Burma’s military-backed government has one of the worst human rights records in the world. The Burmese army rapes, loots, burns, tortures and kills. It spends billions of dollars on the military while the population goes without access to proper healthcare, education and food. Fake elections held by the regime in November 2010 brought in a new military drafted constitution which legalised dictatorship with a civilian front. A Parliament was created, but it is dominated by pro-military parties and the military have 25% of the seats. This means the military can veto any efforts in Parliament to try and make the constitution more democratic. While there have been some small reforms in Burma and there is potential for change, there hasn’t been real change yet. In fact, human rights abuses have increased. The number of ethnic people forced to flee their homes because of human rights abuses and conflict has tripled since Thein Sein became President to over 300,000. Out of sight in the jungles, attacks continue in Shan, Kachin and Karen states and there has been a big increase in the use of gang rape by the Burmese army.

Burma Campaign UK is part of a global movement working for the promotion of human rights, democracy and development in Burma. As part of a global campaign, we persuaded the United Nations Security Council to discuss Burma for the first time. As a result, the Security Council demanded the release of all political prisoners. We persuaded the British government to double aid to Burma and to fund cross-border aid in order to reach ethnic people that the regime doesn’t allow aid to be delivered to, which will save and improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. We have generated thousands of stories about Burma in the media, ensuring the world does not ignore the crisis in Burma.