Campaign News
Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor is set to pull out of Burma over demands it run software that would allow the army to eavesdrop on private communications. The Lebanese investment firm M1 will likely step in to fill the gap, reports the Telegraph.
Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, called on Telenor to “stick it out and refuse to implement” what the Junta is demanding. “People are genuinely afraid for their safety, and there are people who are saying that if M1 do take over from Telenor they will have to leave the country.”
Rights groups have criticised M1’s history for running mobile networks under authoritarian regimes including Syria and Sudan where state surveillance is routine.
The European Parliament passed a Resolution on 7 October calling for further action by the EU to target the Myanmar junta, reports Mizzima.
Under the previous military dictatorship sanctions were not applied strategically, but rather as a kind of slap on the wrist every few years in response to atrocities, according to Burma Campaign UK. It had appeared that the European Union and others were applying a more strategic approach this time, but it is now almost four months since the last round of EU sanctions targeting members of the military and revenue going to the military.
The M1 Group, a holding company owned by Lebanon’s prime minister and his brother, has come under fire from human rights activists for buying the Norwegian telecom firm Telenor’s Myanmar operation.
The military regime had reportedly tried to force Telenor to provide user data including addresses and call history, and to implement intercept software that would allow authorities to monitor and spy on its users.
Burma Campaign UK Director Mark Farmaner warned that handing over user privacy could result in further crackdowns on dissidents and journalists struggling against the military coup.
“The military are trying to identify anybody who is resisting their rule, to find out who they are, who their contacts are. We’ve seen more than 7,000 arrests since the coup in February,” he told L’Orient Today. “If data is handed over, we’ll see more arrests and more killings.”
Burma’s opposition National Unity Government (NUG) has announced the formation of a COVID-19 task force in order to help control the virus and bolster its bid for international recognition, reports the Diplomat.
The task force will work in collaboration with ethnic health organizations and help coordinate cooperation with international associations.
Given the military’s “incompetence, inaction, and inhuman conduct” in responding to the pandemic, as Zoya Phan of Burma Campaign UK put it today, the NUG, for all its limitations, stands a good chance at being able to prove itself more effective at delivering basic services, says the Diplomat.
The UK is facing calls to snub demands by Burmese generals for a new ambassador to the UK, in the wake of the country’s brutal military coup.
The Express reports that Burma’s previous UK Ambassador, Kyaw Zwar Minn, was ousted earlier this year after he spoke out against the junta.
Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, said: “Dominic Raab seems to be breaking ranks with allies by accepting that the illegitimate military regime has the right to nominate ambassadors on behalf of Burma. Min Aung Hlaing craves legitimacy for his dictatorship and Raab should not be giving it to him.”
Radio Free Asia reports on the Foreign Affairs Committee’s recommendations to the UK government and the debate in Parliament. The 5 minute video clip includes an interview with Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s Director, critiquing the UK government’s response.
Burma Campaign UK gave evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the British Parliament. The Committee’s report, published today, makes 30 recommendations covering diplomatic and multilateral action, sanctions, humanitarian support, accountability and transparency, and Myanmar nationals in the UK.
The Committee concludes: “The Government has made positive steps on Myanmar, but there is far more it can do, given its lead role at the UN and upcoming status as an ASEAN Dialogue Partner. Through delegitimising the authority of the junta, applying severe and widespread economic pressure, stemming the flow of arms, and building broad coalitions to condemn the violence and support humanitarian assistance, the UK can have a real impact on resolving the violence and preventing the deaths of more people.”
The UK Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee has published its report on atrocities in Xinjiang and beyond. Burma Campaign UK submitted evidence to the Committee on the failure of UK policy regarding atrocities in Burma.
The recommendations include a call for a national, cross-departmental strategy for atrocity prevention, one of the recommendations made by Burma Campaign UK.
Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor has sold its Myanmar operations to the Lebanese investment firm M1 Group, which was added to Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List for doing business with the Myanmar military.
The M1 group has been on Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List since August 2019 because it is a major shareholder in Irrawaddy Green Towers in Myanmar, which has almost 4,000 telecom towers across the country and is working for the military-owned Mytel telecom operator.
Since the brutal military coup, people in Burma/Myanmar are appealing for international help. Burma Campaign UK is answering their call.
Will you make a donation today?
Help us support activists on the ground in Burma/Myanmar
“How many of us have to die before the international community helps us?”
This is the question people in Burma keep asking.
Since the brutal military coup, people in Burma/Myanmar are appealing for international help. Burma Campaign UK is answering their call.
Will you help us with a donation today?
With incredible bravery and determination, people in Burma have been resisting the coup. Every day since the coup, hundreds of thousands of people across the country have come out on the streets to demand an end to military rule.
The military have responded with a brutal crackdown. More than 500 peaceful protesters have been shot or tortured to death, more than two thousand have been arrested.
On one day alone, more than 100 people were killed across the country by security forces. In ethnic areas the military have bombed villages, causing thousands of people to flee for their lives.
Keeping up the pressure for international action
Burma Campaign UK is working around the clock to support the people in Burma and get the international community to act. Within hours of the coup, Burma Campaign UK was working to mobilise international action against the military, and assisting media with information.
We have worked with activists and organisations across Burma to make sure their voices and demands for international action have been heard.
Human rights activists in Burma want sanctions to stop the flow of money and weapons to the military. And they want justice.
We have helped secure sanctions on military companies.
We are building a global campaign for countries all over the world to impose arms embargoes.
We have forced many companies to stop doing business with the military.
We are campaigning for countries to stop training the Burmese military.
We are using every tool we can to try to put international pressure on the military.
But more needs to be done, and urgently. Everything that can be done, must be done.
Will you make a donation today?
Help us provide urgent help to keep activists safe
People in Burma need the world to act but they also need urgent help to keep them safe. We need your help to do this.
We have been able to quickly provide practical assistance and funding to activists at risk. With the ongoing brutal military crackdown, many activists have had to go into hiding, forced to flee their homes at short notice leaving everything behind.
For the safety of the people we work with we can’t tell you many details about this work.
We can tell you we have helped protesters to escape arrest, jail and torture. People are free and safe now because of our help.
We have been able to fund healthcare to people affected by the coup.
And we are funding emergency aid to the thousands of people who have fled to areas of ethnic states not under military control. Protesters and activists who would otherwise be arrested, but are now left with nothing, some not even with a change of clothes.
We can’t do this without your support
We are a small organisation and we are dependent on donations from individual supporters such as yourself. Simply put, the more donations we get, the more we can do to help.
Will you make a donation today?
People in Burma are doing everything they can to resist the coup. They are risking their lives every day to fight for their rights, for democracy, for peace and justice.
We are doing everything we can to help them in these desperate times. But we need your help to do that. I hope you are able to add your support.
Thank you so much.