I am writing because I want to tell you about my recent trip to Kachin
State, in Northern Burma, and to ask you to make a donation to help
thousands of children who have been forced to flee their villages, and are
now living in temporary camps without proper food, shelter and clothing.
You can see a report on their plight on the BBC Newsnight programme here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
You can make a donation to help them on our website at:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.
The Burmese government bans foreigners from this area, so I had to sneak
into the country illegally via China.
What I found there was tens of thousands of people living in temporary
overcrowded camps, all of whom had fled their villages in recent months
because of attacks by the Burmese Army. It was such a shocking contrast to
the more positive news we have been hearing from Rangoon.
Almost every child I saw was suffering from a cold, many had skin diseases,
scabies and measles was spreading. They didn¹t have clean water, and many
had diarrhoea as well. One camp I visited had two thousand people, and just
seven toilets.
I met mothers who cried as they talked about not being able to feed their
children properly, how they could no longer go to school, and how everything
they had back in their village was stolen or destroyed by Burmese Army
soldiers.
The Burmese government has been blocking aid to these internal refugees, and
most help has been coming from local people and charities who are struggling
to cope. I saw first-hand what an incredible job they are doing, they are
saving lives every day. But they don¹t have enough money to pay for rice,
shelter and medicines. With the rainy season coming soon, the situation will
become even more desperate.
Everywhere I went people asked for help. Now I am passing on their request
to you, will you help by making a donation? We know the local community
groups on the ground and can make sure your money reaches them fast, saving
lives.
Please make a donation online today, you can donate from anywhere in the
world:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.
Thank you.
Mark Farmaner
Burma Campaign UK
