I was deeply distressed by the travel article "Take a step back in time to hidden Burma" (The Argus, April 7).

Victoria Mitchell writes in glowing terms of an enchanting country of stunning landscapes and welcoming people, and in a double page spread devotes only two brief paragraphs to the intolerable regime under which the Burmese people live.

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world - the regime suppresses any steps towards democracy with torture. Ethnic cleansing has been going on for decades and Burma has more child soldiers, snatched from homes and schools, than any other country in the world. There is also a systemic and widespread use of forced labour.

This is a vicious military regime, and tourism provides the dictatorship with millions of pounds every year to enable it to continue with its oppression.

Ironically, the article was printed just two days after a young Burmese refugee had spoken at a well attended meeting at the Friends Centre in Brighton.

She gave a very moving account of her life in a village and how she and her family had fled into the jungle and finally escaped to freedom - she now devotes her life to telling the world about what's really going on in Burma.

  • Penny Mitchell, Beacon Road, Ditchling