Business and Human Rights (Burma/Myanmar-related)

See also "Debate on Investment in Burma" (in Main Library > Economy > Foreign Investment in Burma > Debate on...)
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Websites/Multiple Documents

Description: Opinion and analysis on business and human rights issues in Myanmar....."Welcome to Business and Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar, a Blog dedicated to monitoring and analysing business and human rights issues in a time of transition. Myanmar is undergoing political, social and legal transformation, opening its doors to international investment of all kinds. Abundant natural and human resources have made investment an attractive prospect. Yet, ethnic conflict and widespread human rights abuses cause instability and uncertainty for investors. Companies operating in Myanmar risk involvement in conflict and human rights abuse and therefore must be aware of their responsibilities... This blog aims to provide relevant legal and policy analysis for both investors and human rights advocates. It will also highlight benchmarks achieved and human rights concerns raised by the activities of national companies or multinational corporations based in Myanmar. This blog will bring an international perspective on business and human rights, and draw on developments taking place at the United Nations and other international organizations, as well as regionally and in national contexts... This site is run by Dr. Daniel Aguirre. All views, opinions and information expressed or presented is his own and does not reflect any organisation to which he may be associated... Daniel can be contacted at: [email protected] ... Images used on the blog are not subject to copyright. They are private or are sourced from sites such as Wikimedia Commons.
Creator/author: Dr. Daniel Aguirre
Source/publisher: Business and Human Rights in Burma/Myanmar
Date of entry/update: 2015-03-08
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: A rich seam of news items, articles and long reports on Burma from 1996. Go to the Home page for more general material. "information from: · United Nations & ILO · companies · human rights, development, labour & environmental organisations · governments · academics · See the section on the UNOCAL case in "Lawsuits against companies: Selected major cases", journalists · etc..."
Source/publisher: Business and Human Rights
Date of entry/update: 2003-06-03
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...The Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) is a global centre of excellence and expertise on the relationship between business and internationally proclaimed human rights standards. We provide a trusted, impartial space for dialogue and independent analysis to deepen understanding of human rights challenges and issues and the appropriate role of business. We seek to address problems where the law may be unclear, where accountability and responsibility may not be well-defined, and where legitimate dispute settlement mechanisms may be non-existent or poorly-administered. The Institute works to raise corporate standards and strengthen public policy to ensure that the activities of companies do not contribute to human rights abuses, and in fact lead to positive outcomes..." Several Burma/Myanmar reports
Source/publisher: Institute for Human Rights and Business
Date of entry/update: 2014-05-25
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business is a new initiative to encourage responsible business activities throughout Myanmar. The Centre is a joint initiative of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). Based in Yangon, it aims to provide a trusted, impartial forum for dialogue, seminars, and briefings to relevant parties as well as access to international expertise and tools. Vicky Bowman is the first Director of the Centre. She draws on seven years of living in Yangon, is fluent in the Myanmar language and has many years? experience of working on responsible business issues, within the private sector and government. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which were unanimously endorsed in June 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council, are key to the Centre?s mission and activities..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
Date of entry/update: 2014-05-24
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English, Burmese
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Source/publisher: Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI)
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-16
Grouping: Websites/Multiple Documents
Language: English
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Individual Documents

Sub-title: This is not a good time to travel without a Citizenship Scrutiny Card. Those who do are advised to carry extra cash to pay off soldiers and police at checkpoints… and to scrub their phones before their journey.
Description: "When my purse was stolen in Yangon last December, I lost many of my most important documents: my Citizenship Scrutiny Card, driver’s licence, student card and ATM cards. I put off replacing my CSC (often referred to as a National Registration Card, or NRC) because it would require a trip to my hometown, the Mon State capital, Mawlamyine. But after the February 1 coup d’etat, it felt dangerous to not have a national ID card. I also realised that I needed a CSC so I could replace the other lost cards. Up until four months ago, this wouldn’t have been a problem. To get to Mawlamyine, I would have just told the express bus line my CSC number – that would have been enough. There were no checkpoints or inspections at which security forces asked to see the real thing. Unfortunately, travel in Myanmar has become more difficult since the coup. There are now many checkpoints, and sometimes soldiers and police even search passengers’ luggage and mobile phones. If they find anything suspicious, such as indications of support for protests or the Civil Disobedience Movement, they don’t hesitate to make an arrest. I was anxious about the trip, and for good reason – when you arrive at a checkpoint, the first document they ask for is your CSC. In the past, if we needed to travel without our ID, we could take a letter of recommendation from our ward administration office or the nearest police station. However, the administrator of my ward had joined the CDM and the ward administration office was the target of a bombing in early April. I didn’t want to go to the police station because I was worried about being arrested. I didn’t have any good options. In the end, I decided to risk it and travel with a photocopy of my CSC. I departed Yangon for Mawlamyine on an express bus and the first checkpoint was at the entrance to Bago Region. We didn’t have to disembark; heavily armed police and soldiers boarded the bus. I showed the police a photocopy of my CSC, and explained that the original had been lost and I was travelling to Mawlamyine to be issued with a replacement. The police warned me that I could be arrested for travelling without an ID card or a recommendation letter, but after checking my