Campaign News
Japanese brewer Kirin has tightened its donations policy and will facilitate a human rights impact assessment on its operations after an Amnesty International report revealed it donated money to the Burmese military or Tatmadaw. As a result of the donations, Kirin has been listed in Burma Campaign UK’s “Dirty List”.
‘‘This isn’t a question of Kirin changing the way it behaves in Myanmar. The problem is that their business partner is accused of genocide by the United Nations. There is no responsible way that Kirin can operate in Myanmar as long as it is doing business with the military,” said Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK director.
The Tatmadaw has acquired civilian aircraft made by European companies despite a tightening of the arms embargo in response to alleged atrocities in Rakhine State, reports Frontier Myanmar. The aircraft were produced by France’s Airbus and Italy’s Leonardo.
Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said that European countries had previously adopted different stances on their companies doing business with the military. “Sentiment is finally shifting. Stricter interpretation of EU sanctions by member states combined with growing awareness of the reputational risk will result in reduced sales of equipment to the military. Burma Campaign UK proposed that rather that tightening the arms embargo, the EU simply ban the sale of any equipment at all to the military. This was discussed as an option and it is significant that the EU rejected this proposal.”
Burma Campaign UK published its ‘Dirty List’ in early December 2018, slamming 49 international companies accused of “operating in Myanmar in such a way that contributes to human rights violations and environmental destruction.”
Mark Farmaner, the Director of Burma Campaign UK, argues “companies which supply equipment to the military or do business with the military, are complicit in the human rights violations committed by them”, reports Karen News.
Burma Campaign UK named Facebook as one of 49 companies on a ‘dirty list’, for allowing the incitement of hatred and violence of minorities, in particular the Rohingya Muslim minority and Muslims in general, reports the American business magazine Forbes.
“Although it has belatedly closed down accounts run by the Burmese military, it continues to host the page of the Information Committee, run from Aung San Suu Kyi’s office,” says Burma Campaign UK, which will continue to press for more accounts to be removed.
Burma Campaign UK has published a ‘dirty list’ of companies continuing to do business with the military in Burma, reports the Organization for World Peace. Facebook, Toshiba, and VISA are amongst the 49 international companies that are ‘named and shamed’ for links to the Burmese military’s human rights abuses of Burma’s Rohingya Muslim population.
Burma Campaign UK said they published the list “to highlight the role of international companies in assisting the military to continue to commit human rights violations.” The list is “an ongoing project” that will be “regularly updated.”
Chinese companies make up the bulk of a “dirty list” of corporations accused of involvement in human rights and environmental violations in Burma, or of doing business with the country’s military, reports the South China Morning Post. 16 Chinese companies supply the military with equipment and energy, and Chinese companies are involved in at least six controversial dam projects in conflict zones, and a coal mine.
Of Facebook’s inclusion on the list, Burma Campaign UK said: “It continues to host the page of the Information Committee, run from Aung San Suu Kyi’s office. Since 2016 this was one of the main official government/military pages on Facebook used for inciting fear and hatred of the Rohingya, including the notorious ‘Fake Rape’ poster denying that independently verified claims of rape of Rohingya women by the Burmese military are true.”
Facebook has been included on Burma Campaign UK’s “dirty list” of corporations accused of involvement in human rights and environmental violations, or of doing business with the military, reports the Dhaka Tribune.
Burma Campaign UK said Facebook was on the “dirty list” because it had “consistently allowed its platform to be used to incite hatred and violence [against] minorities in Burma, in particular the the minority group – Rohingya, and Muslims in general”.
Burma Campaign UK acknowledged that Facebook had recently taken action to rectify abuse of social media in Burma, but on the “dirty list” accused it of not going far enough.
Facebook is among the 49 corporations named on Burma Campaign UK’s “Dirty List”, reports the Bangladesh-based Daily Star. “The Dirty List” names international companies doing business with the military, or involved in projects where there are human rights violations or environmental destruction.
Several companies from the U.S., U.K., France, Switzerland, and China have been added to a “dirty list” of corporations accused of human rights or environmental violations in Myanmar, and companies allegedly involved with the country’s military, reports the Inquisitr.
Burma Campaign UK names Facebook on the list as it “consistently allowed its platform to be used to incite hatred and violence [against] minorities in Burma, in particular the Rohingya Muslim minority and Muslims in general.”
Modern Ghana reports on the continued detention of the two Reuters journalists, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo.
The online media portal quotes Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK: “We’ve seen the Burmese government coming under intense pressure over the arrest and trial and jailing of these journalists. And it really has drawn attention to the fact that under the NLD, freedom of expression, media freedom, has not improved, and is actually getting worse in the country.
“So even though it was the military which framed these journalists and the military which wanted to press ahead with the prosecution, the civilian side of the government, headed by Aung San Suu Kyi is able to release them, and is choosing not to.”