Burma boycott urged

Children working under slave labour conditions are being used to build hotels and roads to cope with an expected surge in western tourists visiting Burma, it was claimed yesterday, as a campaign was launched to urge tourists to boycott the country because of its human rights record and repressive regime.

Last year, about 2,000 Britons holidayed in Burma, but the country's military junta wants to boost the numbers dramatically and has designated 1996 "Visit Burma Year", in an attempt to attract hard currency and achieve legitimacy in the eyes of the rest of the world, the Labour Party and Burmese pro-democracy campaigners said.

Derek Fatchett, Labour's foreign affairs spokesman, called on the Government to discourage trade links forged by a recent business delegation. He said he had been told that a plan to send a second trade delegation was being reconsidered.