luggage, they allowed me to continue my journey. Although the police at the second and third checkpoints were intimidating and threatening, they also let me go. At the final checkpoint we had to disembark and present our CSCs. When I showed the photocopy of my CSC, a soldier said I could be fined for travelling without the original. They started asking lots of questions: Where was my CSC? Why hadn’t I brought it? What was I planning to do in Mawlamyine? The soldier said that their questioning might take so long that my bus would have to leave me behind. Wouldn’t it be better, he said, to pay an “understanding fee” instead? I gave him K10,000 and quickly reboarded the bus, eventually arriving at my destination. After the nerve-wracking journey, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to replace my CSC in Mawlamyine. At the Immigration Department office, I handed over the necessary documents, paid what was euphemistically described as a “service fee” of K50,000, and collected a new CSC the next day. The official fee for replacing a CSC is around K2,000. To make my previous card in 2014, I had to spend two days at the Immigration Department and then wait another 10 days before I could collect the card. That time, though, they didn’t ask for any extra money. Security during the return journey to Yangon was noticeably tighter, apparently because soldiers and police were trying to intercept people returning to Yangon from training in Karen National Union-controlled territory. At the first checkpoint, about three hours from Mawlamyine, police and soldiers inspected the luggage of every passenger on the express bus, as well as checking their ID cards. Any passenger with a CSC that was not issued in Mon State was closely questioned about the purpose of their journey. At the next checkpoint, named Mokepalin, on the Mon State side of the Sittaung River that divides Mon State and Bago Region, a boy seated in front of me was taken off the bus. I heard a soldier say the boy’s CSC was issued in Ayeyarwady Region and he needed to be checked more closely. When the bus pulled away, I noticed about 60 young men sitting at the checkpoint, who seemed to have been detained for further questioning. There were even a few people in handcuffs, but when I asked a soldier who they were, he shouted at me not to ask questions or I would be arrested. I kept my mouth shut. At the third checkpoint, I encountered a new problem. I no longer had to explain why I was travelling with a photocopy of my ID card – I now had a brand new one. But now a policeman wanted to know why my CSC was so new. When I explained, he responded by asking for “tea money”. I gave him K10,000. At the fourth checkpoint, near the town of Payagyi in Bago Region, both our ID cards and mobile phones were checked. I didn’t have a problem because I had already deleted social media posts, data and contacts from my phone, but some of the other passengers hadn’t been so smart. When the police found social media posts or images about the protest movement on their phones, they were arrested or threatened with arrest. Three people paid bribes to avoid being detained: one passenger had to pay K50,000 and the others K100,000 each. We speculated as to why the size of the bribe varied; was it because of the nature of their social media posts, or just how much money the police figured they might be carrying? The woman sitting next to me was a frequent traveller between Mawlamyine and Yangon, and I asked her if our experience had been unusual. “Before, we could travel everywhere without having to worry too much,” she responded. “Now it feels like we are totally in the darkness … they are bullying the people with their weapons.”..."
Source/publisher: "Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
2021-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2021-05-31
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Topic: BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Topic: BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Description: "Responding to reports that South Korean steel giant POSCO will end the steel venture its Myanmar subsidiary shares with military-owned conglomerate MEHL, Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights Researcher Montse Ferrer said: “POSCO’s decision to cut this tie is the latest blow to Myanmar’s military, which continues to impose its rule through murder and heinous human rights violations. Since staging a coup in February, the military has reportedly killed around 700 people, including dozens of children. “Given the scale of POSCO’s operations in Myanmar, this announcement is a major step forward. It increases the military authorities’ isolation, and adds to the growing pressure on other companies to end their business links with MEHL. “POSCO has yet to announce the full details of its plans to disengage from its steel venture and whether it will continue to pay lease payments to MEHL. The company also has yet to address its broader footprint in Myanmar in other sectors. However, this is still a warning sign to all companies and investors who have business partnerships with MEHL. All of these businesses should do the right thing and responsibly cut these links immediately. “As pressure builds on businesses, and as the military continues to commit appalling human rights violations, the UN Security Council must stop lagging so far behind. It must impose, without further delay, a comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar, as well as targeted financial sanctions on senior military officials responsible for atrocity crimes. The Security Council must also urgently refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.”.....Background ...On 16 April 2021, POSCO announced that its Myanmar subsidiary, POSCO C&C, would end its relationship with military-owned Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). This decision follows months of international pressure from Amnesty International and other organizations, who have engaged POSCO, its investors and stakeholders, calling on the company to cut ties with the Myanmar military. On 24 March 2021, the UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution on the human rights situation in Myanmar by consensus, which highlighted that no company active in Myanmar or with business links to Myanmar should do business with the military (also known as the Tatmadaw) or one of their business entities, until and unless those businesses are restructured and transformed. In September 2020, Amnesty International’s Military Ltd. report demonstrated that POSCO, as MEHL’s business partner, was linked to the financing of Myanmar’s military units implicated in crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations. The Myanmar military staged a coup on 1 February 2021 and has been increasingly using lethal force, including battlefield weapons, against overwhelmingly peaceful protesters and onlookers, reportedly killing over 700 people, including dozens of children. It has also arbitrarily detained over 3,000 individuals, including government officials, human rights defenders, activists, journalists, artists, medical workers and others..."
