Campaign News

The world’s largest shipping company, Maersk, will cut ties with the military-owned ports in Burma this month, reports the Irrawaddy. Maersk was placed on Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List after its container ship used the military-owned TMT Ports in Yangon, which is managed by the British company, Portia Management Services. In July, Portia announced it …

Global shipping giant Maersk will stop using Burmese military-owned ports after pressure from Burma Campaign UK to sever links with the military. The Danish company’s decision is highly significant and will increase pressure on other shipping businesses to do the same, said Mark Farmaner, BCUK’s director. “The campaigns to stop international companies funding human rights …

Belatedly responding to the latest upsurge in violence and the desperate plight of still-displaced Rohingya refugees, eight UN security council members, marshalled by Britain, called on Burma to comply with the International Court of Justice’s demands, implement an immediate ceasefire, allow humanitarian access and include Rohingya voters in November’s national elections. This was progress of …

Aung San Suu Kyi has been suspended from the Sakharov Prize Community by the European Parliament over her lack of action on the ill-treatment of Rohingya, reports the independent Catholic media service UCA News. Suu Kyi was awarded the Sakharov Prize in 1990 for embodying the Burmese people’s fight for democracy. Mark Farmaner, director of …

While most music festivals over the bank holiday weekend switched to online streams one had a sell-out crowd. Guernsey has been Covid-19 free since 27 May and ended social distancing in June. It meant the Vale Earth Fair was able to continue to provide 12 hours of live music as it has done for 44 …

One of the longest-running music festivals went ahead over Bank Holiday weekend, owing to the island being coronavirus-free since the end of April. With no visiting performers invited this year, the line-up featured 70 all-local acts, just like the early festivals did. The all-volunteer collective eschews corporate sponsorship and gives all profits to charity. This …

Two months after the Japanese beer giant Kirin announced it was considering cutting ties with its military-conglomerate partner, a brewery the two jointly own announced $155.9m in second-quarter revenue. “These profits are paying for violations of international law,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK. In June, after the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited …

Justice For Myanmar has welcomed the announcement that UK firm Portia Management Services will end their relationship with military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). The decision is a success for Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List campaign targeting companies linked to the military and to human rights violations in Burma. Portia have therefore been removed …

Facebook has revealed a coordinated disinformation campaign geared toward improving public opinion toward MyTel, the telecommunications company backed by the Burmese military. Mark Farmaner of Burma Campaign UK told investigative journalists at Coda that Facebook’s move to curb coordinated disinformation about telecoms is insufficient. Facebook remains on BCUK’s Dirty List. “Facebook are happy for the …

A mining disaster in Kachin State on 2 July has cost 200 lives, reports Byline Times. Mining disasters have become commonplace in the area but rarely are they on the scale of what happened that day. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, told Byline Times that there is “no transparency in the jade industry. …

Recently announced UK sanctions against two high-ranking generals from Burma won’t work, said Burma Campaign UK’s director Mark Farmaner in an interview with Karen News. “In the case of Burma the list is not effective, they don’t have money in UK banks and no one thinks they will come here for holidays either. It is …

The youth-focused digital media group VICE reports on brands showing support for Black Lives Matter despite profiting from racial oppression. Cloudflare and New Belgium Brewery are among companies that have made statements supporting racial justice, despite being associated with the Burmese military. BCUK’s director, Mark Farmaner, said a company purporting to support Black Lives Matter …

Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK’s Director, was interviewed on VOA Burmese News about the 31 companies recently added to BCUK’s Dirty List. Watch Mark Farmaner interview (in English with Burmese voiceover) See BCUK’s Dirty List

Wai Hnin Pwint Thon is Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK and her research and analysis focus on political prisoners and repressive laws. She writes for Frontier Myanmar on the controversy over offensive language used against Muslims in Burma: In defending “kalar” as a friendly term, many Myanmar social media users are failing to listen to …

The Burmese military has resurfaced on Facebook nearly two years after the social media giant removed numerous army accounts for spreading hatred, reports Radio Free Asia. The military has opened two Burmese-language Facebook accounts called “Tatmadaw True News Information Team” and “Zaw Min Tun”. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said the military set …

Kirin has ordered an independent probe into its beer businesses in Burma following pressure from human rights campaigners. The Financial Times says the case underscores the perils for companies operating in one of the world’s riskiest emerging markets. “There is no doubt that they are bowing to pressure from campaigns, but it looks like what …

A British civil engineering company is facing criticism for its involvement in resettling Rohingya refugees on a “prison island” in the Bay of Bengal, reports the Telegraph. The Bangladeshi Navy is sending refugees to the island as punishment for escaping the world’s largest refugee camp, Kutupalong in Cox’s Bazar. The island is prone to flooding …

Burma Campaign UK was one of several human rights and humanitarian organisations invited to give written evidence to the International Development Committee of the British Parliament on the Rohingya crisis. All the evidence is now available to read on the Parliament website. Read BCUK’s evidence

The risk of large-scale community spread of the COVID-19 virus is extremely high in Rakhine State, where tens of thousands of people are displaced as a result of conflict, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are confined in camps and villages and the government has imposed an internet blackout. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK reiterated …

Anna Roberts, Burma Campaign UK’s Executive Director, was interviewed on VOA Burmese News about BCUK’s Dirty List and Boycott List campaigns. Watch Anna Roberts interview (in Burmese, translated from English) See BCUK’s Dirty List See BCUK’s Boycott List

Campaigners have called on the UK-based Portia Management Services to end its relationship with KT Services and Logistics, which leases the TMT Ports shipping terminal in Yangon from a military-owned company. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said: “As the company managing the port on behalf of KT Services, Portia Management is critical to …

Today the British ambassador to Myanmar said: “The increased violence in Rakhine State over the past few days is causing misery for many of the people living there. Today’s reported shelling of a school on Myanmar’s Children’s Day, following recent deaths of women and children, highlights the impact this is having on innocent people. The …

In a special report, World Finance weighs up the pros and cons of investing in Burma. The article points out that companies that have any connection to the military, which is usually held responsible for the crisis’ worst atrocities, have found themselves on Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List. Facebook, in particular, has been singled out …