U.S. State Department: Postpone Travel to Burma*
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 09.27.07 | 1:45 PM ET
The U.S. State Department has issued a no-brainer announcement—our phrase, not theirs—on Burma: “U.S. citizens should defer non-essential travel to Burma at this time. American citizens resident [sic] in Burma should avoid all demonstrations and processions as they could turn violent with little or no warning.” Even without an ongoing military crackdown on protesting monks, of course, plenty of travelers argue against visiting the nation.
* Update, 2:56 p.m. ET: State television in Burma reports that nine people have been killed today in Rangoon, including eight protesters and a Japanese video journalist, as a military crackdown persists, according to the BBC. “Thursday’s protests followed reports of overnight raids on six monasteries,” according to the news agency. “Witnesses say soldiers smashed windows and doors and beat sleeping monks. Some escaped but hundreds were taken away in military trucks.”
Related on World Hum:
* First Deaths Reported in Crackdown on Protesters in Burma
* As Defiant Monks Protest in Burma, Travel Debate Rages On
Photo: AP.