Source/publisher: "Amnesty International" (UK)
2021-04-16
Date of entry/update: 2021-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 211.37 KB
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Description: "The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) strongly condemns the harassment of the Development Media Group (DMG) and its Chief Editor, Aung Marm Oo. We call on the authorities of Myanmar to put an end to the reprisals against DMG, and take all steps necessary to promote press freedom in the country. DMG is an outspoken, independent media outlet that covers sensitive issues in Rakhine State, including human rights violations and alleged abuses by the state perpetrators. On 1 May 2019, Aung Marm Oo, Chief Editor of the DMG, was charged under Section 17 (2) of the Unlawful Association Act, which prohibits the ‘the management or promotion or assistance of an unlawful association.’ If found guilty, Aung Marm Oo may be sentenced for up to five years in prison, as well as a fine. Five months since charges were filed, authorities have yet to formally clarify for the prosecution of DMG and relevant persons.[1] The law itself is vaguely formulated and contains ambiguous provisions to enable it to be used to stifle media organisations and human rights defenders, who report on armed conflict. The authorities have also delayed the issuing of licenses for the production of News Journal, DMG’s bi-monthly publication, despite the DMG’s compliance with licensing requisites,[2] compromising its ability to provide much needed information to communities. Press and media freedom remain elusive in Myanmar. In past decades, journalists have been charged with a variety of repressive laws, covering issues such as defamation and trespassing, including by the use of Section 66 (D) of the Telecommunication Law. In early 2019, for example, the Irrawaddy and Radio Free Asia faced defamation charges filed by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, following their reporting on military operations in Rakhine State. This has created a chilling effect among independent media, particularly those reporting on armed conflicts and human rights violations..."
Source/publisher: Forum-Asia (Thailand)
2019-10-03
Date of entry/update: 2019-10-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
Format : pdf
Size: 82.64 KB (2 pages)
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Description: ''Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the assassination of National League for Democracy (NLD) legal adviser U Ko Ni. Today we’ll discuss whether justice can be done in U Ko Ni’s case. I’m The Irrawaddy chief reporter Kyaw Kha and I’m joined by U Nay La, the prosecution lawyer in U Ko Ni’s case. U Ko Ni was bold and outspoken in his calls for amending the 2008 Constitution and promoting democracy in Myanmar. You were his friend, and also serve as the prosecution lawyer in his case. Do you think certain things he envisioned have been achieved under the current government?...''
Source/publisher: The Irrawaddy
2019-02-02
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''The workshop aimed to facilitate discussion on strategic litigation options for communities adversely affected by existing and proposed investment projects. The ICJ and civil society organizations have extensively documented how human rights abuses continue to occur in the context of business activities in Myanmar. Communities generally have limited understanding of their rights, while government actors and businesses regularly flout their legal obligations. The ICJ’s international legal adviser Sean Bain first set out applicable international standards, with a focus on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. He identified Myanmar’s nascent legal framework for environmental protection as a key area of law with potential to deter rights abuses. He noted that while in December 2015 the Government of Myanmar issued the Environmental Impact Assessment Procedure, its provisions are rarely followed or enforced in practice...''
1970-01-01
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: ''Prior to this workshop, on 6 April the ICJ met with the Mon State High Court, including its Chief Justice. Legal advisers from the ICJ had a constructive discussion with the justices about judicial reform in Myanmar, including the role of lawyers and civil society, as well as jurists, in advancing accountability and access to justice. The two-day workshop aimed to identify challenges and opportunities for human rights advocacy using law, and to encourage the building of relationships and networks between lawyers and civil society. The workshop considered strategic litigation concepts and case studies in the region. It also discussed the landscape of rule of law and justice in Myanmar, particularly the experiences regarding access to justice of some sixty participants from Mon State. The sessions were introduced by international and national experts and leaders from partner CSOs, followed by interactive discussions where participants contributed their own observations and experiences. Sean Bain, ICJ International Legal Adviser recognized in his opening statement that the formal justice system in Myanmar was making moves toward reform, offering new opportunities for legal advocacy for human rights across issues...''
