Asian businesses are coming under intense pressure to cut ties with the Burma military after this month’s coup, with activists questioning whether such ventures benefit the wider population or fuel human rights abuses.
The coup ended a decade-long democratic transition when businesses entered Burma after international sanctions were lifted. Many of these firms formed partnerships with the military.
Thomson Reuters Foundation reports that Burma Campaign UK, which has published a list of more than 100 firms linked to the military, called for “targeted sanctions” against military-owned and controlled companies and their business associates.