Action on Burma
Give your active support to organizations that lobby on behalf of the issues that matter to Burma’s people.
“Please use your liberty to promote ours”
Aung San Suu Kyi
Join the dots
Here are just some in reader countries:
Australia
Australia Burma Network
www.australiaburmanetwork.org
Australia Campaign for Burma
www.aucampaignforburma.org
Britain
Burma Campaign UK
www.burmacampaign.org.uk
Canada
Canadian Friends of Burma
www.cfob.org
Burma Watch International
www.burmawatch.org
Burma Forum Canada
http://burmaforum.dawn-net.com
Ireland
Burma Action Ireland
www.burmaactionireland.org
New Zealand/Aotearoa
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
http://union.org.nz/campaigns/free-burma
United States
US Campaign for Burma
http://uscampaignforburma.org
International
Web campaigners Avaaz.org
www.avaaz.org/en/burmahopelives
An extensive list, including groups providing humanitarian support, can be found at
www.burmacampaign.org.uk/links.html
Organize
Numerous small local groups do community work, hold public information meetings and gather funds for projects that will help the people of Burma. Why not approach like-minded people to start one of your own? Some of the organizations listed above give tips on starting up and how best to contribute.
Spread the word
- International media attention harms the regime and reminds people within Burma that they have not been forgotten. Write to your newspaper on Burma issues and remind them that there is no peace in Burma even when things appear ‘normal’ on the outside.
- Write letters or organize petitions to political representatives and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon asking them to press for an arms embargo on Burma at UN level.
- Humanitarian aid going to Burma through international agencies is severely hampered by the restrictions placed on staff by the military regime. There is a crying need for cross-border aid sent via neighbouring countries directly targeting vulnerable communities in Burma. Political activists in the country also need financial support in order to equip them better to face problems. For example, a cellphone which costs upwards of $2,000 in Burma can be a lifeline to an activist in hiding. Write to your country’s funding agencies to press for this kind of highly effective ‘unconventional’ aid.
Don’t buy it
Let international corporations that invest in Burma know that they have got blood on their hands and you won’t be buying their products. Get an extensive list of such corporations from Burma Campaign UK –
http://tinyurl.com/2d398s
Two oil giants in particular are playing a large part in propping up the regime and there are boycotts against both of them.
The campaign against Total can be found at www.burmacampaign.org.uk/total.php and inspirational images of protests, including pickets at filling stations, can be viewed at www.totaloutofburma.blogspot.com
The Chevron boycott is at www.peacemajority.us/BoycottChevron.htm
Olympic switch-off
There’s little doubt that China’s support for Burma’s generals – as investor, weapons supplier and diplomatic protector – is crucial for their survival. Burma’s 88 Generation Students’ group of political activists has called for a boycott of the Olympics in China which are due to start on 8 August – the 20th anniversary of a major massacre of democracy protestors in Burma.
For details visit http://tinyurl.com/2vklky
Get the knowledge
Follow developments in Burma via these exhaustive web resources:
BurmaNet News
www.burmanet.org
Daily news articles gathered from the world’s media.
Online Burma Library
www.burmalibrary.org
Lives up to its name by providing over 15,000 reference documents – including facsimiles of propagandist state news media.
The Irrawaddy (www.irrawaddy.org) and Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com) With content provided by Burmese journalists (mainly in exile), these offer analysis and news.
“I think by now I have made it fairly clear that I am not very happy with the word ‘hope’. I don’t believe in people just hoping. We work for what we want. I always say that one has no right to hope without endeavour, so we work to try and bring about the situation that is necessary for the country, and we are confident that we will get to the negotiation table at one time or another. This is the way all such situations pan out – even with the most truculent dictator.”
Aung San Suu Kyi
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