Source/publisher: International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
2018-04-09
Date of entry/update: 2019-02-01
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The proposals concern defining and acquiring information about Beneficial Ownership and Politically Exposed Persons through the company registration process. This is necessary to fully implement the definition of ?ownership interest” under the Myanmar Companies Law S1 (xxii), and will also support implementation of Myanmar?s Anti-Money Laundering Law (2014) and implementation of the Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
2018-06-26
Date of entry/update: 2018-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: "Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) has submitted its first Communication on Engagement (CoE) to the United Nation Global Compact (UNGC). MCRB joined the UN Global Compact (UNGC) in September 2014. UNGC participants are required to show that they support the ten principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business
2018-08-06
Date of entry/update: 2018-08-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language:
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Description: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: "Myanmar?s transition from the military junta to democracy that started in 2011 gained ground when the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi took office in April 2016. However, the military elite still maintains extensive economic and political power. The military presides over the ministries of Home Affairs, Border Affairs, and Defense, and holds effective veto power over constitutional changes. The legal and economic reforms that accompanied the transition have not yet addressed holdover problems from the military rule. The rule of law, including the administration of justice and law enforcement, remains weak. Corruption is endemic. Discrimination and abuses against women and ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities continue. Human rights abuses linked to business activities are routine. Meanwhile, the government is actively pursuing new economic opportunities and foreign investment, which has hit record high in recent years. It is thus urgent to close gaps in laws, policies, and practices so that businesses operating and investing in Myanmar do not further threaten human rights. ALTSEAN-Burma and ICAR have partnered to support the development of a National Action Plan (NAP) on business and human rights in Myanmar by producing a ?Shadow” National Baseline Assessment (NBA) to assess legal and policy gaps, and identify where further efforts are required. This NBA is developed based on the guidance under ?National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights: A Toolkit for the Development, Implementation, and Review of State Commitments to Business and Human Rights Frameworks” (Toolkit), which was developed by ICAR and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) in June 2014.2 In accordance to the Toolkit, the NBA analyzes the States? implementation of Pillars I and III of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), and focuses specifically on those Guiding Principles which represent obligations of the State. The NBA is primarily based on desk research. The project team also conducted a number of consultations with select experts and hosted one workshop with representatives from grassroots organizations to ascertain preliminary findings, complete data gaps, and update the NBA in view of ongoing legislative and policy changes. The following presents a list of findings and recommendations to address critical issues and challenges..."
Creator/author: Marie Krizel Malabanan, Tessa Cerisier, Debbie Stothard, Sophia Lin
Source/publisher: ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma), ICAR (International Corporate Accountability Roundtable)
2017-12-08
Date of entry/update: 2017-12-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.79 MB
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Description: Conclusions: "Amnesty International?s latest research shows that hundreds of people close to the giant Letpadaung mine continue to face the risk of forced eviction from their farmland, and in the case of four villages, from their homes as well. In addition, thousands of people living in the area are at risk from Myanmar Wanbao?s inadequate management of environmental risk at the Letpadaung mine, which is situated in a flood and earthquake-prone area. The ESIA for the mine contains fundamental gaps and weaknesses, which Myanmar Wanbao has still not addressed. In 2015, Amnesty International concluded that the Myanmar government must halt the development of the Letpadaung mine until the human rights and environmental concerns were addressed. In May 2016 the mine began producing copper, but those human rights and environmental concerns have still not been addressed. Amnesty International is repeating its call therefore for the mine?s operations to be suspended, while these concerns are dealt with. Amnesty International is also repeating its call for the government of Myanmar to urgently act to prevent human rights abuses at the Letpadaung and S&K mines and provide effective remedy for the human rights abuses that people there have already suffered. The authorities must stop using draconian laws to charge and harass villagers participating in peaceful protests against the mine project. More broadly, the Myanmar government needs to strengthen the legal framework, to improve the regulation of large projects, such as mines, and put in place an adequate framework for land acquisition that is based on international standards on the right to adequate housing and the prohibition of forced evictions. Both the government of Myanmar and Myanmar Wanbao must also ensure an effective remedy for the human rights abuses that people there have already suffered. Foreign corporations doing business, or planning to do business, in Myanmar have a responsibility to ensure that their investments do not result in human rights abuses. All foreign corporations should conduct human rights due diligence on their planned business activities in Myanmar in line with international standards. The home state governments of companies investing in Myanmar, including China, which is the home state of Myanmar Wanbao, must ensure that their companies conduct human rights due diligence..."
