Burmese Action at World Social Forum

Mungpi , Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

19 Jan 2004

Burmese delegates attending the World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai have exposed the ongoing and serious violations of human rights being committed by the ruling Burmese military Junta in a series of seminars and panel discussions.

Nearly 100,000 people from over 100 countries across the world have descending on the Mumbai suburb of Ghatkopar in one of the largest ever gatherings of non-governmental organisations, civil societies and organisations working for the improvement of human society. World Social Forum 2004 began on the 16th January.

The goal of the WSF is to create a better world for all people to live in. "Another world is possible" is the slogan of the festival.

The Burmese delegation have organised presentations on topics such as the role of women in the democracy movement, the exploitation of natural resources by the military, the lack of media freedom, the current political situation, sanctions and the impact of tourism in Burma.

"The Women’s League of Burma are trying our best to influence political change in Burma,” said Nang Hseng Noung, secretary of the WLB. The role of women in the democracy movement was highlighted at a seminar conducted by the Women's League of Burma under the banner of "Burma under military rule".

Prominent speakers, included Soe Myint, Aung Naing Oo, Aung Thu Nyeing and Naing Kasauh Mon, led an open discussion on the current political situation in Burma.

At a panel discussion held on the impact of tourism in Burma, WLB member Ms Charm Tong, highlighted the negative aspects of the tourism trade. "Tourism has resulted in many people being displaced from their homes and much of the hard work done [by the regime to promote tourism] had been performed by forced labour", she said

The current political situation was described in a presentation by Mizzima news editor-in-chief, Soe Myint, at a seminar entitled ‘Voices on Democracy’.

Ms Sally Mawlay, representing Burma Relief Centre, spoke about the exploitation of natural gas reserves in Burma by foreign oil companies at a workshop called "Globalisation, human rights violations and gas pipelines in Burma".

Ms Mawlay explained that the natural gas pipelines are the biggest foreign investment projects in Burma, providing funds directly to the military regime to support its military infrastructure and to buy weapons to use against their own people. She claimed that the pipeline projects had resulted in the forced relocation of entire villages, increased extrajudicial killings, torture, rape and extortion by pipeline security forces and increased forced labour.

Other Burmese participants at the World Social Forum worked together to provide information and free literature at the Burma Information Centre.

It is the first time that Burma's democracy issue has been highlighted at the WSF since the festival began in 2001. There are approximately 30 participants representing Burmese organisations at WSF 2004.

*In other news, Mizzima has learned that Dr Tint Swe, Member of Parliament and a minister of the exiled government, spoke at the Association of the Peoples of Asia (APA) on January 17. He warned India not to trust the Burmese military's proposed ‘road map’ to democracy.