Don't think that we ran the Go: Burma story and photographs without some discussion. Whether or not to visit Burma, an "untouched" country that has been ruled by a ruthless and often ridiculous junta since 1962, is a thorny question. So thorny that one of the two top guidebook companies -- Rough Guide -- won't even publish a Burma guide because they believe that visiting the country does more harm than good. (Lonely Planet does publish a guide to Burma.)
Here's a quick synopsis of arguments for and against taking a trip to Burma:
Why go?
- It's beautiful and largely unbesmirched by the western world, unlike much of the rest of Asia.
- By going to Burma and really getting to know Burmese who live and struggle under the regime, you let them know that you care. A sort of political Hallmark card.
- By coming back from Burma armed with first-hand knowledge, you can educate others and become an activist for democracy in a country that voted for it.
- By going to Burma and being really careful about how and where you spend your money, you can put money directly into the hands of people who really need it.
Why not go?
- Many argue that tourist money spent in Burma has a direct line to corrupt military officials' pockets and to human rights abuses. Why? Every kyat you spend from the moment you skid onto the runway in Rangoon rewards a heinous military regime that has forced hundreds of thousands of people to make the country sparkle. The glimmering resort you stay in could well have been built by forced labor, and the profits from your hotel bill will line the pockets of the military elite.
- Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader of Burma's democratic movement, has lived under house arrest for 10 of the past 17 years. Her party won elections in 1990 but was never permitted to take office. She has repeatedly urged tourists to boycott travel to Burma. (There are also thousands of other political prisoners detained in horrible circumstances inside Burma.)
- Farmers often get by on as little as 80 cents a day, while state employees' salaries have been increased by as much as 10 times in the past few months.
- Half of the children under the age of five in some parts of Burma are chronically malnourished -- this in a country that in terms of natural resources was one of Asia's richest -- and an estimated 150,000 Burmese children under the age of 5 die every year of malaria, diarrhea, and acute respiratory infections. The World Health Organization estimates that Burma spend $10 per person per year on healthcare, compared with, say, Thailand, which spends $160. One NGO estimates that the figure is even lower -- more like 50 cents. Per person. Per year.
- The political situation in Burma has had a terrible effect on the trafficking of girls and women. It's estimated that 60 percent of the women entering Thailand essentially as migrant prostitutes are under the age of 18.
- There are an estimated 650,000 internally displaced persons -- basically forced internal refugees who often lead lead a subsistence existence in the jungle -- in eastern Burma.
- The Burmese military uses child soldiers.
Let me be transparent: I lived for awhile with people who had been refugees for over twelve years -- and that was five years ago. They're still refugees, basically trapped in a camp in a canyon deep in the jungle on the border with Thailand. Words cannot describe the horrid salad of boredom and terror that I saw in their eyes.
I have dear friends who have been imprisoned and beaten. I know people whose husbands vanished, children whose only father is a faded photograph on the wall of a bamboo shack in a refugee camp. I've seen a starving child -- yes, the pot-bellied kind -- in a clinic on the border. I know a woman went crazy after seeing her brother beaten to death by soldiers. I've looked a friend in the eye -- a guerrilla who would vanish for weeks into the jungle to fight in the resistance -- and told him that I understood exactly why he had a machine gun, and what he did with it when he was inside Burma.
No, I won't judge you if you go to Burma -- I'd like to go myself. But between my political beliefs and my writing things like this, chances are I couldn't get a visa if I applied for one. And as for you, for God's sake be informed and responsible if you do go and be careful about how you spend your money.
Here's some reading: A recent series by the BBC on Burma. Pascal Khoo Thwe's From the Land of Green Ghosts. Christina Fink's Living Silence. Human Rights Watch's reports. Coverage from The Irrawaddy.
Okay, on that note, I'm going to step down from my soap box. It's getting awfully stuffy up here.
--Meghan
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