Citing alleged forced labor, organizations protest tour

Friday, February 5, 1999

Citing alleged forced labor, organizations protest tour

CAMPAIGN: Asia Society criticized for sponsoring ‘political’
trip to Burma

By Cathy Collins

Daily Bruin Contributor

Members of the UCLA Environmental Coalition and the Burma Forum
have launched a protest about a Burma tour sponsored by the Asia
Society, a national organization that promotes education on issues
in Asia.

The Environmental Coalition and the Burma Forum cite allegations
of forced labor in Burma’s tourism industry as a reason to cancel
the trip.

"We are deeply concerned that the Asia Society would undertake a
highly political trip like this," said Burma Forum Director Pye
Nyein in a press release. "The tour promises ‘privileged access,’
and that access is bought at the price of a propaganda victory for
the illegitimate Burmese junta."

The Burma Forum is a Los Angeles-based political advocacy group
seeking democratic reforms in Burma.

About 10 people from the groups distributed leaflets outside an
unrelated Asia Society event last week in Kerckhoff Hall, according
to Kevin Rudiger, an Environmental Coalition and Burma Forum
member.

Gary Larson, the Asia Society’s regional director, met with four
members of the Burma Forum on Tuesday. Carol Richards, co-founder
of the Burma Forum, said that Larson listened to their concerns but
said that cancelling the trip was beyond his control, as it was
planned by the national office in New York.

He added that he would be happy to transmit their concerns back
to New York, but that he was skeptical about the cancellation of
the trip.

"The difference, I think, is that the Burma Forum is a political
advocacy group with its particular view," Larson said. "Asia
Society, as an educational society, tries not to have a view."

He added that the tour would allow members of the Asia Society
to become educated about issues in Burma at a hands-on level.

Richards said this viewpoint ignores the political implications
of the tour.

"Although he said that the Asia Society is a public education
group and that they do not have a point of view, we pointed out
that their decision to go forward puts them directly in a political
forum," Richards said.

The Burma Forum believes that tourism indirectly supports a
military regime in Burma that allegedly engages in drug trafficking
and forced labor.

Burma’s military government began a tourism campaign two years
ago, which Richards said has been largely thwarted by supporters of
democracy in Burma.

Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel
Peace Prize, asked for a boycott of tourism until genuine progress
toward democracy is made, according to a press release from the
Burma Forum.

Richards said many groups have followed this call in boycotting
Burma. She noted that the UCLA Alumni Association cancelled
sponsorship of a tour of Burma after protests by the Burma Forum
and the Burmese community.

"The Asia Society appears to be willing to turn a blind eye to
the atrocities in Burma," Richards said.

The tour, to be led by Asia Society President Nicholas Platt,
will run from Feb. 27 through March 7. It is limited to members of
the society and their guests, according to a brochure about the
event.

Richards said the tour contradicts the Asia Society’s usual
moderation in dealing with controversial issues.

"In general, when the Asia Society invites people to speak, it
is careful to invite someone from both sides," Richards said. "What
they do in terms of free speech does not seem to apply in terms of
politics and business."

Richards added that though nothing specific has been planned,
the Burma Forum and the Environmental Coalition will continue to
protest the tour.

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