Global protests call for UN Security Council action on Burma/Myanmar
Tens of thousands of campaigners are expected to take to the streets of capital cities around the world tomorrow (Saturday), to call for urgent UN action on Burma/Myanmar.
The campaigners are standing in for the monks under arrest and those who would be shot if they tried to protest in Burma/Myanmar.
“Our friends and families in Burma cannot take to the streets so today we will do it for them. We may be far away but that does not mean we are powerless - we must speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves and keep the world’s attention focussed on their plight,” said Myo Thien, a Burmese refugee who fled the country in 2003.
Protests will start at 12 in dozens of countries around the world and on five continents (for a list of events and contact details please see editor’s notes).
The international day - supported by the Burma Campaign, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Trade Union Congress, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Avaaz, the US Campaign for Burma and hundreds of other groups - is calling for UN Security Council action to address the crisis.
Campaigners are also urging the international community to do more to keep the pressure on the Burmese/Myanmar government until the military crackdown ends and all political prisoners are released.
“Because the media pictures have gone and we can’t see what’s happening does not mean the crisis has ended, far from it. Now is the time we need to draw attention to what’s happening behind closed doors or atrocities will increase. Today we’re saying we haven’t forgotten you, we are watching,” said a spokesperson for the campaign.
Around the world campaigners will wear red headbands in solidarity with the monks under arrest and tie these onto government buildings, religious shrines or key landmarks to signify the thousands of lives currently hanging in the balance.