Europe’s sixth largest travel company, Kuoni Travel, today announced that it would pull out Burma and that it will not return until democracy is restored. The move follows pressure from The Burma Campaign UK and Friends of the Earth and increases pressure on those UK companies still collaborating with the military regime, such as Orient Express and British American Tobacco.
Burma, ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world, is the subject of a tourist boycott following calls by Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of Burma’s democracy movement, for tourists to stay away. Tourism provides the Burmese generals with an important source of foreign currency. Slave labour has reportedly been used to build tourist infrastructure.
Friends of the Earth Corporate Accountability Campaigner Craig Bennett said:
“Any company operating in Burma is propping up an illegitimate military regime. It’s great that Kuoni has pulled out, but they leave behind BAT and Orient Express flying the flag for corporate irresponsibility.
Surely, it‚s about time Patricia Hewitt changed UK company law to make UK plc behave? Profits must stop coming before people and the environment.”