Burma Campaign UK labels political prisoner amnesties as propaganda strategy – Mizzima
On 21 April, Myanmar’s New Year, Burma Campaign UK will participate in Blue Shirt Day to support over 14,000 political prisoners in Myanmar, reports Mizzima.
The Burmese military have begun releasing political prisoners as part of a propaganda strategy following sham elections held in 2025 and 2026. However, thousands remain in jail, new arrests are being made, all repressive laws remain in place, and the military have made no commitment to free all political prisoners.
“The Burmese military’s theatrical releases of political prisoners should fool nobody,” said Minn Tent Bo, Advocacy and Communications Officer at BCUK. “Amnesties are designed to manipulate public opinion and buy international credibility, while the military continues to jail dissidents at will. Blue Shirt Day is a clear demonstration that people all over the world refuse to forget those suffering behind bars, and demand genuine justice, human rights and democratic freedoms for all in Burma.”
Burmese military rebrands, but never reforms – Burma Campaign UK
General Min Aung Hlaing, who ran the military regime in Burma yesterday, is running the military regime in Burma today, says BCUK’s new briefing paper analysing the outcome of December and January’s sham elections and the appointment of Min Aung Hlaing to the presidency.
It does not matter who happens to be head of the Burmese military at any given time, or what name they use for their proxy administration, it is the military as an institution which has ruled Burma for almost 60 years. They will always prioritise their own power and control and pursue their own racist Bamar Buddhist nationalist extremist vision of Burma.
The Burmese military will never reform. The only thing that changes are the forms of political system it uses to ensure its survival, and the tactics it uses to try to relieve pressure from the domestic population and international community.
Burma Campaign UK at NASUWT conference
Ban Yone and Amy Rosenberg from BCUK are at the NASUWT Teachers’ Union conference in Birmingham, raising awareness about the situation in Burma.
Since the 2021 coup teachers joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, peacefully striking against the brutal military takeover. Since then, hundreds have been imprisoned and thousands have had to flee to avoid arrest. The Burmese military has escalated attacks against civilians including attacking schools, with more than two hundred attacked in recent years.
Thank you for your support NASUWT International Solidarity.
Ban Yone and Amy Rosenberg at NASUWT conference in Birmingham.
The military cosplay democracy but people demand the real thing – the Guardian
“It appears likely that Min Aung Hlaing will swap his leadership of the army for the presidency. Whatever the details, the junta will still be running the show, and bombing civilians – just while cosplaying as democrats”, says the Guardian in its editorial about Burma’s sham elections.
Min Aung Hlaing has now been appointed president.
Minn Tent Bo speaks at Bristol fundraiser
Minn Tent Bo, Burma Campaign UK’s Advocacy and Communications Officer, spoke at this year’s Myanmar documentary film screening and Burmese food fundraiser in Bristol.
Minn spoke about how we can stand together in solidarity against the military, the impact of the UK visa ban on Burmese students, and what Burmese students in Bristol can do in collaboration with their student unions and peers from Afghanistan, Cameroon and Sudan, highlighting the importance of writing to your MP.
Thank you to the activists and Burmese families who have been organising this event since 2023.
The UK’s ban on student visas for Myanmar students is an insult to a nation in turmoil – the Diplomat
“The UK’s ban on student visas for Myanmar students is an insult to a nation in turmoil”, writes Minn Tent Bo, Burma Campaign UK’s Advocacy and Communications Officer, for the Diplomat.
“The decision contradicts the values that the U.K. claims to represent, to say nothing of its supposed support for democracy in Myanmar. The United Kingdom should reconsider this policy before it closes the door on a generation that has already lost so much and not let the gates of its universities become the latest casualty of Myanmar’s ongoing tragedy” says Minn Tent Bo.
Living in limbo: Myanmar hopeful scholars mourn UK study visa ban – TRT World
Myanmar, Afghanistan, Sudan and Cameroon citizens will be barred from obtaining UK university visas, reports Turkiye’s TRT World. The British government said asylum applications by visiting students had “rocketed” nearly 500 percent from 2021 to 2025.
Burma Campaign UK called the visa ban “exceptionally cruel and shortsighted”. Programme director Zoya Phan said “The opportunity to come to the UK to study is life-changing for the individual student but also an investment in the future of Myanmar.”
Junta grants amnesties to more than 7,300 political prisoners – the Diplomat
Myanmar’s military junta yesterday announced that it had granted an amnesty to more than 7,000 prisoners convicted of financing or sheltering “terrorists,” its designation for the various groups opposing its rule, reports the Diplomat.
Burma Campaign U.K. said that it was important for the outside world to recognize that the releases were “not a sign of change or reform.” Mark Farmaner, BCUK’s director, said “The Burmese military, fighting for their survival, are cynically using political prisoners as a propaganda tool; this is not a sign of reform. The Burmese military should not be praised for releasing people who should never have been detained in the first place.”
Burma Campaign UK calls for sanctions against Arakha Army – DVB
Burma Campaign UK is urging the British government to sanction the Arakan Army (AA) for carrying out international human rights violations against the people of Burma, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB). The AA has allegedly targeted regime soldiers and civilians, including the Rohingya, with summary executions, beheadings, torture, and sexual violence.
“Allowing the Arakha Army to continue to commit human rights abuses with impunity only encourages them to think they can get away with more abuses,” said Mark Farmaner, the director of Burma Campaign UK. BCUK called for international justice and accountability mechanisms to be used against the AA, and for the UK as the “penholder” on Burma to call for a UN Security Council meeting to address the crisis.
Myanmar coup 5 years on – Mark Farmaner interviewed by France 24
1 February will mark five years since the military re-took control in Myanmar in a coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military celebrated the anniversary by declaring a sweeping win for their political party in a general election, widely denounced as a sham. But according to Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, in an interview with France 24, the five years since the coup have gone “horrifically wrong” for the military junta, which has lost control of vast swathes of the country to armed rebel groups.
Mark Farmaner calls for support for the bottom-up democracy being built by local administrations in the border areas, and for the UK government to impose more targeted sanctions on the military, for which there is cross-party support.