Burma Campaign UK

The Burma Campaign UK founded in 1991 is a London based Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) that aims to achieve the 'restoration of human rights and democracy in Burma (often known as Myanmar). BCUK campaigns on behalf of the Burmese pro-democracy movement and is the largest campaigning organisation for Burma in Europe. The Financial Times has called it "a leading human rights pressure group."

It does this by:

• Discouraging trade, investment and tourism through campaigns and lobbying
• Raising the public awareness of issues relating to Burma
• Increasing international pressure on the UK government, the European Union, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations.

It has two directors, Anna Roberts and Mark Farmaner. Patron’s of BCUK include Glenys Kinnock MEP, Clive James, Sinead Cusack, Miriam Karlin OBE, Sir John Mortimer and Lord Steel. The organisation is funded by public donations.

Following the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests Burma Campaign UK worked closely with international Burma Groups to coordinate the Global Day of Action for Burma on October 6 2007 when thousands of people demonstrated in over 25 countries across 5 continents.^[1]

By working with other groups around the world Burma Campaign UK has:

• Persuaded the United Nations Security Council to place Burma on its permanent agenda
• Successfully lobbied the European Union to increased sanctions against Burma
• Successfully lobbied the UK government to double aid to Burma
• Generated thousands of media articles to heighten awareness of the situation in Burma
• Encouraged more than 100 companies to end their involvement in Burma, including: DHL, Swiss Re, Aon Corporation, Rolls Royce, British American Tobacco, Premier Oil

The Burma Campaign UK pursues a number of campaigns aimed at weakening the military junta that rules Burma and increasing awareness amongst the public of the plight of the Burmese people.

• United Nation’s Security Council [1]

Following a report published in 2005 by Vaclav Havel and Desmond Tutu that showed that Burma fits the criteria for United Nations Security Council (UNSC) intervention BCUK calls on UNSC members to pass a resolution requiring the regime to work with the United Nations in restoring democracy to Burma, and to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all prisoners of conscience.

• TOTAL Oil [2]

The French oil company TOTAL Oil began constructing the Yadana gas project in 1992 in partnership with Unocal and the state owned Myanmar Oil & gas military. This joint venture earns the military regime hundreds of millions of dollars every year. BCUK launched an international campaign against the oil company supported by 41 organisations in 18 countries. In September 2007 the French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner stated that he favoured Total pulling out of the country[3]

• Tourism/Lonely Planet [4]

Following Aung San Suu Kyi’s request for people not to visit Burma until the country is free BCUK campaign’s against tourism companies that take tourists to Burma. The NGO also runs a Boycott Lonely Planet campaign since Lonely Planet produces a guide that promotes “tourism to Burma and vigorously defends tourism to Burma in the media”.

• Economic Sanctions [5]

BCUK has campaigned for targeted sanctions against the regime for many years. These sanctions are designed to deprive the regime and generals of foreign currency. In XX 2007 they claimed victory as the European Union imposed new sanctions against the regime. BCUK is now calling for financial sanctions to be imposed against Burma by both the UK and EU.

• Clothing [6]

BCUK launched a campaign against clothing manufacturers that were sourcing from Burma. This campaign was a rapid success and hundreds of companies in the UK amended their sourcing policies to ensure they no longer source from Burma. Companies like to source clothes from Burma due to the low wages, lack of health and safety laws and because unions are illegal. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke out on this topic by stating “..we do not believe that trade is appropriate when the regime continues to suppress the basic human rights of its people.”. The most recent of victory in the clothing campaign was March 2007 when the clothes company “MK one” withdrew all its clothing produced in Burma on the same day that BCUK announced a boycott of them due to the company sourcing textile goods from Burma [7]

• The Dirty List [8]

Every year The Burma Campaign releases a "Dirty List" of companies which are most involved in financially supporting the Burmese military government through economic partnership. The Campaign is also known to publicly expose and condemn companies that are partnered or affiliated with companies on the "Dirty List". On October 5, 2004, they criticised popular charity Comic Relief for their partnership with DHL. DHL withdrew from Burma in December 2006.^[2] Notable members of the Dirty List are:

• Chevron Corporation (since a 2005 Unocal takeover, Chevron also owns Texaco)
• Daewoo
• Hutchison Whampoa, also the owner of 3 Mobile and Superdrug
• Lonely Planet
• Orient Express
• Schlumberger
• Siemens AG
• Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT)
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
• Total

The Burma Campaign UK has received celebrity support from:

• Damien Rice
• Anny Lennox
• Maxie Jaz
• Emma Thompson
• Anna Friel
• Tony Robinson
• Maureen Lipman
• Jay Kay(Jamiroquai)
• Joanna Lumley
• Esther Rantzen
• Sir Ian McKellen

• Official website of the Burma Campaign UK
• The Current "Dirty List"
• The Current "Clean List"
• New Burma ‘Dirty List’ Companies Named and Shamed - August 24, 2004
• Charity management Comic Relief condemned over Burma link - from The Guardian, October 5, 2004
• BBC: British investment in Burma