"Please use your liberty to promote ours"

- Aung San Suu Kyi

Get involved with the OBA

Become a member
The OBA is a new organisation - founded in October 2011 - and we can use all the help we can get! While we had a great response in Michaelmas Term, with lots of people joining the group, we need more members to help out with projects and campaigns. Commit to whatever degree of participation you are comfortable with: feel free to simply sign up to our mailing list of upcoming events. Everyone is welcome to get involved with any or all of our campaigns and projects! Get in contact with us today for more information about meetings and how to join!

Become a project/campaign coordinator
As a new organisation, the OBA is searching for people to fill leadership positions and take over responsibility for overseeing some of its projects and campaigns. If you'd be interested in taking on an important role within the OBA, please contact us today!

Become an email friend
The OBA runs an 'email friend' project, which connects Oxford students to Burmese students working as activists along the Thai-Burma border so that they can exchange information, ideas and experiences through email. If you'd be interested in becoming an email friend, or would like more information, please email us with the subject line: Attn: Agnieszka (Email Friend).

Come to events
See our homepage for a list of upcoming events!

Volunteer
With many of our members having volunteered in the past, the OBA understands the importance of volunteering for the movement for democracy and development in Burma. We work with a number of groups through which Oxford students can volunteer along the Thai-Burma border, and we have relationships with various organisations offering unique international internship opportunities. Click here for more information!

Donate
The OBA raises money for a number of charitable organisations working for peace, democracy and development in Burma. With your generosity, the OBA helps fund such initiatives as providing scholarships to Burmese students and supporting political prisoners and their families. Please donate today!

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Responsible Consumerism and Ethical Tourism in Burma

                   Responsible Consumerism
The Burmese Army continues to carry out violent attacks on civilians and engage in armed conflicts with rebel militias in Burma's ethnic minority regions in an attempt to secure access to natural resources. Companies investing in and trading with Burma often help fuel and fund these human rights abuses, both directly and indirectly. It is important for the consumers of these companies' products to make it clear that they will not support such corporate behaviour. Find out more about being a responsible consumer.

                            Ethical Tourism
Tourism and travel also act as investment in Burma. Back in December 2002, Aung San Suu Kyi stated: "We have not yet come to the point where we encourage people to come to Burma as tourists." However, Daw Suu and the NLD have recently ended their boycott of independent and individual tourism in Burma (as opposed to package tours), saying: “We want people to come to Burma, not to help the junta, but to help the people by understanding the situation: political, economic, moral – everything.” If you are considering traveling to Burma, it is important to understand that at least some of your money will inevitably end up in the government's hands, but there are steps you can take to minimise how much of it benefits the government, and to maximise the positive contributions you can make to the Burmese people. Read more about ethical tourism in Burma. _

Participate in other campaigns for Burma

There are lots of campaigns to promote freedom and democracy in Burma, but they can only be successful if they have your support! Below are some campaigns run by other Burma organisations that need your help:
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            BRITISH POLICY

Burma Campaign UK:
Please email Prime Minister David Cameron calling on him to admit reforms in Burma have stalled, and return to a policy of prioritising human rights.

*Email David Cameron direct.

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         POLITICAL PRISONERS

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP): Show the Government of Burma that you stand in solidarity with the political prisoners and demand lasting reform by participating in our 2015 Palm Campaign.

Burma Campaign UK: Take action to free Aung Soe!

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     CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Burma Campaign Australia: Take Action against Australian companies helping fund human rights abuses in Burma.

US Campaign for Burma: Demand the UN Pressure the Burmese Government to End Human Rights Abuses.

Burma Campaign UK: Stop rape in Burma. Email Philip Hammond MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and urge him to take action to stop rape and sexual violence in Burma.