Burma's long and painful struggle

Thank you for devoting the best part of three pages, as well as part of your leader (Rage against the machine, December 15) to the miseries still inflicted on the Burmese by their generals. After half a century of incompetence and inhumanity, the country is all but drained of its most precious resources. Not its teak, its rice, its jade or its rubies, but its store of intellectual and practical knowhow.

Many students, including some of mine, fled the country after the 1988 bloodshed, and more have left since. Those who remain undergo a mindless system of non-education and propaganda. Amid the general feeling of helplessness, there is one thing that can be done: educate as many of those refugees as possible so that, when the time comes, a pool of Burmese talent and expertise will be available to take part in the reconstruction of the country's physical and educational infrastructure.
Gerry Abbott
Manchester

Your updates on the situation in Burma, make depressing, but unsurprising, reading. And lead one to consider what progress the international community has made towards achieving democracy in that country since the monk-led protests three months ago. There was a lot of hot air coming from the leaders of many countries. And now what?

The world is holding a valuable negotiating tool in its hands, and that is the Beijing Olympics. Are governments using the games in order to encourage China to bring pressure on the junta to stop their human rights abuses and move towards a democratic form of government? All those involved in the games, both national governments and individuals, who care enough about Burma's desperate misery, could really contribute towards edging the process of democratisation forward.
M Harris
London