Nine Ways British Aid Can Help The People Of Burma

The British government is spending more than £60m a year on aid to Burma, but not all that aid is reaching the people who need it, and a lot is going on programmes which help the military-backed government. Here are nine ways to make improvements.

1. Back the people, not the generals!

Reforms in Burma have provided more space and new opportunities for promoting human rights and democracy in Burma, but by being overly enthusiastic in endorsing and working with the government of Burma, and overly cautious and neglecting to provide adequate and properly targeted assistance for grass roots civil society advocates, the British government is in danger of backing the wrong horse. Britain should adopt a more people centred programme in Burma, rather than one centred on helping the government.

2. Don't be suckered by Thein Sein

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By taking at face value promises made by the Burmese government, and giving such strong support to President Thein Sein, there is a risk that the British government will help build the institutions of an authoritarian regime, rather than help promote human rights and genuine democracy in Burma.

3. Civil society will bring change, not the military backed government

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The British government should be using the new political space to help build a strong civil society which is able to engage with the institutions of the state and the people of Burma to apply pressure for legal and constitutional reforms which improve human rights and make Burma democratic. Help the people hold their government to account, rather than making the government stronger.

4. Restrictions on aid break international law, stop accepting this!

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Hundreds of ethnic Rohingya have died of preventable illnesses since Thein Sein kicked aid agencies providing healthcare out of Rakhine State. In Kachin State aid restrictions to people internally displaced by attacks by the Burmese Army violate international law. DFID does not use its role as a leading donor to sufficiently pressure the government of Burma to lift these restrictions.

5. Be willing to fund organisations which expose human rights abuses

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DFID and the Foreign Office are reluctant to fund the work of civil society organisations whose work relates to documenting human rights, public advocacy on human rights, and which are publicly critical of the government. They should start funding more civil society organisations which are openly challenging human rights abuses in Burma.

6. Don't starve refugees back to Burma when it isn't safe for them to return

Refugees in Thailand are facing ration cuts which they describe as being 'starved back to Burma' even though it is not yet safe for them to return. DFID should base its grants to refugees on their needs, including basic needs such as food and shelter. This means a big increase in aid to refugees to reverse cuts made by other donors pulling out.

7. Help the Rohingya in Bangladesh

Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are living in appalling squalid conditions, DFID should start providing assistance to them, and the Foreign Office should mobilise international pressure on Bangladesh to lift restrictions on aid.

8. Support survivors of rape by the Burmese Army

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The British government provides no specific and direct funding to women's organisations which help women who are victims of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army. Civil society in conflict zones tell us that projects which the British government claims support survivors of sexual violence do not reach survivors of rape and sexual violence by the Burmese Army. This must change!

9. Persuade the Burmese government to spend money on services, not guns

The Burmese government spends far more on arms than on health and education, and is spending billions modernising the military. It is about to spend another $20m on new fighter jets, roughly the same amount of British aid that is being spent helping to modernise Burmese government systems. The British government and others should not spend aid helping the government of Burma while it uses its money to buy weapons instead on on schools and medical centres.