysis of the plight of the Rohingya, said “Burma’s so-called transition to democracy has been a transition to a new form of military control with a civilian face.” Read Middle East Eye article
Zoya Phan, Burma Campaign UK’s campaigns manager, has been refused a visa to attend the unveiling of a statue of her father Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan on the ninth anniversary of the Karen leader’s murder. Read VOA Burmese article Read Frontier Myanmar article
Now the British government is considering whether or not to back a UN inquiry into the Rohingya crisis. Such an investigation could help reduce human rights violations and set out a roadmap for ensuring human rights for the Rohingya. Email Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson now!
Ask your MP to sign a new motion in Parliament calling on the British government to back a UN Inquiry into the Rohingya crisis. We need the British government to back a UN Inquiry and propose it at the Human Rights Council. Write to your MP now.
Mass gang-rape, killings – including of babies and young children, brutal beatings, disappearances and other serious human rights violations by Myanmar’s security forces in a sealed-off area north of Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State have been detailed in a new UN report. Read more and see full report
In answer to a question by Tom Brake MP, the Defence Minister Mike Penning said “There is currently no specific programme module within this training which focuses on the issue of human rights”. See question and answer
The Daily Mail reports that millions of pounds of Britain’s aid has been spent on training foreign soldiers – including the Burmese army that is accused of killing and raping its own people. Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tom Brake MP told the Daily Mail: ‘The Burmese army are amongst the worst human rights abusers …
Vatican Radio reports that human rights groups have accused Burma’s government of trying to cover up abuses against Rohingya civilians in Rakhine State. In an interview with Vatican Radio, the Executive Director of the Burma Campaign UK, Anna Roberts said, “the fact that this [the Burmese government’s own] commission has no independence or credibility just …
Burma News International reports on Burma Campaign UK’s petition to the British government to do more to help stop the rape of ethnic women in conflict divided Burma. BNI quotes Zoya Phan, campaigns manager at Burma Campaign UK: “The British government should … stop training the Burmese Army until they take concrete action to end …
Karen News reports that Burma Campaign UK delivered a petition to the British government to do more to help stop the rape of ethnic women in conflict divided Burma, and quotes Zoya Phan, the campaigns manager for Burma Campaign UK: “It has been two years now since the two Kachin teachers were brutally raped and …
Two years after the murders, and one year after the National League for Democracy promised to bring the perpetrators to justice, the bereaved families of two Kachin teachers are no closer to knowing who raped and killed their daughters. At memorial services in Yangon, Muse and Myitkyina yesterday, civil society organisations and community leaders expressed …
Two years on, an investigation into the brutal rape and murder of two Kachin schoolteachers in Kutkai Township has stalled due to continued war, says the Irrawaddy in its report on a memorial service held today. Calls for justice for the two victims continue. The Burma Campaign UK delivered a petition signed by more than …
Paul Scully MP, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy in Burma, tabled an urgent question in the House of Commons today on human rights in Burma. Paul Scully called for an independent international investigation into state-sponsored attacks on Rohingya Muslim civilians in Rakhine state, and urged the Foreign Secretary to raise the the …
Mizzima News from Myanmar reports on Burma Campaign UK’s new briefing paper on Burma’s military. “With human rights violations by the Burmese military increasing to a level we haven’t seen for around a decade, it’s clear new strategies are needed,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “It’s time for a debate on ways …
In today’s House of Lords debate on the treatment of the Rohingya in Burma, Baroness Kinnock quoted Anna Roberts of the Burma Campaign UK, who called the report of the presidential commission of inquiry a “farce” and said “it is time for the UK to support the establishment of a genuinely independent UN Commission of …
Rushanara Ali MP, Co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Burma, writes on the the violent campaign against Rohingya Muslims and the urgent need for full humanitarian aid and access to Rakhine state. Read Guardian article
The Burmese Army is committing horrific human rights abuses in Kachin and Shan States. We don’t live in a country where our children can be bombed while out playing, but this is happening in Burma. Please send a message to the head of the Burmese Army and to Aung San Suu Kyi supporting local communities …
The Karen Women Organization add their voice to the 16 days of activism to stop violence against women. In Burmese military operations in Arakan State over the past months, there have been consistent reports received of widespread, systematic sexual violence against Rohingya women by Burma Army troops. Read statement
Myanmar is “shooting itself in the foot” by banning workers from going to Malaysia, Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told the Southeast Asia Globe. “It is the Burmese migrants and their families who will suffer most from this move,” he said, “and the Burmese economy which benefits from money sent back.” The ban …
The BBC has obtained footage from inside Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where allegations have emerged of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya community. The Burmese military denies it but has banned independent journalists from investigating in the area. Read full story
Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s Director, told the Muslim News: “The international community continues treating the Rohingya as expendable in their efforts to present the situation in Burma as one of a successful transition requiring just technical assistance. “The human rights situation for the Rohingya is getting worse, not better, and it is time their …
As Rohingya in Burma face yet another violent crackdown, an award-winning exhibition on the Rohingya is being held in the British Parliament this week. Today’s opening ceremony was followed by a panel discussion hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Democracy in Burma. Read more
Aung San Suu Kyi should act on Rohingya human rights, Burma Campaign UK’s Director Mark Farmaner told French current affairs radio station RFI: “She has moral authority, she has the support of the international community, she could be allowing humanitarian assistance in, there is a whole range of things that she could be doing but …
“It is becoming clearer that the approach of the NLD and the international community is an abject failure which is costing lives and causing immense suffering” writes Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s Director, in Democratic Voice of Burma. Read the full article below or in DVB. In 2006 I received a phone call from a …