Simon Chapman: The best moment of the conference

I don’t mean the funniest, the most sliver-tongued oratory, the most effectively staged, or any of the other things we might sometimes mean by “best”. I mean it in the old-fashioned Buchan-esque sense of good and virtue; this was the “best” in that it was the moment that the party can be most proud of.

It came in the Foreign Affairs debate on Tuesday afternoon, when Zoya Phan spoke to the conference. She is in her early 20s. Her homeland is Burma, and she is of the Karen people. She told us of the day in 1995 when as a girl of 13 she awoke to find her village under attack by the Burmese army. She saw her friends and neighbours shot and her village demolished. She and her family fled into the jungle to hide and then survive.

That very day, she told us, a British business delegation flew into Rangoon to sign trade agreements with the same Burmese government that had done this to her and her people. There have been many other similar deals since then. The British government has done nothing to prevent British companies from helping to sustain a regime bent on genocide of the Karen. When, she asked, will the British government intervene and impose trade sanctions on the Burmese government? When will the international community take notice and the action? How many more of her people need to die? The Burmese government is continuing its attacks aimed to achieve the extermination of the Karen, and governments and some of our major NGOs are conspicuous by their failure to act effectively.

Zoya’s message was straightforward: the promotion of human rights and commitment to democracy is not about cultural imperialism; it is about her right, and the right of the Karen people and all those who face similar persecution to live in freedom without the risk of waking up one morning to see their families massacred and their homes destroyed.

There is immense power in the courage of Zoya Phan and the simplicity with which she lays claim to the same freedoms that we in the West are too often too jaded to value. Rightly she received a standing ovation. And next? The very least we can do is to support her in her campaign and demand immediate action from our own government.

Many other important speeches will be given this week. But this one will not be surpassed. I hope the Party will post a transcript of what she said on its website.

Comments

[Steve]

Thanks for writing this, Simon. This is an important issue, and we all need to look at what regimes we help prop up.

[hf]

Certainly the most moving moment.

[Zoya]

Many thanks for taking up Burma issue. We are looking forward for your help in our struggle for Freedom.

It was a great opportunity to speak in the Conservative party conference. I did enjoy Bournemouth.

[Simon Chapman]

Zoya,

It was a privilege to meet you briefly in Bournemouth, and to hear your speech to the Conference.

Thank you for visiting this site. Please come here again and let us know what we can do to support you.

[Zoya Phan]

Hi Simon,

Please see our website www.burmacampaign.org.uk and there are some important actions in the link.

Thank you very much,

Zoya