| TOURISM
Burma's military regime has since 1996 sought to attract
international tourists to what is indeed one of the world's most diverse
and beautiful lands. Yet large parts of Burma remain off-limits to
tourists because of military operations, narcotics trafficking in border
areas, and a contentious gas pipeline built across southern Burma. And
many tourism-related projects have involved massive forced labor,
arbitrary property seizures, compulsory relocations, and other human
rights abuses.
Why the ruling army junta, the State Peace and Development Council (known
from 1988-1997 as the State Law and Order Restoration Council, or SLORC),
wants more tourists to come to Burma is no secret. The generals
themselves declare that gaining hard currency is their prime motivation.
They also hope that a large influx of international tourists will raise
global respectability and credibility for a military dictatorship with
one of the world's worst human rights records.
Little-visited and relatively unspoiled by mass tourism, Burma is now
promoted as a new and exotic holiday destination. Some people argue that
increased tourism in Burma will open the country to liberalizing
influences. But most visitors have scant opportunity to discover the
realities of everyday life in Burma. Traveling between first-class
hotels and tourist sights in air-conditioned comfort, they meet few
ordinary Burmese. Even chance encounters are constrained by the people's
fear of military intelligence agents, whose pervasive presence is a
principal tool of the junta's harsh rule. The army's tight control keeps
genuine interaction between Burmese and visitors to a minimum. Tourism
profits rarely reach ordinary people. The army itself is a partner in
many tourist ventures, and some hotel projects are suspected to be
fronts for laundering profits from Burma's burgeoning heroin trade.
Groups promoting democracy in Burma urge tourists to stay away from the
country and boycott the junta's tourist drives. Many travel agents and
tour operators have publicly declared that they will not book or operate
tours to Burma. These efforts have apparently been effective; the
occupancy rate at Burma's top hotels is under forty percent. Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma's democracy
movement, agrees that tourists should not visit Burma until there is a
restoration of democratic rule. "We think it is too early for
either tourists or investment or aid to come pouring into Burma,"
she told visitors to her Rangoon residence in November 1995. "We
would like to see that these things are conditional on genuine progress
towards democratization."
Large-scale forced labor has been reported on several major tourist
development projects, including the rebuilding of the moat surrounding
the Golden Palace in Mandalay, the construction of a new dam at scenic
Inle Lake in Southern Shan State, the laying of a railway line near
Pagan's temple complex, and the building or upgrading of airports around
the country to accommodate passenger jets for tour groups. The United
Nations and human rights organizations have documented the harsh
conditions and often brutal treatment that accompany forced labor in
Burma today. The junta's efforts to attract tourists "is
responsible for a lot of forced labor," Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has
observed, ". . . for building up facades that will look impressive
for the tourists." A 1998 International Labour Organization report
provides evidence of forced labor on tourism development projects and
goes on to conclude, "There is abundant evidence…showing the
pervasive use of forced labour imposed on the civilian population
throughout [Burma] by the authorities and the military…"
Another common abuse is reported in Mandalay and other cities: the
forcible relocation of tens of thousands of people from their homes and
mandatory renovations without compensation to make areas more attractive
to tourists. Other property has been arbitrarily seized to build new
hotels or tourist facilities.
There are also practical reasons for tourists to think twice before
visiting Burma. Because of the country's instability, many travel
insurance policies specifically exclude Burma from any coverage. And the
country's medical infrastructure has all but collapsed. Many people
concerned for the Burmese peoples' rights are choosing to postpone their
visits to the country. Other people concerned for their own health and
welfare have decided to do the same.
A regularly updated, on-line version of this backgrounder is
available at:
http://www.burmaproject.org/crisis/tourism.html .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Burma Project, Open Society Institute
400 West 59th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10019 USA
tel: (212) 548-0632 fax: (212) 548-4655
e-mail: burma@sorosny.org; http://.burmaproject.org
Alternative Asean Network on Burma, c/o Forum Asia
109 Suthisarnwinichai Road, Samsennok
Kuaykwang, Bangkok 10320 Thailand
tel: (66-2) 275 1811 fax: (66-2) 693 4515
e-mail: altsean@ksc.th.com
The Burma Campaign UK
Third Floor, Bickerton House
25/27 Bickerton Road
London N19 5JT UK
Tel: (44 20) 7281 7377 Fax: (44 20) 7272 3559
e-mail: bagp@gn.apc.org; www.burmacampaign.org.uk
Burma Centrum Nederlands
Paulus Potterstraat 20
Amsterdam 1071 DA Netherlands
tel: (31-20) 671 6952 fax: (31-20) 671 3513
e-mail: bcn@xs4all.nl; http://www.xs4all.n1/~bcn.htm
Info Birmanie
14 Passage Dubail
Paris 75010 France
tel: (33-1) 40 38 0180; fax: (33-1) 40 38 0192
e-mail: info-birmanie@globenet.org
Tourism Concern
Stapleton House, 277-281 Holloway Road
London N7 8IIN United Kingdom
tel: (44-171) 752 3330 fax: (44-171) 753 3331
e-mail: tourconcern@gn.apc.org
State Peace and Development Council Website:
http://www/myanmar.com
PUBLICATIONS:
Burma Debate. vol. I, no.5. (November/December 1995).
Tourism Concern. Our Holidays Their Homes:Tourism and
Displacement in Burma. London:Tourism Concern, 1995.
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Burma:
Country in Crisis was prepared by Open
Society Institute's Burma project
Content:
Republished
with permission from Open
Society Institute
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