Burma to keep Australian in jail.

The other week i made a post about the australian editor of the newspaper 'the myanmar times' being arrested for not having a valid visa, and to follow up on that it has bee revealed that he will not be granted bail between now and his trial on the 3rd of March.

This has caused outrage in south east asia, as many western investors who have been keen to get involved with Burma are now more wary of investing there. This comes shortly after Aung San Suu Kyi made a speech saying how western countries needed to get involved and invest in Burma, however, the countries less than friendly government has made that very hard. 

Myanmar sanctions.

Burma has had sanctions placed upon it since 1997 when they refused to let Aung San Suu Kyi out of house arrest, and now Suu Kyi and her disbanded party have spoken out about them, saying they 'affect only the leaders of the ruling regime and their close business associates, not the majority of the people'.


The UN sanctions on Burma include a trade embargo, and other sanctions from individual countries have made it impossible for western nations to invest and do business with Burma. While this is helpful in showing the lack of support for the military dictatorship, it does leave the field open for other countries, such as China and Thailand to trade with Burma, which is rich in natural resources, and therefore is not as effective as it could be if it were universal across all countries. Countries that have placed sanctions on Burma include the EU, who have banned all aid except for humanitarian assistance and the sale of military equipment and other trading items, the US, who have similar sanctions, (although they do allow the trade and sale of some items as Burma has lots of natural resources), Canada, and Japan. Both Australia and New Zealand have visa restrictions on military officals, but no other sanctions are in place, and the South East Asian group, ASEAN, have opposed the use of sanctions against Burma(who is also a member of ASEAN). 


I agree whole heartedly with Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD, as the people of Burma should not be punished for the mistakes and failures of their leadership, and i believe that this is the only way that the west can show their support for the NLD (which has been technically been forced to disband by the junta, but still continues to function unofficially) and their lack of support for the military regime. 

Opening up it's economic doors,

Aung San Suu Kyi has declared that she wants international companies to start investing in Burma, as the country has been 'left behind' after years of political strife. She addressed the World Economic Forum and said that these international economic ties will help bring Burma political stability, although while investing, foreign companies must put a premium on respect for the law, environmental and social factors, workers rights and many other things, or it will not help change the country for the good.

Suu Kyi seems to have also changed her mind on tourism in Burma. She has stated that while large package tours should be discouraged as they are run by the government and will only help increase the power of the military, people should be encouraged to come as individuals and see the country for themselves, not just as a news story or some facts on a page. Having been to Burma I agree completely with Aung San Suu Kyi, as Burma is not a country you can understand simply by reading about it, and by visiting and staying in privately owned hotels, you will greatly help the economic situation for the Burmese people, without putting money in the Junta's pockets.