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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Wake up call



Subject: Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's Wake up call on French Tourism!!!

24 Aug 1999 / AFP : "She also deplored the number of French tourists
arriving in Myanmar,formerly known as Burma.French made up the bulk of
European arrivals here in 1998-99, with 14,064 compared to 17,000 the
previous season, official figures show. "We have too many French tourists,"
Aung San Suu Kyi said. "


Wake up call ! Our turn ! (English & Français) 
See EBN's February 99 Appeal

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi  blasts the French and French tourism 
for promoting the junte. So why hasn't the Free Burma movement here in France
taken a more effective approach to this problem ? In 1996, the French
government
and their hacks in the press (Figaro etc) applauded the Burmese tourist
promotion
with then once prestigious exceptional Tourism Award ; an effective
campaign was launched
in England with the Swiss and French participating ; since then nothing.
And virtually
no support to handle this problem from the movement's priviliged
supporters. And that
puts Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the unfortunate position of now having to lash
out
at the French tourism. 

That's just dandy. Why is it that too often those who have freedom abuse
it, waste it, while
those who dont have it really know how precious it is.

Its about time the Free Burma Movement gets serious about the French public
and private support of the junta, and we at Euro-Burmanet have been banging
on this door for over five years now with only voluntary cooperation
from our privileged friends who know who they are. Well, here once again,
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, speaks out, against French endorsed support of the
junta. Wouldn't it be politically and morally correct, if  more of our
supporters and friends did the same ?

Below is an appeal sent by EuroBurmaNet last February; we
never got a response to our request and appeal.

Thank you, Most Honoroable and Revered Leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. 


Dawn Star
EuroBurmaNet
Paris


24 Aug 1999 
AFP-Aung San Suu Kyi blasts foreign tourists for doing nothing to help its
political or long-term economic situation in an exclusive interview late
Monday that
foreign visitors did not help to open the country which has been under harsh
military rule for decades.

"Tourists don't bring new ideas. Most of the tourists who come (here) come
to enjoy themselves," the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader said.
"There are some tourists who take the trouble to talk to various people to
find out what the situation in the country is like, but the great majority
of tourists, especially the ones who come to a place like Burma, knowing
Burma is a dictatorship, come here because they want to see something new."

Suu Kyi also dismissed the potential benefits from tourism to the crippled
local economy."I think any sound economist will tell you that to try to
build a country's
economy on tourism is a very bad idea," she said."It's a soft option and it
has no long-term benefit.
"And if you want to look at it from a social point of view, tourism brings
in as much ill as good."

She also deplored the number of French tourists arriving in
Myanmar,formerly known as Burma.French made up the bulk of European
arrivals here in 1998-99, with 14,064 compared to 17,000 the previous
season, official figures show. "We have too many French tourists," Aung San
Suu Kyi said.

The United States and Britain officially discourage citizens from visiting
Myanmar, but arrivals from these countries rose over the same period.

American arrivals rose from 9,300 in 1997-98 to 11,009 in 1998-99, while
British arrivals grew from 7,981 to 9,577.

Western tourists are still small in number compared with Asian, particularly
Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Singapore.

The junta has set a target of 500,000 tourist arrivals for the new season,
although only 150,000 arrived last year.

The junta has made tourism one of its priorities as the economy crumbles
amid alleged corruption, mismanagement, the repercussions of the Asian
crisis and international sanctions, particularly those imposed by the
United States.

The junta is widely accused of gross human rights abuses and has ignored
the results of a 1990 election won in a landslide by the NLD under Aung San
Suu Kyi.

