Patrons: Sinead Cusack, Clive James, Miriam Karlin, Baroness Helena Kennedy QC, Glenys Kinnock MEP, Sue Lloyd- Roberts, Sir John Mortimer, Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, Rt. Hon Sir David Steel.

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• The BURMA ACTION GROUP (UK) , was formed in January 1991 by a group of Burma scholars and individuals concerned about the plight of the people of Burma. Many of the founder members have worked with students and other refugees on the Thai-Burma border. The launch was timed to continue and extend the Amnesty International campaign which ended in April 1991. It has been renamed THE BURMA CAMPAIGN UK in summer 1999 to mark its maturity and the start of an invigorated campaign for a democratic Burma.

It seems too bizarre to admit of rational explanation: a terrorist organization of fundamentalist Christians in the jungle of Southeast Asia, calling itself God's Army, led by twin long-haired, cigar-smoking 12-year-old boys who proclaim themselves invulnerable to bullets and land mines. The group burst into prominence this week when it briefly seized control of a provincial Thai hospital, before being routed by Thai commandos.

Little is known of the boys, who apparently did not participate in the attack; perhaps their appeal can never be explained. But the circumstances giving rise to such terrorism are easily understood; ultimately responsible is Burma's brutal regime, which practices a kind of state terrorism all its own. The Burmese generals have driven more than 1 million people (out of a population of 47 million) into exile in neighboring Thailand.

According to a recent field survey led by Johns Hopkins University's Dr. Chris Beyer and others, these people took refuge across the border to escape the regime's widespread practice of forced labor, the burden of corrupt officials demanding money and labor, and equally corrupt military commanders who steal food, livestock and land. Some refugees interviewed by the team of public health workers were political dissidents or their families who had been imprisoned and tortured before fleeing; others were apolitical families who simply could not survive in such a harshly repressive climate. Many migrants are virtually enslaved in sweatshops by exploitative Thai employers. Others camp out in the jungle, hounded by Burmese and Thai soldiers alike.

The twin brothers of God's Army are said to hail from a village that Burmese soldiers burned after raping women and killing men; such abuses are widespread enough to make the legend plausible. None of this excuses the terrorism of God's Army. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma's Nobel Peace Prize-winning democratic leader, has consistently rejected violence as a tactic against the regime that keeps her under house arrest.

Among other consequences, the hospital seizure will hurt legitimate Burmese dissidents who have found shelter in Thailand and the courageous Thai officials who support them. But it is also true that Burma's difficulties, including the problems that spill into neighboring Thailand, will persist as long as the brutality of its junta does.

The United Nations needs to appoint a special envoy to make clear to the generals the urgency of dialogue with Burma's democrats, who after all won an election (never honored) 10 years ago. Japan and Burma's Southeast Asian neighbors should redouble their commitment not to invest in Burma's murderous regime. And the generals themselves should devote less effort to pointing fingers at others and more to curbing the terrorism they practice against their own people every day. 

What leads young men and children to take such desperate action? As easy condemnation of 'God's Army' mixes with a morbid celebration of the deaths of the youths who fought under its banner, we should at least have the humanity to ask why?

It is absolutely clear that Burmese pro-democracy groups and ethnic nationality communities do not condone the actions taken by 'God's Army'. But anyone who knows what is happening across the border inside Burma will at least be able to understand how a traumatised people, brutalised by a massive military machine, can be pushed to such extreme acts.

Who knows the personal stories of those who were carried out of the Ratchburi hospital in body bags? Where our own children go to school, these young people would have had to fight hard for simple survival; where our children come home each day to the security of their families, Karen youngsters will have seen their villages burned and their loved ones murdered. Let us not be so quick to judge. If we are truly against violence it is our duty to understand that those who were killed were themselves victims of violence for much of the brief time they spent on this earth.

Recent news reports suggest that the youths treated the hostages well, had no intention of harming anyone, did not fight back and according to some witnesses were summarily executed after surrendering. Although we >understand Thailand's anger at the incident, it must also take its share >of the blame. In joining forces with the Burmese army in its fierce attack on positions held by God's Army and Karen civilians along the Thai-Burma border, the Thai 9th Infantry lit the fuse that led directly to the taking of Ratchburi hospital. If you peel away only one layer of the onion, it is clear that what on the surface might appear to have been a simple act of terrorism was in fact an appeal of the most desperate and human kind - for an end to the bombing.

However, ultimate responsibility for this bloody event must be levelled at >its architects - Burma's dictators sitting comfortably in their Rangoon villas, watching from a safe distance as the tragedy they wrote played itself out. Half a million ethnic nationality people, have been forced from their homes by the Burmese Army, their villages destroyed, their women systematically raped in a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign. Amnesty International has reported that:

"The Burmese army has devastated the lives of thousands of Shan, Karen and Karenni people by targeting them simply because of their ethnicity or perceived political beliefs. Many have been killed, others tortured, and thousands have fled to neighbouring countries. The military have forced thousands of civilians, including children, to work on massive building projects."

Karen refugees tell of: "Village burnings, constant demands for forced labour, looting of food and supplies, torture and killings by the military...Thousands of Karen villagers have also been forced off their land, unable to farm and provide for their families."

The real tragedy of yesterday's events is the story that isn't being told and the questions that aren't being asked. What terrible atrocities must this small child-led army have endured to resort to such an extreme action? The world must quickly start asking the right questions - they will find the answers to all of them lie with the Generals in Rangoon. 

There is a demonstrable link between the developmenk of the tourist industry in Burma and wide-scale human rights violation carried out by the Burmese military regime. A recent visitor reported being halted at a bridge by a nervous armed teenager on guard duty, while further along gangs of even younger boys were wielding spades and shovels on road-building chores.

"Those children would have been attending school in any other country. Burma today must be the only country in the world that wants to keep its population uneducated. Burma could only exist in a Kafka novel or in Alice's Wonderland," he remarked.

Revolutions against authority are usually led by the educated young. Is it any wonder therefore that the Burmese Dictators have closed Universities and keep youngsters from their schooldesks. It is essential that anyone considering a visit to this country on business or holiday should heed Daw Aung San Kyi's request: "Do not visit Burma yet".

If you, or anyone you know, is interested in discussing Britain's colonial past in pre or post WW2 Burma, you are welcome to enter the Forum: