Should you stay or should you go?

There are few areas in the world where human rights are fully respected.

There are also few occasions when the nature of the suppression of human rights is such that a tourism boycott is justified. However, Burma is a rare example where this is appropriate.

Some of the reasons are outlined here.

Relevant Links:


How Tourism benefits Burma’s Dictators

(PDF version)

Acrobat can be downloaded here

“I’m not going to Burma” Celebrities speak out against tourism to Burma.

                 
Sir Ian McKellen Zoe Wanamaker
imageimage

                     
  Anna Friel:
"The best role in the world wouldn’t get me to Burma."
Tony Robinson:
"We can make a difference. Please join us!"
Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, Former Prime Minister:
  Click here to read the Prime Minister’s full statement.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               



Sir Ian McKellen
Zoe Wanamaker
Christopher Lee
Susan Sarandon
Maureen Lipman
Iain Banks
Jay Kay
Joanna Lumley
Helen Mirren
John O’Farrell
Juliet Stevenson
Mark Thomas
Sue Cook
Richard Wilson
Honor Blackman
Fay Ripley
Charles Dance
Sinead Cusack
Jon Ronson
Rhona Cameron
Esther Rantzen
Tom Stoppard
Andrew Sachs
Margaret Atwood
Miriam Karlin
Sandi Toksvig
Glenda Jackson MP
Glenys Kinnock MEP
Vera Baird MP
John Bercow MP
Angus Robertson MP, Scottish National Party
Caroline Lucas MEP
Lord Archer of Sandwell
Phillip Whitehead MEP
Linda McAven MEP
 
Stuart Windsor, Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Stuart Wheeler

 
  Full list of celebrity pledges

Monica Ali
 
Lord Archer of Sandwell

Jane Asher

M
argaret Atwood

Vera Baird MP:
"It would be wrong to go to Burma and rest in hotels built by forced labour in spaces cleared by forcing locals out of their homes. No-one should do it."

Iain Banks:
“Defeat the dictators – have fun somewhere else!”

John Bercow MP

Honor Blackman

Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, Prime Minister:
  Click here to read thePrime Minister’s full statement.

Brian Blessed

Rhona Cameron

Michael Cashman MEP

Christian Solidarity Worldwide:
  National Director Stuart Windsor said: "CSW firmly and unreservedly supports the tourism boycott, and we urge all our supporters not to go on holiday to Burma until democracy is restored and human rights are respected."

Julie Christie

Robbie Coltrane

Sue Cook

Ronnie Corbett

Richard Corbett MEP

Baroness Cox:
“I hope this campaign will also bring pressure on the SPDC to stop gross human rights violations of ethnic nationals such as the Karen, Karenni, Shan, Chin and Kachin peoples.”

Sinead Cusack:
“The regime in Burma is a brutal unjust one and I have no desire to support it in any way.”

Charles Dance:
“We should all be following Aung San Suu Kyi’s example!”

Lord Faulkner

Anna Friel:
“You have my total support. The best role in the world wouldn’t get me to Burma.”

Zac Goldsmith

Antony Gormley

Sankha Guha:
“No-one should think about visiting Burma as a tourist until it has a legitimate government elected by its people.”

Michael Howard MP:
“I am very happy to support your campaign and pledge not to visit Burma on holiday until it is a democracy.”

Nicholas Hytner

Glenda Jackson MP

Miriam Karlin

Jay Kay

Charles Kennedy MP

Glenys Kinnock MEP

Christopher Lee

Maureen Lipman:
“It is enough that Aung San Suu Kyi has asked us not to promote tourism there. The regime has the worst human rights record – tourism there is seeing what the military allow you to see. Don’t go.”

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

Caroline Lucas MEP:
“By pledging not to visit Burma until it’s a democracy, we can send a very clear message that Burma’s brutal military dictatorship is unacceptable and help to cut the lifeline that keeps the regime in power.”

Iain Luke MP

Joanna Lumley:
“I’ll visit beautiful Burma when Aung San Suu Kyi says so.”

Cherie Lunghi

Roger Lyons

Lee Mack

Art Malik:
“I would find it difficult to holiday in a country that does not embrace democracy.”

Linda McAvan MEP

Arlene McCarthy MEP:
“I look forward to the day that democracy returns to Burma and until that day I will not lend my support via tourism to a corrupt and degenerate dictatorship.”

Ian McEwan

Ian McKellen

Helen Mirren
"Don’t do it!"

Fondation Danielle Mitterand

Graham Norton

John O’Farrell

Nicholas Parsons

Philip Pullman

Esther Rantzen

Fay Ripley

Angus Robertson, SNP

Tony Robinson: “We can help make a difference. Please join us!”

Jon Ronson

Andrew Sachs

Susan Sarandon

Prunella Scales

Dr Bob Spink MP

Juliet Stevenson

Catherine Stihler MEP:
“We have to do everything we can to bring democracy to Burma.”

Tom Stoppard

Mark Thomas

Gary Titley MEP

Sandi Toksvig

Joanna Trollope

Minette Walters

Zoe Wanamaker

Sarah Waters

Timothy West

Vivienne Westwood:
“There is one thing everybody can do for us and our children and our planet: fight for human rights and justice before the law.”

Stuart Wheeler

Phillip Whitehead MEP:
“No one should give aid and comfort to a repressive regime which keeps democratically elected leaders under permanent arrest.”

Richard Wilson

Simon Woodroffe

Susanna York


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