There was encouraging news yesterday, with 200 political prisoners released in Burma. British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: “I welcome the news that a number of political prisoners have been released. … We look forward to the hopes for genuine change coming to fruition, and to seeing news of further releases and progress on other important issues”. And my colleague Andy Heyn, Ambassador in Rangoon, met the heroic Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to discuss this recent development.
The British Embassy in Budapest is very active in promoting human rights, a key British foreign policy priority. One of many ways in which we do that is to seek to increase awareness about the danger that can result from the lack of human rights. This is why we have organised successful and well-attended movie events on Burma in the past. So it was particularly encouraging to hear that Zarganar, the famous Burmese comedian and opposition activist was among those released – because we screened the British-made film “This Prison where I Live” documentary which features him just a few months ago.
Thousands of political prisoners remain behind bars in Burma. So let us hope that this is just the beginning of much needed change and not a one-off gesture.