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01/02/2005
Prime Minister backs Burma holiday boycott
Tony Blair has lent his support to a campaign, which urges Britons not to travel to Burma because of human rights violations committed by the country's government.
The campaign, launched by the Burma Campaign UK group, is urging people not to visit the country – also known as Myanmar – because of the oppressive military regime, which governs there.
Mr Blair said that the regime in Burma had committed "appalling human rights violations", including torture, extra-judicial killings and rape by soldiers, forced labour, including the use of child soldiers and the forced relocation of villagers. He said: "I would urge anyone who may be thinking of visiting Burma on holiday to consider carefully whether by their actions they are helping to support the regime and prolong such dreadful abuses."
The 'I'm Not Going', campaign has attracted support from over 70 celebrities and politicians, including Conservative leader, Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, as well as Anna Friel, Sir Ian McKellen, Susan Sarandon and Graham Norton.
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, said: "In Burma, tourism doesn't help most ordinary people, instead it finances the regime that keeps them poor and oppressed. Every tourist that visits Burma puts money into the hands of the regime."
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the leader of the National League of Democracy (NLD), has repeatedly requested tourists not to go to Burma.
She has said that slave and child labour has been used to build tourist infrastructure, such as hotels and roads and has claimed that although the regime earns around $100 million from tourism each year, it only spends around 19p per person on healthcare. She also said that the regime spends around half of its budget on the military instead, while more than half the country's population lives in extreme poverty.
The NLD won 82% of the seats in the Burma's 1990 elections, but the regime refused to hand over power. NLD members were imprisoned and tortured. Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest, following a crackdown by the regime in May 2003, which saw the massacre of up to a 100 NLD supporters. Amnesty International and the United Nations have both reported on the deteriorating human rights situation in the country in the past year.
The Burma Campaign UK is urging people to sign a pledge not to visit Burma on holiday on a new website: www.imnotgoing.com
(KMcA/SP)
The campaign, launched by the Burma Campaign UK group, is urging people not to visit the country – also known as Myanmar – because of the oppressive military regime, which governs there.
Mr Blair said that the regime in Burma had committed "appalling human rights violations", including torture, extra-judicial killings and rape by soldiers, forced labour, including the use of child soldiers and the forced relocation of villagers. He said: "I would urge anyone who may be thinking of visiting Burma on holiday to consider carefully whether by their actions they are helping to support the regime and prolong such dreadful abuses."
The 'I'm Not Going', campaign has attracted support from over 70 celebrities and politicians, including Conservative leader, Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, as well as Anna Friel, Sir Ian McKellen, Susan Sarandon and Graham Norton.
Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK, said: "In Burma, tourism doesn't help most ordinary people, instead it finances the regime that keeps them poor and oppressed. Every tourist that visits Burma puts money into the hands of the regime."
Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and the leader of the National League of Democracy (NLD), has repeatedly requested tourists not to go to Burma.
She has said that slave and child labour has been used to build tourist infrastructure, such as hotels and roads and has claimed that although the regime earns around $100 million from tourism each year, it only spends around 19p per person on healthcare. She also said that the regime spends around half of its budget on the military instead, while more than half the country's population lives in extreme poverty.
The NLD won 82% of the seats in the Burma's 1990 elections, but the regime refused to hand over power. NLD members were imprisoned and tortured. Aung San Suu Kyi is currently under house arrest, following a crackdown by the regime in May 2003, which saw the massacre of up to a 100 NLD supporters. Amnesty International and the United Nations have both reported on the deteriorating human rights situation in the country in the past year.
The Burma Campaign UK is urging people to sign a pledge not to visit Burma on holiday on a new website: www.imnotgoing.com
(KMcA/SP)
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