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   Aung San Suu Kyi fustige le tourisme étranger en Birmanie
   RANGOON, 24 août (AFP) - La dirigeante de l'opposition birmane, Aung
San 
Suu Kyi, ardente partisane des sanctions économiques contre la junte 
militaire, a fustigé le tourisme étranger qui, selon elle, ne favorise
en rien 
la libéralisation politique ni l'essor économique à long terme de son
pays.
   Dans un entretien avec l'AFP, lundi à Rangoon, le prix Nobel de la
Paix a 
réfuté l'idée selon laquelle les touristes étrangers contribuent à 
l'ouverture, y compris politique, des pays soumis à des régimes
autoritaires.
   "La plupart des touristes qui débarquent ici viennent pour s'amuser,
pas 
pour apporter des idées nouvelles", a-t-elle affirmé.
   "Il y a quelques touristes qui prennent la peine de parler à des gens 
différents pour découvrir quelle est la situation du pays. Mais la
grande 
majorité des touristes, en particulier ceux qui choisissent un endroit
comme 
la Birmanie sachant que c'est une dictature, vient parce qu'elle veut
voir du 
nouveau".
   Avocate de l'isolement du régime militaire, Mme Suu Kyi a aussi mis
en 
doute l'impact positif du tourisme sur l'économie birmane. "N'importe
quel 
économiste sensé vous dira qu'essayer de construire l'économie d'un pays
sur 
le tourisme est une fort mauvaise idée, une option facile qui n'apporte
aucun 
bénéfice à long terme", a déclaré la dissidente.
   "Quant au point de vue social, a-t-elle ajouté, le tourisme apporte
autant 
de mal que de bien".
   Aun San Suu Kyi a particulièrement déploré qu'il y ait "trop de
touristes 
français" qui visitent la Birmanie. Les Français ont constitué le
premier 
contingent de touristes européens durant la saison 1998-99 avec 14.064
entrées 
(contre 17.000 la saison précédente), selon les statistiques officielles 
birmanes, les seules disponibles.
   Deux pays qui découragent officiellement leurs touristes de se rendre
en 
Birmanie, les Etats-Unis et la Grande-Bretagne, ont vu leurs contingents 
augmenter récemment, de 9.300 en 1997-98 à 11.009 en 1998-99 pour les 
Américains, et de 7.981 à 9.577 pour les Britanniques, d'après ces 
statistiques.
   Dans une décision commune, adoptée en octobre dernier, l'Union
européenne a 
décidé de se faire l'écho des réserves de l'opposition birmane sur le
tourisme.
   Les touristes occidentaux restent toutefois loin derrière les
visiteurs 
asiatiques (Japonais, Thaïlandais, Taïwanais et Singapouriens).
   La junte militaire a fait du développement du tourisme une de ses 
priorités, avec un objectif de 500.000 pour la nouvelle saison.
Toutefois, 
seulement 150.000 visiteurs étrangers ont été accueillis l'année
dernière.


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03 Feb 1999 
Reply-To: dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Organization: EuroBurmaNet <http://www.euroburma.com>

To: burmanet2-l@xxxxxxxx, burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
CC: info-burmanie@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [burmanet2-l] French Triangle d'Or Tourism Thrives

All around Paris, in the newspapers and shop windows of travel agencies
although enthusiastically led by the larger agencies, ASIA, Kuoni,
countless smaller agencies like Accor Tour, Club Aventure make up for a
virtually inexhaustible list of french business support of Burma tourism
today. Its rather depressing, when, Sunday night, walking around the
Paris Quatier Latin for dinner, to pass in front of several agencies
with beautiful Asian models starring at you from the Golden Triangle
Tour. Its enough to give anyone indigestion, especially when you see the
AIDS statistics. Does French Health Minister Bernard KOUCHNER have
anything to say about AIDS, or for that matter, though we read his
support of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in the french version of Alan Clement's
Dossier Noir Birmanie, what is he doing now about TOTAL and French
Tourism to Burma?

It would be pertinent to have a clarification now, in light of the
current uproar in the US over the ASIA SOCIETY Burma tour fiasco. Let's
see some figures on French tourism to Burma, if you please. The French
embassy should have 98/97 figures handily available for you, and posting
here. 

ds

Would Info-Birmanie please post some figures and bring us up to date on
what happening now in France on this second wave of tourism to Burma.

***

we never got a response... until this latest appeal
from our courageous and revered leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. ds