No Place To Go: Internally Displaced People In Burma by Sam Gregory, Witness 12:26pm 25th Jul, 2003   July 24, 2003    WITNESS and BURMA ISSUES Rights Alert Online Video: "No Place to Go: Internally Displaced People in Burma"    Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, which has been hailed as the toughest international action to date to support the struggle for democracy and human rights in Burma.    The bill bans all imports from Burma, and travel to the U.S. by members of the regime, and binds the U.S. to vote against loans to the Burmese government from the World Bank and other international financial institutions. Around the world activists and governments are now preparing to take further action in response to the Burmese regime's recent crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize winner,Aung San Suu Kyi.    The time is now to keep the pressure for change going. We encourage you to take action on behalf of over one million people in Burma forced to flee their homes by the military junta's repression, and now living as 'refugees' within their own country. Please watch the new WITNESS Rights Alert Video Online at www.witness.org and follow the links to Act Now. Tell a friend or colleague about this situation, and how they can act.    In "No Place to Go," from WITNESS partner BURMA ISSUES, ethnic Karen villagers from Burma speak out about their first-hand experiences of repression by the Burmese government and military. Their villages have been destroyed; they face arbitrary executions and forced labor, and they have been forcibly relocated or displaced by the Burmese military. One villager recounts, "The SPDC troops (Burmese government military) started to come in our area. This time our villagers got really hurt. People were raped, people were killed and the soldiers took their belongings. And their rice stores were burned." Another is asked how many times he has had to escape into the jungle in the previous year. He responded, "I can't even count. We escaped so many times."    ACT NOW: Watch the video at www.witness.org to learn more about Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Burma, and find out what you can do: Support activist groups campaigning for change in Burma; Boycott companies with investments in Burma; Donate to groups working with IDPs in Burma.    "No Place to Go" is a production of long-time WITNESS partner BURMA ISSUES, a non-profit organization devoted to a peaceful resolution to Burma's struggle for human rights and freedom. Based in Thailand and founded in    1990, BURMA ISSUES works directly with oppressed and marginalized communities, focusing specifically on grassroots education, organizing and community building. To learn more about their work, visit their Web site www.burmaissues.org. Visit the related web page
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