Madam, – On August 14th you featured Burma in World News and in your Go travel supplement. In contrast with the measured reporting and headline in World News – “Suu Kyi’s party to boycott Burma poll in November” – the travel report was entitled “Bewitched by Burma” and encouraged readers to take a three-day trip costing €1,685. It promised “much direct engagement with local people”, “memorable meals”, “experiential overload” and stated “Burma definitely deserves a visit”. The difficulty with this gushing endorsement is buried in the final sentence: “the only question remains as to the ethics of it, whether tourism helps highlight the human rights abuses or legitimises them”.
The article itself serves to answer this question as it highlighted none of the following: 1. There is no freedom of speech, movement nor association in Burma; any form of protest, as evidenced by the Burmese military regime’s brutal crackdown on the peaceful protesters during the Saffron Revolution in 2007, is punishable by imprisonment, torture and even death. 2. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has detailed the military regime’s use of forced labour, often on tourism development projects. In 1997, the EU withdrew Burma’s trade privileges because of the prevalence of forced labour and other abuses. In 2000, the ILO took the unprecedented action of urging all its members, including governments, employers and trade unions to review their ties with the regime. 3. Burma’s ethnic minorities face particularly severe human rights violations, including arbitrary executions, forced portering, forced relocations and rape. 4. Thousands of political prisoners, including detained Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, are prevented from participating in parliamentary “elections” scheduled for November 7th. The 2008 constitution, which will be enacted as a result of these elections, is the key mechanism by which the military will retain control under a new “civilian” facade: the military will occupy 25 per cent of the parliamentary seats and will retain key defence ministries. In addition, constitutional amendments will be almost impossible without the consent of the military. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – It is impossible to reconcile Manchán Magan’s romanticised, if not neocolonial, musings on his recent travels in Burma with the prevailing political, economic and human rights situation of this perpetually neglected nation (Go and World News,August 14th).
On the face of it, it would appear a conscious decision was made to avoid any consideration of the ethical questions inherent in travelling to a country which has been under the grip of a military junta since 1962.
These questions are not in and of themselves easily addressed by each and every individual tourist. However, as a journalist and writer, Mr Magan surely has a responsibility to report on the situation on the ground, if for no other reason than to provide some semblance of context. Mr Magan seems superficially aware of this fact, but appears to decide to place such questions to one side as being too difficult.
In the spring of 2009 I was part of a team from the Irish Centre for Human Rights who, with the support of Irish Aid and the Department of Foreign Affairs, investigated the possibility that the Burmese junta was committing crimes against humanity against its own population. Our report, launched in June by Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, found there was a solid factual and legal basis to conclude that crimes against humanity are currently being committed in western Burma. One of the most challenging aspects of this investigation was the securing of first hand reliable accounts of the situation on the ground; it is in essence a black hole of information.
Although we conducted our own extensive field mission to Burma and the surrounding region, we were nevertheless grateful for the context provided by the accounts of journalists fortunate enough to secure passage inside the country.
Mr Magan is right to point out the striking beauty of this crumbling nation. However, it should not be the decor of the luxury European cruise liner that we are concerned with. The Burmese situation is an undeniably complex one, but wilful ignorance is partly to blame for its intransigent nature. The primary argument in favour of tourism in Burma is that it may help to highlight the plight of the population. Mr Magan has regretfully failed in this duty. The privilege of glossing over the more disturbing aspects of life in Burma is more easily enjoyed as a guest of the Orient Express travel company than as a guest of the regime. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – I enjoyed the Burma feature (Go, August 14th), which I assume is the first in a new Unethical Traveller series. It’s about time there was a space for those of us who don’t give a hoot about all that sustainable travel nonsense. Spanish veal flown in weekly! Were the teak decks illegally logged from local forests? I’d like to think so. It’s reassuring to know that, thanks to Orient Express, my money will stay in Europe (apart from any quite legitimate fees that must be paid to the Burmese generals). I look forward to the next article in the series: “Helicopter hunting the bushmen of the Kalahari” perhaps? – Yours, etc,