Thursday, May 08, 2008

The problems from reporting from Burma,again


It is not only aid workers but also journalists who can't get into Burma.


This is what happened to BBC's Andrew Harding via AFP



YANGON (AFP) — Myanmar has deported a BBC journalist who tried to enter the
country to report on a cyclone that has killed 22,000 people, saying he had
violated visa regulations, a state newspaper said Wednesday.
Andrew Harding
flew into Yangon from Bangkok on Monday, but was deported shortly after his
arrival, the official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
"A journalist who
is working for BBC was deported as he broke visa rules and regulations," the
paper said, saying Harding had tried to enter the country on a tourist visa
instead of an official journalist visa.
"Journalists from news agencies in
Western countries illegally entered the country very often and made fabricated
news with the help of anti-government groups," it said.
The newspaper said
Harding had been blacklisted from the country after he had earlier entered on a
tourist visa in 2006 and again last September as anti-government protests were
getting underway.
"He interviewed anti-government groups and aired false
accusations and fabricated news in his 'Undercover Burma' programme," the paper
said.
"He met with those creating unrest in Yangon and put their demands for
the unrest in his broadcast," it added.

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