Responsible tourism in Burma

Many countries suffer under oppressive regimes and military dictatorships, yet Myanmar is the only country that we at Responsible Travel have ever boycotted. There were two reasons for this. First, it's the only country in which the democratically elected leader, who was subsequently placed under house arrest, has requested an international tourism boycott. And we believed her wishes should be respected. And second, much of the tourist infrastructure was owned by the military Junta, meaning there was no way to ensure that traveling to Myanmar would put money into local people's hands. This has since changed.

In 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was finally released. The following year, her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), stated that they "would welcome visitors who are keen to promote the welfare of the common people and the conservation of the environment and to acquire an insight into the cultural, political and social life of the country." Since then, Responsible Travel has worked with travel companies who we believe are operating in an ethical way, showing high levels of respect for Myanmar's people, culture and environment.

However, this is far from the end of the story. Myanmar still has a non-democratically elected government, and corruption and human right abuses continue. Since 2017, the persecution of the Rohingya – an Islamic people who live in western Myanmar - has made headlines around the world, with many describing the brutal massacres as genocide.

We always encourage tourists to conduct their visit in a sensitive and informed way at every step of their vacation, but this is particularly crucial in Myanmar. From sourcing an ethical operator to avoiding government hotels and behaving responsibly in the country, we’ve shared our main responsible tourism tips below.

Read more about the political issues and how to get involved in campaigns at Burma Campaign UK.

At the start of 2017, over a million Rohingya people lived along Myanmar’s western edge, mainly in the state of Rakhine. There have long been tensions between Myanmar’s predominantly Buddhist population and the Islamic Rohingya, who speak a language related to those spoken in Bangladesh. Despite having been here for many generations, the Rohingya are still considered by many Burmese to be “immigrants”, and the government denies them citizenship, making them a stateless people.

Over the years, there have been sporadic attacks by Rohingya militants on police officers and Buddhist monks. As tensions boiled over, in August 2017, the militants attacked government forces, and the response was a “clearance operation” by government security forces and Buddhist militia. Prior to August 2017, over 307,000 Rohingya had fled to temporary settlements or ill-equipped refugee camps along the border. Since then, as of January 2018, an additional 655,000 Rohingya have become refugees, according to UNHCR, bringing the total to almost one million. The government attacks have been described as ethnic cleansing and even genocide, and they are utterly shocking in their brutality. Far from targeting insurgents, the militia have slaughtered women, children and babies, and have razed remote villages and urban centers; Human Rights Watch reported that at least 288 villages have been destroyed by fire, with many thousands killed. International aid agencies have been blocked from delivering essential supplies to many communities in conflict zones, with the Myanmar government accusing them of supporting terrorists.

For many people reading about this violence, one of the most shocking aspects has been the lack of response from Myanmar’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The Nobel Peace Laureate was democratically elected and viewed with incredible hope for a freer, more peaceful Myanmar. However, she has repeatedly rebuffed requests to intervene and support the Rohingya. Suu Kyi does not have control over the military, but her refusal to condemn their actions throws into doubt her commitment to human rights – something she has long been praised for. At present, she has not even acknowledged the ethnic cleansing that is taking place within her country’s borders – and has described the violence as a means of dealing with terrorists.

 

Many are calling for a second tourism boycott of Myanmar, but at Responsible Travel, we do not believe that this will have the desired impact at all. Given the recent tourism boom, there are now many Burmese people working in tourism, and withdrawing now would harm these local businesses. Rather than impacting the government, jobs and livelihoods would be lost, and it's the citizens - the vast majority of whom have absolutely nothing to do with the crisis in Rakhine - who would suffer. This is a political crisis, and it needs a political solution; a tourism boycott will not make any difference to the corrupt leadership.

- Updated 2 February 2018