Source/publisher: Amnesty International (ASA 16/5564/2017)
2017-02-00
Date of entry/update: 2017-02-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 3.62 MB 1.94 MB
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Description: Executive Summary: "?Made in Myanmar? is ready to make a comeback, with U.S. and EU markets newly re-opened for trade with Myanmar?s garment manufacturers. Buyers and investors are back in Yangon looking for opportunities, attracted in part by the country?s low labor costs. However, Myanmar has spent over a decade cut off from Western markets and the compliance culture that has evolved around social and environmental management of supply chains. Meeting buyer expectations now requires not only investing to meet higher requirements for speed and quality, but also ensuring that labor practices meet or exceed international standards. Child labor is a particular area of concern. In a country with high levels of poverty, low rates of secondary school enrollment, and weak enforcement of labor laws, child labor is unsurprisingly a common option for families in need of additional income. Underage workers (younger than 14, the legal minimum) are prevalent in many sectors, ranging from construction to teashops. What is a responsible buyer to do? So far, many buyers have chosen to limit their risk and exposure by working solely with established foreign-owned suppliers that already have years of experience adhering to supplier codes of conduct. These factories often require a minimum age for their workers of 16 or even 18, higher than the national legal requirement, which helps to reduce the risk of child labor in a country where age verification is difficult. While this may be an effective strategy for managing reputational risk, it ignores the broader context and real challenges of widespread poverty and scarce educational opportunities in Myanmar. It also neglects the potential for international investment and supply chains to contribute to a future where children in Myanmar spend their days in school, not in factories. And it overlooks the real risk that the use of child labor outside of responsible companies? own supply chains will tarnish the ?Made in Myanmar” brand. This report explains the context of child labor in Myanmar, both across sectors and specifically for garment manufacturing. Because there is no comprehensive data on the role of children in the garment sector, the findings are primarily based on interviews with key industry observers and participants. These findings include: » Young workers are participating in the garment sector but usually make up a small percentage of a factory?s workforce, and underage workers are rare. However, young workers are often working the same hours as adults, and laws regulating their working hours and conditions are not being enforced. » Increased access to U.S. and European markets is reshaping the garment industry, but the majority of factories are not yet selling to U.S. and European buyers, and their labor practices are lagging. As the garment manufacturing industry grows, the risk factors for child labor could change as well. The demand for low-cost labor will increase as new garment factories open. Other sectors of the economy are growing as well, heightening the competition for skilled workers. Meanwhile, new minimum wage BSR | Child Labor in Myanmar?s Garment Sector requirements are also affecting the profile of labor demand, and changes in industry structure could increase the risk of child labor if subcontracting and third-party suppliers become more common..."
Creator/author: Laura Ediger, Jeremy Prepscius, Chris Fletcher
Source/publisher: BSR
2016-05-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-06-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 710.85 KB
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Description: "... Large-scale agricultural investments ? in plantations, processing plants or contract farming schemes, for example ? have increased in recent years, particularly in developing countries. Investment in the agriculture sector can bring much needed support for rural development, but communities have also witnessed significant negative impacts. Some of the most serious involve local landholders being displaced from their lands and losing access to natural resources critical for their livelihoods and wellbeing. Instead of contributing to rural development, ill-conceived investments can undermine people?s rights to food, to water or to decent work. Improving accountability is essential in ensuring that investment processes respond to local needs and aspirations and respect human rights. Yet many deals struck between companies and governments to establish agricultural ventures are not fully transparent, making it difficult for the public and local communities to scrutinise projects before they materialise on the ground. Despite international human rights law and best practice requiring full transparency, public participation, and free prior and informed consent of local communities, civil society participation is often missing and once negative impacts have occurred citizens may struggle to have their voices heard or hold the company or the government to account. Weak governance is often accompanied by limited accountability to citizens. Yet, despite these challenges, many citizens have been able to hold companies and governments to account. For this to happen, local communities and the organisations that support them have to get organised, get informed and be strategic. Supporting affected communities to get organised so that they can collectively challenge or influence the project is essential to any successful advocacy. Success can take a long time ? sometimes involving years of struggle ? so ensuring strong community solidarity is key. Communities should be aware of their rights and what laws, regulations and policies are in place to protect them. An organised and informed community can then begin to devise a sophisticated advocacy strategy to achieve their goals. Usually the first step is to take complaints directly to local authorities, national authorities or the business operating on the ground. But when these approaches have limited success, communities and their supporters should not give up. There are other strategies that can be tried which reach beyond the borders of the project and the country where it is located. Behind most large-scale agricultural projects is a web of global actors that make the project possible. These actors include banks and companies that are funding the project and the companies that are buying the produce being grown or processed by it. All of these actors are necessary to the project?s success, and all are aiming to earn a profit from it in one way or another. They all have a relationship with the business operating on the ground and have the ability to influence it. All of these actors have some responsibility to ensure that the project does not harm communities. Knowing who is financing the project, who is buying the produce and who else is making the project possible and profitable ? in other words, ?following the money? ? opens up a range of opportunities for improved accountability. We call the web of actors involved in a project an ?investment chain?. Within this chain there are ?pressure points?. If affected communities can identify the strongest pressure points and take actions directed at effectively influencing key actors in the investment chain, they are more likely to achieve their goals. Understanding investment chains and pressure points, and effectively making use of them, can prove difficult. This Guide provides information, practical tips and exercises on how to map an investment chain behind a project, identify the strongest pressure points along the chain and then devise effective advocacy strategies that leverage those points. It explains what you need to know, the challenges you may face and the strengths and weaknesses of a range of advocacy options. Examples are provided from cases around the world where communities have tried to ?follow the money? and have used a number of strategies to hold investors and governments to account..."
