James Mawdsley has been detained three times in Burma for his support of the indigenous pro-democracy movement. In August 1999 he was sentenced to 17 years of solitary confinement, but in October 2000 he was released.

He is the author of The Heart Must Break: the Fight for Democracy and Truth in Burma (Random House, 2001), an account of the genocidal attacks he has witnessed in Burma's border areas, and the conditions inside the prisons.

James is chairman of the Metta Trust for Children's Education and co-author of New Ground, a paper on foreign policy. James was born in 1973 and holds dual British-Australian nationality.
 

Why we should seek to make a positive impact on Burma.
- By James Mawdsley

Burmese student leader Min Ko Naing was imprisoned in 1989 for giving pro-democracy speeches. Since then he has served over 14 years in solitary confinement, yet Min Ko Naing still refuses to give up his non-violent struggle for democracy.

In Burma's border areas, the military regime orders genocidal offensives against ethnic groups such as the Karen, Karenni and Shan. Soldiers come in and steal whatever they will - rice, chickens, pigs. Whatever people work for is taken away. The army drafts villagers into slave labour, often for weeks at a time. In areas where there is resistance, entire villages are burnt down, people are forced off their land and moved to huge relocation centres where they cannot properly practice their language, tradition or religion. Individuals are tortured and killed; families are slaughtered; officers who rape are far more likely to be commended than punished. Genocide does not mean the annihilation of every last member of a group. It means the attempted destruction of a group as such. The Burmese military is trying to destroy what it means to be Karen. It forces people to exist stripped of their culture, or it kills them. This is genocide. Yet the Karen, and Karenni, and Shan, and others, refuse to give up. They continue doing all they can to defend their families and their land.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, won over 80% of the seats in the 1990 election. Yet instead of transferring power to the NLD, the military regime has persecuted and exiled party members. They have imprisoned scores of elected MPs, of whom 39 have since died in prison. It is clear that Burmese people want democracy. We should support them.

Some people say the outside world should not interfere. But we are already interfering. The outside world supplies the military regime with millions of dollars worth of investment; it supplies the regime with arms and with technology which are way beyond the regime's capacity to invent, yet which are used ruthlessly to oppress; and the outside world supplies the regime with diplomatic credibility, including the absurd measure of giving them a seat at the United Nations, despite acknowledging every year in resolutions that the regime persistently violates the UN's legally binding charter. Furthermore, Burma has elected representatives (the NLD) who should rightfully take that place at the UN General Assembly. So while the outside world is giving all this support to the military regime, we have an urgent duty to give commensurate support to the people.

And Britain especially has a duty to be involved. If we have exploited Burma in the past, if we have betrayed the Kachin and Karen and others, then we cannot make up for that by washing our hands of Burma. We need to be involved, putting ourselves at their service. And as our past implicates us, so does our present. The Burmese military is supported financially by illegal drug use, Burma being one of the world's foremost producers of heroin and methamphetamines. The illegal drugs trade in the UK is bankrolling dictatorship and warlordism. We are already involved, and currently we are reinforcing tyranny rather than defending democracy. So how do we change that?

It is better to get out of Burma than to support the regime. But it is better still to make sure ones involvement supports people, promotes freedom, undermines tyranny. Voices For Burma (VFB) believes that to support Burmese people we need to be alongside them. Not only will this help us to understand each other, but it is the most immediate and convincing way to demonstrate solidarity. And for those who are prepared, it will open up countless opportunities to give concrete assistance.

And what is true for individuals is true for business. It is better not to go to Burma than to support the oppressive regime. But investors who insist on good practice, who refuse to pay bribes, who insist on freedom of association and expression for their workforce, who protect trade unions and who apply sound environmental standards - these investors will have a demonstrably positive impact in Burma. I do not know if such companies exist, but this is the challenge investors face.

To travel to Burma without regard for the oppression is disgraceful. To go there simply to indulge oneself, or to make a profit whatever the cost to local people, is indefensible. But those who travel to Burma with respect for locals; those who wish to learn more about the situation; those who are sensitive to the suffering; those willing to find ways to support people and those willing to take a stand against tyranny; above all those with humility to serve: such people will have a positive and welcome impact in Burma, and may bring the day of democracy a few moments closer.