If you haven’t heard, Myanmar, or the country common known as Burma, is on the verge of a revolution by the people or crack down by the military government. It is a serious issue that is finally gaining attention in the media…. probably because of a reported 100,000 people in Yangon, the capital city, coming out the protest a few days ago. If you want a sense of what is going on in the country at the moment, check out the YouTube video below by the Norwegian-based Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). It starts off with images and sounds of peaceful protests, but escalates into the military suppressing the demonstrations. People in the west take for granted the freedoms and liberties they have… yet if we find ourselves facing similar situations as the Burmese people have been for the past 50 years, what would we do? Are we brave and strong enough to risk our lives to fight for something we believe to be right?
They certainly are brave. I have been watching this unfold on TV and truly hope that something will come out of this. Western countries have imposed economic sanctions for a few years now, but does it actually help or hurt the average Burmese?
Economic sanctions are helpful but not really all that effective in removing the Junta from power. I think a lot more active pressure needs to be done by governments in developed countries (like Canada).
This pressure specifically should be on companies and people who invest in the country. The average Burmese will be able to cope with economic sanctions since they are already suffering so much. I think the military government needs to feel the pressure and that means governments need to do something about companies (i.e. Total, UNOCAL, Chevron) using forced Burmese labour for economic gains