Students rally to protest abuses in Burma
By Tatiana Botton
Exploited labor, human rights violations and deforestation are
some international abuses several UCLA student groups will be
protesting Saturday in Burbank.
As part of their "Day of Action" in honor of Earth Week, the
organizations will demonstrate from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. to oppose
the Burmese government and industries that invest there.
"People have been living in the (Burmese) forest for thousands
of years and big corporations log without regard for culture, human
life or the (lives) of other species. They are only concerned
(with) profit," said Victoria Lattanza, a volunteer for the
Rainforest Action Project.
This February, Thai and Burmese officials authorized the
construction of a gas pipeline between the two countries, operated
by UNOCAL in the U.S and TOTAL in France. The pipeline will cut
through the rainforest and will damage Burma’s ecological system,
organizers explained.
"It’s U.S corporations that we are talking about, and we are the
ones that are putting money in these corporations. It’s our money
that is going there to support slave labor," said Dawn Weisz, the
director of the UCLA Environmental Coalition.
The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), Burma’s
military government, exploits the labor of tens of thousands of
people to expand the roads that will facilitate the construction of
the pipeline, said organizers of the Rainforest Action Network.
Several thousand people living in the area who will be affected
include the ethnic groups Mon, Karen and Taboian. They will be
impacted by this project but have been totally ignored by the
government, explained David Wolfberg, head of the Rainforest Action
project.
"The Mon have been terribly impacted by the military regime of
the SLORC, and UNOCAL refuses to meet with their leader," Wolfberg
said.
Some of the Mon Buddhists monks had to leave for Thailand in
exile, he added, and they are now working with more than 10,000
refugees there. Now the Mon are involved in filing reports with
Amnesty International on human rights abuses against their own
people and are trying to promote a nonviolent democracy in
Burma.
Protest organizers stressed that there are several American
corporations in Burma.
"PepsiCo has a lot of subsidiaries such as Taco Bell, and when
we buy those products the money (goes) to those corporations and
PepsiCo is also involved in the pipeline," Weisz said.
She added that as a result of new awareness, several
multi-national corporations are leaving the country, including
Amoco.
Organizers said they hope people and students understand the
importance of the protest and the problems in Burma.
In addition to students from UCLA, other noncampus groups and
some Burmese students who have been exiled from their country
because of their political ideas will also be present at Saturday’s
protest.