Reviewed by Evelyn Henderson

Burmese students hold pro-democracy rally in Ottawa on January 4, Burma's Independence Day. Photo: Margaret Jensen.

The Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB) have researched and written a powerful report on Burma. It exposes the brutal rule of SLORC -- the State Law and Order Restoration Council. SLORC has been called "one of the most morally corrupt regimes of our century."

The report details how foreign companies doing business with Burma are financing SLORC's army, which has almost doubled in size since the SLORC seized power in 1988. The army is used to make war on its own citizens. It killed thousands of pro-democracy Burmese and forcibly relocated ethnic minorities as it took power. It still has thousands in forced labour on roads and railways. It even uses people as human minesweepers.

SLORC's rule depends on the narcotics trade, garment exports, illicit transborder sale of teak lumber, and foreign purchasers of oil and mining rights. In 1995 Burma exported $120 million worth of garments, mainly to North America and western European markets. Workers in the garment factories work 60-hour, 6-day weeks and earn about $20-25 a month -- about 8 cents Canadian an hour. Any who dare to strike or even protest are met with threats to their lives.

In the face of all this, CFOB hopes that the information in its report will motivate foreign investors and buyers to support the people of Burma by pulling out.

Several companies have left Burma, including: Levi Strauss, Liz Claiborne, Eddie Bauer, Reebok, OshKosh B'Gosh, London Fog, Macy's, Columbia Sportswear (Oregon), and only this January, Pepsi-Co. Many of these companies pulled out because of consumer pressure.

We as buyers can close our wallets to Canadian firms that use Burma as a source for their goods. Look for items labelled Made in Myanmar, the new name SLORC is now using for Burma. Refuse to buy these items and let the store management know why. Canada and the U.S. require a country-of-origin tag on imported clothes. This helps identify sources, although there is still no guarantee against false labelling. Stores still buying from Myanmar include Sears, Tip Top Tailors, Zellers, Reitmans, Hudson's Bay Company and Cluett Peabody (Arrow brand shirts).

In Canada, we are left to wonder what the policy of our own government is. In an address to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy made no mention of pledged action or substantive policy regarding human rights abuses. His speech amounted only to expressing a desire that others will do the right thing. He neither banned nor encouraged trade and investment with Burma. Compared to the highly public stance of the U.S. on rules of trade, Canada is very low key. All the while, massive TEAM CANADA trade missions go to huge lengths to promote opportunities in Asia, and play down systemic human rights violations. And so it falls to consumers to take positive action, by boycotting companies that do business in Burma.

A useful listing appears near the end of the CFOB report. Titled "The Famous Burma Network," it gives contacts worldwide on the Internet. At the end of the listing, CFOB mentions their own quarterly newsletter, "Burma Links." We can subscribe to become better informed and join the battle against oppression.

Following the appeals of Burma's democracy movement, Canadian Friends of Burma is calling for the Canadian government to impose federal sanctions on Burma. Please write to your Member of Parliament. Express your concern about the increase in clothes coming from Burma into Canada and about the joint ventures numerous Canadian mining firms are making with SLORC. Sanctions are needed to stop the flow of corporate dollars to SLORC which are allowing this regime to maintain an army of 400,000 and further oppress its own people.

Converted February 14, 2000 - Lg