Sir, - On behalf of Burma Action Ireland, I would like to express a very sincere thanks to the Lord Mayor, Cllr Mary Freehill, and the Dublin City Council for conferring the Freedom of the City on the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of Burma's National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi. A special thanks to the media, and particularly The Irish Times for its very comprehensive coverage of the event. She said that she hoped her being made a free woman of Dublin would lead to closer ties between Ireland and Burma as it struggles to free itself from military rule.
Since it was set up in May 1996, Burma Action Ireland has continued to raise awareness of the current oppressive situation in Burma and the repressiveness of the ruling military regime, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Burma has one of the worst human rights records in the world. On August 8th, 1988, the Burmese people joined peaceful demonstration across the country, demanding food and basic human rights. The military responded with brutal suppression, killing thousands of people and imprisoning others under very harsh laws. In 1990, the military was forced by international pressure to hold democratic elections. The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won a overwhelming majority, taking 82 per cent of the total seats. Shocked by this election result, the military junta imprisoned newly elected MPs and forced others to flee the country. Aung San Suu Kyi, a truly remarkable and courageous woman continues to be the icon of hope for the Burmese people.
With the awarding of the Freedom of the City of Dublin to Aung San Suu Kyi, her plea to the world not to forget Burma has not gone unheeded. It is therefore important that Ireland, as part of the international community, continues to be a voice for a return to democracy in Burma. I therefore urge people to write to our Minister for Foreign Affairs, requesting him at the highest level of the United Nations, to press for a total ban on arms, foreign trade and investment in Burma. Sanctions against the current military junta are important.
Aung San Suu Kyi has also said that education of Burmese in exile is crucial. Burma Action Ireland has launched The Michael Aris Scholarship fund to sponsor Burmese students living in exile in Thailand and India to complete their undergraduate with a view to returning to a free democratic Burma with the necessary skills, when the time comes. Readers are most welcome to contribute to this fund. - Yours, etc.,
Pat Raleigh SSC, Chairperson, Burma Action Ireland, St Columban's, Dalgan Park, Navan, Co Meath.