mr president i have lost count of the number of times over the years in this house that we have debated the serious and worsening human rights situation in burma but if we are ever tempted to soften our rhetoric against the brutal military junta we only have to look around our own parliament to remember why we need to maintain and increase the pressure on the generals
i am referring of course to aung san suu kyi the opposition leader and nobel laureate whose picture is displayed prominently on parliament's premises in both brussels and strasbourg
she has consistently been denied a voice as have her supporters
so the least we can do is speak up for them from here and promise them our unswerving support in their mission to bring about permanent democratic change in burma
we have also raised the fate of the minority rohingyas who are once again bearing the brunt of a vicious campaign of discrimination and persecution by the army and many have had to flee to neighbouring bangladesh
the generals may simply ignore our pleas but that does not render them any less valuable because as democrats we have a solemn duty to denounce such savagery wherever we confront it in the world
