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What Burma wants from the world

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sat Nov 3, 2007 2:07 AM EDT
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The BBC News website's Kate McGeown has just returned from visiting Burma. Here she assesses what the Burmese people want from the international community.

Unsurprisingly, the main thing most Burmese people want is an improvement in their standard of living.

As a result, many Burmese are sceptical of sanctions, saying they have already made the country poor and will
only make the situation worse if they are tightened further.

"Sanctions don't work - they're not the solution," one elderly man said to me in a Rangoon teashop, as we discussed Burma's future.

Walking around the city, watching the Japanese and Chinese cars go by, and looking at the plethora of Chinese and Indian goods on sale, it is easy to see how he has drawn this conclusion.

The US and EU sanctions that are already in place have undoubtedly affected Burma's overall economy, but they do not seem to have done much harm to the rich military generals, who are busy making deals with the rest of Asia.

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{"commentId":1153223,"authorDomain":"DrKnow"}
Dr Know
"The international community did nothing to stop a three-day killing spree... That was when I realised we were on our own."
Rangoon resident

So far the knee jerk reaction has been to impose sanctions...

{"commentId":1153223,"threadId":"170869","contentId":"1070055","authorDomain":"DrKnow"}
    Reply#1 - Sat Nov 3, 2007 2:09 AM EDT
    {"commentId":1153226,"authorDomain":"DrKnow"}
    Dr Know

    Many of those who telephoned the UN during the crackdown asked why no-one was sending a peacekeeping force.

    I was faced with a similar question when I was in Burma last year. "Why have the US and the UK invaded Iraq, and not done the same here?" one man asked me at the time.

    {"commentId":1153226,"threadId":"170869","contentId":"1070055","authorDomain":"DrKnow"}
      Reply#2 - Sat Nov 3, 2007 2:14 AM EDT
      {"commentId":1153262,"authorDomain":"Navigator"}
      Navigator

      I was faced with a similar question when I was in Burma last year. "Why have the US and the UK invaded Iraq, and not done the same here?" one man asked me at the time.

      Bluntly speaking it is the Iran, Iraq, Turkey and PKK season all over th globe, thats why no one is looked at Burma, it was a news which came and went like many other happenings around the world.

      Why have the US and the UK invaded Iraq

      That whole region is full of oil,just full of oil......

      {"commentId":1153262,"threadId":"170869","contentId":"1070055","authorDomain":"Navigator"}
        Reply#3 - Sat Nov 3, 2007 2:58 AM EDT
        {"commentId":1153340,"authorDomain":"thura"}
        Thura

        Thanks for the seed.

        The problem cannot or will not be solved by the International Community, yes they can impose sanctions, put pressure, however the solution will have to come from within the country. Sadly things are too single sided there for anything approaching fair to be accomplished.

        {"commentId":1153340,"threadId":"170869","contentId":"1070055","authorDomain":"thura"}
          Reply#4 - Sat Nov 3, 2007 6:41 AM EDT
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