Burma: So what's the big deal?

When the cyclone hit the Burmese shores three weeks ago this small country in South East Asia appeared on at the fore front of the world stage.

Little did the majority of us know that Burma has been ruled by a brutal military dictatorship for the last forty years, a regime which is forcing its 50 million residents into a life of fear and an increasingly greater degree of poverty.

Even before the cyclone hit some reports say that as much as 60% of Burmese people lived in extreme poverty (less then 60p a day). There are also reports of systematic abuses of basic human rights of the people throughout the country, with widespread use of forced labour and more child soldiers then in any other country.

  © lewishamdreamer on a Creative Commons Licence

The cyclone has hit the people hard, the UN estimates that two million people are still in need of aid. BBC news website is reporting that at least 78,000 people have died as a result of the cyclone, and 56,000 people are still missing.

A group of us from Open Heaven went to see a play at Loughborough Town Hall about the life of Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of the NLD party which won a landslide victory against the military ruler in Burma's 1990 election, but the result was never honoured. She has been in house arrest since then and yet she remains determined to see a change in her country and democracy, and increased human rights for her people to prevail. The more I learn about this country and the injustices that these people live in the more I  realise the need for a response.

So what can we do?

1. Pray for justice for the people of Burma, for food and aid for those in need in the immediate term but also for longterm development for the country. Also for justice to prevail for those political prisoners (estimated to be 1,300 currently detained) who have taken a stand against the dictatorship.

2. Give to the agencies distributing aid to the cyclone affected regions - recent reports are that the regime are now allowing visas for foreign aid workers in Burma which should greatly help the relief effort. Check out the D.E.C. website to donate.

3. Find out more about Burma and its history (see the BBC site for a good overview)

4. Join the movement to boycott tourism to Burma organised by the Burma Campaign UK, this is thought to be supporting the military regime by bringing in millions of pounds each year which is having little benefit to the everyday people. See their website for more details of this campaign. You can do this by:
- not visiting Burma on holiday     
- writing to travel companies and guide book publishers on the campaigns 'Dirty List' - send me a message and I'll  forward the list onto you.
- boycotting buying lonely planet guides until they withdraw their guide for Burma

I am increasingly seeing our response as followers of Christ as learning to live in the tension of a world that is not operating as it was created and yet stepping out to see God's kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. In relatively recent history we have seen justice prevail in terrible and
seemingly hopeless situations, change happening by ordinary people making a stand again injustices - the abolition of slavery, end of apartide in South Africa to name a few. Let us not close our eyes to what is happening in the world, let's get involved, get our hands dirty and do something to make a change.

To find out more about campaigning for justice issues around the world, consider getting involved in Overflow a group that meets regularly to do just this. Contact me or Phil Lyon for more information.

Posted by: Gemma Potts on Thursday Jun 12th, 2008

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