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Socialist Resistance : SR48 - October 2007
InternationalBurma – oil interests come before democracy
On September 22, as thousands were protesting across Burma, Indian Oil Minister Murli Deora was in the country’s capital Rangoon for the signing of oil and gas exploration contracts between state-controlled ONGC Videsh Ltd and Burma’s military rulers. Certainly it is the quest for oil and gas which has meant that China– ever more hungry for that commodity – has blocked stronger sanctions against the regime. This has lead for calls from some Burmese activists for a boycott of the Olympics China and Russia’s role has been highlighted in Britain– while India’s role has been ignored because it is not so convenient. China is Burma’s largest trading partner but France, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand are also involved. Solidarity action in support of the Burmese people’s struggle is not surprisingly particularly strong in South East Asia – including from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, while the Israeli foreign ministry calls on the regime to exercise restraint and denies selling it military equipment, information to the contrary is surfacing showing the close links between the two countries stretching back as far as the 1988 coup in Burma. British trade unions have supported Amnesty’s calls for protests – but not done much to publicise the work of the International Transport Workers Federation – which has a ten-year long history of work in solidarity with Burmese seafarers, who work in completely appalling conditions and don’t get paid for long periods of time. The Seafarer’s union of Burma, like other Burmese unions, is illegal and works in exile. When Burmese ships put in to foreign ports, the workers have been able to link up with other trade unionists and through their solidarity have been successful in getting paid – but when they return home they are sacked and often jailed. The Seafarer’s union of Burma is fully supporting the current “people’s demonstrations ” and their fight for “democracy, freedom and peace”. Workers across the world have an interest in seeing an end to this brutal anti-working class regime. For further information see: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/ http://www.mizzima.com/Mizzi maNews/ http://www.burmanet.org/news
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Veronica Fagan