From Myanmar, an appeal from a small part of the population that survives on the basis of the flow of tourists, who are accused of financing the military regime. An online petition asks Lonely Planet to withdraw its guide on Burma.

Yangon (AsiaNews) - The people in Myanmar are asking tourists to start visiting their country again, so that they continue to count "at least on the crumbs of the revenue from this sector".  After the launching of the online petition by TUC, for the withdrawal of the "unethical" Lonely Planet guide on Myanmar, AsiaNews has received an appeal from some citizens who are feeling the pinch from the steep drop in tourism.

For years, human rights groups and even the democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi have been asking for a boycott of the sector until democracy is put in place. 99% of the revenue from the tourism industry goes into the coffers of the military junta, which controls every sector of the Burmese society and economy. 40% of the investment of public money goes to strengthening the army and buying weapons.  Tourists have to lodge in hotels and resorts that were often built after the "deportation" of entire villages, and the exploitation of forced labour.  Many hotels are the property of the drug lords, who use them for money laundering.

Last week, the Trades Union Congress, the largest labour group in Great Britain, together with Tourism Concern, Campaign UK, and New Internationalist asked for the withdrawal from the market of the volume on Burma by the famous guidebook publisher. "Vacations in Myanmar and are among the least ethical trips one can make, because of the brutality of the current regime", explains Chris Braizer of the New Internationalist . Lonely Planet, however, has no intention of giving in to the requests, and defends itself by explaining that the volume contains a series of pros and cons is to be considered "carefully" before deciding to buy a ticket for Myanmar, and that the decision is up to the individual tourist.

The Burmese who benefit from tourism are a small percentage of the 48 million inhabitants of the country.  But this segment of the population is suffering greatly.  "They are crumbs", these people recount from Yangon, "but they are vital for our survival".  Most of them are small shop owners and rickshaw and taxi drivers, who base their subsistence and that of their families on the money brought in by foreigners.

Some critics of the initiative are asking why the promoters of the petition against Lonely Planet Myanmar do not do the same for the volumes by the same publisher on countries like China or Saudi Arabia, among the greatest violators of human rights.

• Myanmar
• Burma
• tourism
• boycott
• Lonely
• Planet
• travel
• guide