Heard things are fine in Burma? They’re not.

Over the past few years the media and international community have painted an overly optimistic picture about the promised transition to peace and democracy in Burma (Myanmar). Human rights groups working on the ground have seen little genuine evidence of this reform and describe a country still plagued with human rights abuses, many of which violate international law.

In a recent report Burma Campaign UK stated that ‘Aung San Suu Kyi, President Obama and the United Nations have all said that Burma’s reform process is stalled, backsliding, or backtracking. The British government has still not publicly and unambiguously accepted this’.

As the reform process has ground to a halt, we are seeing serious consequences for those we work with:

• In Kachin State we are supporting 14 Early Childhood Development Centres for 1440 displaced Kachin children. We began working there in response to the breaking of a 17 year ceasefire by the Burma Army in 2011. The ensuing violence forced over 120,000 Kachin people from their homes, cutting them off from aid and leaving them stranded in crowded camps. 
  
  Many people now assume that this need has abated, but even in the last few months Fortify Rights has reported that the Burma Army has targeted, attacked and killed civilians with impunity within Kachin State. Soldiers have shelled civilian homes, attacked makeshift settlements and opened fire on civilian villagers.

 

• Attacks on the Muslim Rohingya minority in Arakan State continue, resulting in deaths, injuries, displacement, denial of basic health services, denial of citizenship and restrictions on movement, marriage and family. The displaced are living in camps that are shut off from international aid. 
  
  One Rohingya refugee we interviewed last month described how, after enduring continuing abuse and violence, he finally fled Burma when his son lost his leg in an attack. “I tried to save him by crossing the border. We fled to safety, but as soon as we left, my wife and the rest of my children started to get death threats, so the whole family had to leave. We have lost everything”.

 

• In Thailand we supported a residential Children’s Crisis Centre for refugee children who have fled Karen State, Burma without parental care. Over the last few years, with the situation for the Karen people starting to stabilise, our partners have been focussing on preparing some of the children for a possible return home. However, after a few years of relative peace, the Karen Rivers Watch (KRW) have provided evidence that the Burmese Army has broken the ceasefire in parts of Karen State.
  
  This is alleged to be part of a military campaign to further their control along the Salween River and start construction on the controversial Hatgyi Dam. Soldiers have looted homes, confiscated property, and taken around 100 people for forced labour. Civilian villages have been hit with mortar fire, forcing over 2,000 people to flee their homes to areas that the army has cut off from humanitarian aid delivery. The Karen people are now afraid to return home more than ever.

How to take action:

• Write to your local MP and the Foreign Secretary about these issues in Burma, asking that the British government will acknowledge these problems and alter their policy accordingly. 
• Urge David Cameron to put human rights first in Burma, by sending an e-mail through Burma Campaign’s action page. 
• Consider donating to our work in Burma. Raising money for projects here is increasingly difficult as much of the general public and many funding bodies have been misled into believing the situation in Burma has improved. You may have also heard there is a lot of aid being directed into Burma, but this often ends up in the areas that are easy to reach, leaving those people we are working with in the less accessible places cut off from the resources and services they desperately need. 
• Share this story with your friends and family. Whether it’s over Facebook, Twitter, or the dinner table, get the story out there.