Creator/author: Emma Blackmore, Natalie Bugalski, David Pred
Source/publisher: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Inclusive Development International (IDI)
2015-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 7 MB
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Description: "... This survey examines the state of disclosure of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Initial Environmental Examinations (IEE) conducted by oil and gas companies in Myanmar who were awarded blocks after 2013. The survey reveals that 11 out of 19 offshore blocks (58%) have disclosed IEEs and 4 out of 15 onshore blocks (26%) have disclosed EIAs. It identifies the companies who have disclosed, and those who have not. It provides links to the IEE/EIA reports, and associated Environmental Management Plans (EMPs). The Executive Summaries of most disclosed IEE/EIA are available in Burmese as well as English, in line with the emerging guidance from MOECAF. The overall level of disclosure in the oil and gas sector is superior to other sectors in Myanmar where the IEE/EIA process has yet to be consistently applied, such as mining and construction. However some oil and gas companies have not disclosed their IEE or EIA reports. These are predominantly those with onshore blocks, who are mostly smaller companies and with fewer public commitments to operating to global standards than the offshore operators. They signed contracts 6-12 months earlier and may have undertaken their EIA/IEE in 2014. The survey does not attempt to comment on the quality of these IEE/EIA. However a quick review and anecdotal evidence suggests that the IEE/EIA reports disclosed by international oil/gas companies, who have used experienced international EIA consultancy firms partnering with Myanmar EIA consultancies, are generally of a higher quality ? and cost - than those seen by MCRB for projects in other sectors in Myanmar. It is hoped that their example will lead to a raising of standards for EIA and disclosure across all sectors. The survey also analyses the challenges faced by companies in complying with the new requirement for IEE/EIA and disclosure, and makes recommendations for how these can be addressed. The issue of pre-existing projects is highlighted, which, under Article 8 of the new EIA Procedures, need to take steps to obtain an Environmental Compliance Certificate. The rationale for undertaking this research assumes that website disclosure, in addition to being a legal requirement under the new EIA procedures, will allow stakeholders to access and read the reports. These stakeholders ? who may include national and regional government officials and parliamentarians, civil society organisations, local communities and the media ? will therefore have the opportunity to study the assessments and engage critically with companies over the contractual commitments included in them, and hold companies to account for their environmental and social performance. However this requires those stakeholders to ?do their homework? and read the IEE/EIA. This survey is therefore also intended to raise awareness of the availability of these assessments; encourage stakeholders to read and engage with the EIA process; and encourage development partners to build their capacity to do so..."
Creator/author: Inna Lazareva, Vicky Bowman
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB)
2016-03-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-04-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 710.4 KB
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Description: ?Myanmar?s first report under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has provided levels of disclosure on companies? activities ?unthinkable” just a few years ago, NGOs and civil society organisations said. But they also see it as only a first step in pulling back the curtain on how Myanmar?s natural resources are managed...?
Creator/author: Steve Gilmore
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2016-01-22
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "This report summarises information about the reconciliation of fiscal and non-fiscal revenues from the extractive sector in Myanmar as part of the implementation of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). In addition this report includes the reconciliation of revenues collected by the State Owned Enterprises (SOE) from extractive companies and cash flows contributed by SOE to the State?s budget. As decided by the MSG during their meeting held on 6 October 2015, the extractive sector covered by the present reconciliation includes three sub-sectors oil & gas, gems & jade and other minerals..."
Source/publisher: Moore Stephens LLP
2015-12-00
Date of entry/update: 2016-01-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies, Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar.....Executive Summary: "This report was researched and written collaboratively by Dawei Civil Society Organizations and documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project in Dawei District of Myanmar?s Tanintharyi Region. Based on desk research, interviews with villagers, and direct engagement with companies and government, it exposes how the project was pushed ahead despite clear opposition from the local community. It documents the serious harm that has already been done to villagers? health, livelihoods, security, and way of life, and the devastating contamination of local rivers and streams. It calls for the suspension of Mayflower Mining Company?s permit and operations at Ban Chaung until this harm is remedied and the project is effectively evaluated, monitored, and regulated in compliance with Myanmar law and international best practice. It advocates that local villagers should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their own path to development. Formerly mired in conflict, resource-rich Tanintharyi Region is now opened up to foreign investment, and is threatened by a flood of dirty industrial projects including the massive Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and seven coal-fired power plants. Among these dirty projects is a coal mine in the Ban Chaung area of Dawei District. The project is located in a sensitive recent conflict zone, where administration and territory is contested between the Myanmar government and the ethnic armed resistance organization, the Karen National Union (KNU). Taking advantage of contested administration and weak governance in this area, Myanmar crony company Mayflower Mining used its high-level connections to begin coal mining operations without proper safeguards to protect human rights and the environment. The project was pushed ahead without an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and without the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local villagers. Mayflower Mining Company has a partnership with two companies from Thailand ? East Star Company and Thai Asset Mining Company ? that are operating on the ground in Ban Ban Chaung Coal Mining Report 2015 Chaung. Thai Asset has nearly completed building a road to transport Ban Chaung coal to the Theyet Chaung on the Tanintharyi coast, but its progress has been stalled due to a protest blockade by villagers. Meanwhile, East Star has already been operating a 60-acre open-pit mine at Khon Chaung Gyi village for more than three years, transporting nearly 500 tons of coal daily during the dry season according to local villagers. East Star has entered into a Joint Operating Agreement with Energy Earth Company, which will finance its mining operations and sell the coal on the market. May flower and its Thai partners plan to expand operations to mine for coal on at least 2,100 acres, threatening to take almost all of the local community?s agricultural land. Should it be allowed to expand, Ban Chaung coal mining would severely damage the health and livelihoods of approximately 16,000 villagers in the area, most of whom belong to the Karen ethnic group, and rely on fishing and farming. Indeed, many villagers are already suffering from increased pollution of air and water resources and land confiscations, of once productive agricultural land. East Star Company has dumped mining waste directly into the streams, causing fish to die off and local people to fall sick with troubling skin diseases. Uncontrolled coal fires, spontaneously combusting in waste and storage piles, have caused breathing problems in the community. An influx of outsiders along with the presence of the Myanmar military means local people no longer feel safe in their own villages. The project threatens the entire way of life of the indigenous Karen people of Ban Chaung, who have had their land passed down to them for generations. Although local people are overwhelmingly opposed to coal mining in their area, they were never given the chance to voice their concerns; only learning about the project once the bulldozers started digging on their land. Now, Ban Chaung villagers have joined together to challenge irresponsible coal mining in their area, and to call for alternative, democratic, and inclusive development in Tanintharyi Region."
