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Burma Action Group UK: Boycott Burm



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Date: Fri, 29 Mar 1996 10:26:00 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Burma Action Group UK: Boycott Burma


EMBARGO : 10.30am, WEDNESDAY 27 MARCH 1996 /PRESS RELEASE

DON'T Visit Burma Year 1996
The Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Derek Fatchett and the Burma
Action Group are today calling on tourists to think again about
Burma as a holiday destination.  1996 has been deemed Visit Burma
Year by the repressive military junta that controls the country.

The call coincides with the publication of the Burma Action
Group's Alternative Guide  to the region.  The report documents
the links between the development of the tourism industry and
wide-scale human rights violations being carried out by the State
Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).

The report exposes:
*SLAVE LABOUR A massive programme of development is being carried
out to make the country ready for tourists. An estimated two
million people - including children - have been forced into slave
labour alongside prison chain gangs.  Scores have died.

*FORCED RELOCATION Thousand of ordinary Burmese people are being
forcibly removed from their homes to 'clean up' tourist sites or
to make way for new developments.One such development is the
Myanmar Golf Club in Rangoon.  At first, the army blockaded the
area, home to people who had been living there for decades. When
this failed, the SLORC arrested one member of each family and sent
them to jail.The remaining families were then forcibly moved to a
new 'town' 25 kilometres out of the city. No compensation was
paid.

*THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN BUSINESSES The SLORC is pushing tourism
to increase its legitimacy and to draw in hard currency.  This
money goes into the pocket of SLORC, or straight back out of the
country to foreign businesses. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of
Burma's democracy movement, has said: "Those foreign businessmen,
who come here to strike up deals while ignoring the reality,
should know that we are all suffering...they need to be reminded
that this is one of the most brutal military regimes in the world
and putting money into the country now is simply supporting a
system that is severely harmful to the people of Burma."

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi  has urged tourists to "make 1996 a year for
not visiting Burma" to demonstrate their support for democratic
reforms. The National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma
and other Burmese opposition groups, have also asked tourists to
boycott Burma until true democratic reforms have taken place.

Yvette Mahon, Co-ordinator of the Burma Action Group, said "Burma
isn't going anywhere, so please visit it later, once conditions
for its people have genuinely improved. We can understand the
attractions, but people should be aware that by visiting Burma now
they are lending legitimacy to a cruel and greedy military
dictatorship, damaging the democratic movement that struggles to
combat it, and sanctioning the continued abuse and suffering of
Burma's people, many of whom have lost their lives in the name of
tourism."

Derek Fatchett MP, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, said: "Burma
stands condemned by the United Nations for its human rights
abuses. The regime is clearly one of the worst in the world. The
development of the tourist industry has been at a price to the
local community which every decent person would regard as
unacceptable.  I would strongly urge tourists to think carefully
before booking a holiday in Burma.  The price of an exotic holiday
could be someone else's life."

1. For more information, contact:  Derek Fatchett MP
(0171-219-3458/6807) or Yvette Mahon, Burma Action Group


2. Burma: The Alternative Guide, #3.99 +P&P from the Burma Action
Group.

Article in The Times, 28 March 1996
Harvey Elliott
Visitors urged to boycott Burma

Tourists were yesterday urged to boycott Burma in protest at the
ruling military junta's abuse of human rights.

Labour's shadow foreign minister Derek Fatchett described the
Burmese State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) which had
designated 1996 as Visit Burma Year as "evil".

"The regime is clearly one of the worst in the world. The
development of the tourist industry has been at a price to the
local community which every decent person would regard as
unacceptable.  I would strongly urge tourists to think carefully
before booking a holiday in Burma."

The Burma Action Group, which is pressing for the restoration of
human rights in the country, launched an "Alternative Guide" to
the region in which they claim that the main tourism developments
are being carried out by up to two million "slave labourers"
including children.

Thousands of ordinary people are being forcibly removed from their
homes to clean up tourist sites or to make way for new
developments, it claims.

Yvette Mahon, Coordinator of the group said: "By visiting Burma
now, people are lending legitimacy to a cruel and greedy
military dictatorship."

The 38 British tour operators who organise visits to Burma were
also urged to drop it from their brochures, or at least to explain
to potential customers what was happening in the country at
another meeting held yesterday by Tourism Concern.

But most are convinced they should not become involved. "We do not
get involved in politics," said Alan Flook, secretary general of
the Federation of Tour Operators. "Members of the public must make
up their own minds where they want to go." About 2,000 Britons
visited Burma last year out of a total of 95,600 foreign
tourists.