PM STATEMENT ON BURMA
Today is above all about repeating a firm message: the world has not forgotten - and will not forget - the people of Burma.
We have not forgotten their courage and dignity, taking to the streets in the face of a brutal regime. We have not forgotten the guns and batons, the arrests and murders, which met them.
We believe that there have been many more killings than the regime admit. And appalling attacks on monks like that on the night of 25 September at the Ngwekayan monastery in Rangoon, when at least 80 monks were arrested. Or the five raids in Kachin State alone, where the authorities abducted 295 monks.
And we have very grave concerns about hundreds, possibly thousands, of monks, nuns and others who have simply disappeared. There is strong evidence to suggest that hundreds are now held in three or more detention facilities in the Rangoon area - these include the Institute of Technology, the Mingladon detention facility and the old race course. I have asked my officials to continue monitoring this situation, and I encourage NGOs and other governments to do so too. The demonstrators who have made sacrifices, and the brave citizens and journalists who have risked so much to get images and information to the outside world, deserve no less. I have also sent material we have received to the UN Secretary General - it is important that he sees the scale of the violence.
The job of all those demonstrating today - campaigners, the media, politicians, members of the public - is to keep up the pressure for change.
For my part I am committed to:
- Securing tougher EU sanctions, including a ban on future investment, on top of the sanctions against individuals and their assets and measures aimed at specific commodities.
- supporting Secretary General Ban as he redoubles his personal effort - with his envoy Professor Gambari - towards a process of reconciliation and democracy. That process must have Aung San Suu Kyi playing a central role. It will have to include the leaders from opposition and minority groups. And it will need to have international legitimacy. If this process of change begins we stand ready - as the international community - to support the recovery of Burma.
- maintaining the UN Security Council's active vigilance and engagement.
- continuing to use my contacts with leaders in the region to encourage them to play their part with the Burmese leadership.
I salute and share the commitment of those who will send such a powerful message of support to the people of Burma today - and of condemnation to the regime that seeks to stifle those same Burmese voices.