NSU seeks boycott of Burma

– Kilroy depicts Burma as an exotic vacation paradise, something which

gives an extremely distorted view of the actual situation in the country.

Burma is a place of pervasive human rights abuse, including systematic rape

of women and girls. The country has no democratic values, says executive for

international affairs at the Student Parliament, Robin Sande.

Now, Sande has joined forces with Caroline Khoury, soon to be executive for

international affairs at the National Union of Students in Norway (NSU).

Together they have drawn up a resolution to boycott Burma. They both believe

that the boycott will hurt the military regime financially, and that it will

raise awareness of the suffering of the Burmese people. They take a strong

stance against Kilroy's latest travel brochure, in which Kilroy is

advertising for backpacking trips to Burma.

– We think that what Kilroy is doing is wrong. They are giving Norwegian

youth and students a distorted view of the situation, Sande stresses.

He calls to mind Charm Tong's recent visit to Norway to collect the Student

Peace Prize, an award she won for her contribution in the struggle for peace

and human rights in Burma.

– Charm Tong especially urged a boycott of Burmese goods and tourism. She

specifically said that the tourist industry is the main source of income to

the military regime, Sande says.

Does not want to boycott

Our aim is not to describe the political situation in Burma, states Rune Feltman, managing director of Kilroy Travel Norway. He respects NSU's stand, but does not share their belief that a boycott can make a difference in Burma. Feltman claims that the situation in Burma is well known, and points to the value of going there to see the situation first hand.

– We believe that a boycott is the wrong way of going about it. If a

country is isolated, no one can tell what is actually going on. We are only following the recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign affairs. Human rights abuse takes place all over the world and a boycott is not necessarily the best solution, Feltman adds.

No effect

Professor of Political Science, Jon Hovi, has studied how boycotts and

sanctions work, and he doubts that the proposed boycott by the NSU will have

an effect. He believes that the boycott must take a stronger stance and that

it must involve more companies if it is to have an impact.

– It is not very likely that this will make a difference when it comes to

the military regime in Burma, and so the boycott rather becomes a symbolic

action, a way of showing solidarity. The question is whether or not the NSU

is doing the right thing by proposing a boycott that has no effect.