Source/publisher: Tarkapaw Youth Group, Dawei Development Association (DDA), and the Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks (Trip Net)
2015-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-11-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ), English
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 3.91 MB 3.9 MB
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Description: Dirty coal mining by military cronies & Thai companies, Ban Chaung, Dawei District, Myanmar.....Executive Summary: "This report was researched and written collaboratively by Dawei Civil Society Organizations and documents the environmental and social impacts of the Ban Chaung coal mining project in Dawei District of Myanmar?s Tanintharyi Region. Based on desk research, interviews with villagers, and direct engagement with companies and government, it exposes how the project was pushed ahead despite clear opposition from the local community. It documents the serious harm that has already been done to villagers? health, livelihoods, security, and way of life, and the devastating contamination of local rivers and streams. It calls for the suspension of Mayflower Mining Company?s permit and operations at Ban Chaung until this harm is remedied and the project is effectively evaluated, monitored, and regulated in compliance with Myanmar law and international best practice. It advocates that local villagers should be given the opportunity to take ownership of their own path to development. Formerly mired in conflict, resource-rich Tanintharyi Region is now opened up to foreign investment, and is threatened by a flood of dirty industrial projects including the massive Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and seven coal-fired power plants. Among these dirty projects is a coal mine in the Ban Chaung area of Dawei District. The project is located in a sensitive recent conflict zone, where administration and territory is contested between the Myanmar government and the ethnic armed resistance organization, the Karen National Union (KNU). Taking advantage of contested administration and weak governance in this area, Myanmar crony company Mayflower Mining used its high-level connections to begin coal mining operations without proper safeguards to protect human rights and the environment. The project was pushed ahead without an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) and without the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of local villagers. Mayflower Mining Company has a partnership with two companies from Thailand ? East Star Company and Thai Asset Mining Company ? that are operating on the ground in Ban Ban Chaung Coal Mining Report 2015 Chaung. Thai Asset has nearly completed building a road to transport Ban Chaung coal to the Theyet Chaung on the Tanintharyi coast, but its progress has been stalled due to a protest blockade by villagers. Meanwhile, East Star has already been operating a 60-acre open-pit mine at Khon Chaung Gyi village for more than three years, transporting nearly 500 tons of coal daily during the dry season according to local villagers. East Star has entered into a Joint Operating Agreement with Energy Earth Company, which will finance its mining operations and sell the coal on the market. May flower and its Thai partners plan to expand operations to mine for coal on at least 2,100 acres, threatening to take almost all of the local community?s agricultural land. Should it be allowed to expand, Ban Chaung coal mining would severely damage the health and livelihoods of approximately 16,000 villagers in the area, most of whom belong to the Karen ethnic group, and rely on fishing and farming. Indeed, many villagers are already suffering from increased pollution of air and water resources and land confiscations, of once productive agricultural land. East Star Company has dumped mining waste directly into the streams, causing fish to die off and local people to fall sick with troubling skin diseases. Uncontrolled coal fires, spontaneously combusting in waste and storage piles, have caused breathing problems in the community. An influx of outsiders along with the presence of the Myanmar military means local people no longer feel safe in their own villages. The project threatens the entire way of life of the indigenous Karen people of Ban Chaung, who have had their land passed down to them for generations. Although local people are overwhelmingly opposed to coal mining in their area, they were never given the chance to voice their concerns; only learning about the project once the bulldozers started digging on their land. Now, Ban Chaung villagers have joined together to challenge irresponsible coal mining in their area, and to call for alternative, democratic, and inclusive development in Tanintharyi Region."
