We want to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to email the British government calling on them to sanction military companies. It worked!
On Thursday afternoon British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced that the UK is working on putting sanctions in place to stop British companies working with the Burmese military.
This is a major breakthrough, hitting the military where it hurts, in their pockets. The Burmese military has a vast business empire in Burma, and almost all their companies have used international finance, expertise and equipment.
The UK announcement also makes it more likely that other countries will do the same, putting further economic pressure on the military.
Of course by themselves these sanctions will not change the minds of the military. The people of Burma will win their freedom, but it’s up to us to do everything we can to help them.
As Archbishop Desmond Tutu once told us at Burma Campaign UK, “everything that can be done must be done”. If we haven’t done everything we can, we haven’t done enough.
Sanctioning military companies needs to be a first step, not the last. We need the UK to lead on building a coalition of countries imposing arms embargoes. The UK should also apply international legal pressure by supporting referring Burma to the International Criminal Court, and joining the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
The people of Burma are on the streets risking their life and liberty to win their freedom. The least we can do is take these steps to support their struggle.
Our campaigns work, so let’s keep the pressure on!
