BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT

[freeburma@xxxxxxxxx]

Posted for David Wolfberg:

Los Angeles Campaign for a Free Burma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   CONTACT: DAVID WOLFBERG, L.A. Campaign for a Free
Burma (310) 391-7788
OCTOBER 3, 1995 LARRY DOHRS, Seattle Campaign for a Free Burma (206) 784-6873

ASEAN STATES IMPACTED BY BURMA TOUR BOYCOTT
Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore And Others May Lose Tour Dollars

ASEAN nations may have to decide between a brutal military regime and a
major industry - tourism - as internationally based human rights activists
push to deprive the Burma junta of the foreign capital sought through its
"Visit Myanmar Year 1996" tourism campaign. UCLA's Alumni Association has
canceled sponsorship of "Burma Passage", a cruise package which includes
stops in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore & Hong Kong. The final stop of
"Burma Passage" is in Burma's capital city of Rangoon, where Alumni would
have no choice but to disembark.  There, foreigners must exchange dollars
for kyats at rates falsely inflated 1900% in favor of the ruling State Law
and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Groups like London's Burma Action Group, Canadian Friends of Burma, Burmese
Relief Center of Japan, Southeast Asia Information Network, and Campaigns
for a Free Burma based throughout the United States have vowed to halt
tourism to Burma due to the inexorable links between "Visit Myanmar Year"
and human rights violations, including forced labor and forced relocation.
The groups will be contacting Duke University, another sponsor of "Burma
Passage", in hopes that Duke will also withdraw.  The University of
Southern California, Northwestern University, and Yale will also be
contacted.
Burma's neighboring nations will have to encourage tour packages which
exclude stops in Burma or bear the financial burden of SLORC's human rights
problem.  If the USC and Duke packages are abandoned, Thailand could be
impacted by three withdrawals from universities alone.
The USC Alumni Association's travel plan is of great concern to human
rights groups because it takes tourists via cruise ship up the Irawaddy --
a river leading to Mandalay.  According to the New York Times [7/17/94],
Mandalay's 500,000 residents have been ordered to send family members for
forced labor on the massive moat around the Great Palace there.  The moat
is six miles long and eleven feet deep.  Much of the work is performed by
women and children in Mandalay's 95-degree heat.
The Southeast Asia Information Network has reported that forced labor has
also been used by SLORC to build railroads for transporting tourists in and
out of Mandalay. Recently, ABC's Nightline captured footage of forced
laborers, as young as 8 years old, constructing a roadway that is to be
used as a tour route. Tourism-related forced labor has also been documented
by BBC television.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council brutally suppressed a
pro-democratic uprising in 1988, massacring thousands of citizens and
torturing many others.  SLORC held Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi
for six years, releasing her only this summer.  Several businesses have
withdrawn from Burma, including Petro-Canada, Amoco oil, Levi Strauss &
Co., Eddie Bauer, Macy's and Liz Claiborne.
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