Source/publisher: Tarkapaw Youth Group, Dawei Development Association (DDA), and the Tenasserim River & Indigenous People Networks (Trip Net)
2015-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-11-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 3.9 MB 3.91 MB
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Description: Executive Summary: "Myanmar presents opportunities to build an inclusive economic system, but continues to be plagued by serious human rights challenges. The government is emerging from five decades of military rule and isolation, undertaking halting and partial reforms towards democracy, peace and a modern economy. With the beginning of reforms in 2011, Western governments lifted most of the economic sanctions and many foreign companies have taken advantage of the new business environment, the low-cost labour, abundant natural resources, geographic position, and over 50 million potential domestic consumers. During the 2014-2015 fiscal year, foreign direct investment reached a record US$8 billion. Last year saw a rapid increase in oil and gas projects with the award of 16 onshore and 20 offshore blocks in the space of 12 months. The prospect of cheap labour is also leading the garment industry grow rapidly. Total garment exports were valued at about US$1.6 billion in 2014. Already, a number of European and American companies have established a supply-chain in Myanmar, and many others are considering doing so. Myanmar has also seen an unprecedented growth in international tourist arrivals and the tourism industry is becoming one of the fastest growing areas of the economy. This report focuses on the foreign investment in these three sectors (oil and gas, garments, and tourism) ? the most significant ones today. It then assesses the human rights risks of multinational companies operating in Myanmar, particularly in the area of labour rights, land rights and conflict and security. Reforms remain fragile. Widespread corruption and the absence of rule of law, arbitrary arrests, and the lack of an independent judiciary continue. Armed conflicts persist in areas of Kachin and Shan States. The situation of the Rohingya minority has deteriorated further. The evolving domestic legal framework still lags behind international standards, and the government lacks the capacity to implement new legislation. The investment surge is intensifying land confiscation and violence. There are widespread reports of land grabbing linked to the development of infrastructure projects, the establishment of industrial zones, agriculture concessions, and resource extraction projects. In 2012, the government started a process to formulate a new Land Law, but the current framework leaves workers vulnerable to forced evictions, expropriation without proper compensation. Hydropower projects such as the Myitsone and the Salween River dams, extractive projects such as the Shwe Gas project and the Monywa copper mine (comprising the Letpadaung mine) and the establishment of Special Economic Zones, including the Dawei, the Kyaukphyu and Thilawa, have all been associated with tensions between local communities and investors over land confiscations and displacement, with little or no compensation. Protests are growing in number across the country and are often met with intimidation, the excessive use force, and arbitrary arrests and detentions. With the passage of new labour laws in 2012, the formation of trade unions and the exercise of the right to strike were legally allowed for the first time in 50 years. In 2012, the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM) was allowed to return to the country after decades in exile. It has established an office in Yangon and was registered as the first nationwide confederation in July 2015. Workers and employers are, however, still learning about their rights under the new legal framework. Collective bargaining is growing, but still relatively rare. Poor implementation of the law means that, in practice, employers can and do discriminate against workers who seek to exercise their newfound rights without consequence. Striking workers and labour activists are dismissed by employers. The procedures established by the law on the Settlement of Labour Disputes has not provided adequate protection for workers and is considered to be dysfunctional. Workers are paid extremely low wages. To meet basic living needs, they are often forced to work excessive overtime. In June, the government announced a new minimum wage of 3,600 kyats per day for enterprises employing 15 or more workers? a compromise between the 4,000 kyats advocated by the unions and the 2,500 kyats urged by business. The wage is still among the lowest in the region ? on par with Bangladesh. Even then, the garment manufacturers association threatened to close around 100 factories if the minimum wage was introduced at that rate (and a few have in fact closed). The new wage rate is an improvement, though still below a wage on which a worker can meet his or her basic needs. It remains to be seen whether the new rate will be paid, and whether the government will effectively enforce it. The large influx of foreign money and consequent pressure to keep wages low and increase productivity levels combined with a weak regulatory framework risk exacerbating labour and union rights abuses. There are serious risks that Myanmar?s natural resources and labour will only benefit privileged domestic interests and foreign companies, while disadvantaged communities will suffer the negative impacts of poorly regulated business Executive summary Foreign direct investment in Myanmar: What impact on human rights? 8|76 activities. The investment challenges in a context where the economy is still dominated by the interests of the military and their connected ?crony” businessmen are obvious. Myanmar is still a high-risk country, requiring a rigorous responsible investment strategy. The government is not protecting human rights or enforcing labour and environmental standards. In this context multinational enterprises will find their responsibilities more difficult to fulfil. The corporate responsibility to respect requires companies to exercise due diligence in order to mitigate human rights risks so that their operations do not contribute to or exacerbate human rights violations. In Myanmar, a weak governance country, investors are exposed to a complex business environment and responsible businesses must understand the direct and indirect impacts that their activities have on human rights. In particular, companies will have to undertake due diligence with respect to the human rights of workers whether they are performing work directly on their behalf or indirectly through other business enterprise. Land use and acquisition should recognise customary land rights, ensure consent, with direct consultation with villagers and local authorities, and provide proper compensations. Companies should establish grievance mechanisms to provide early remedy for rights-holders who are adversely impacted by their operations. Given the lack to effective state-based remedies, operational level grievance mechanisms, established according to criteria in the [UN] Guiding Principles, are even more important in Myanmar. A collective bargaining agreement is the most appropriate grievance mechanism in the workplace. Due diligence is required when doing business in Myanmar?s conflict-affected areas or when dealings with the military and their companies. Many local companies have some relationship with the military or may be ?cronies”. Businessmen with close ties to the military, associated with human rights abuses, are the best placed to benefit from new foreign investment in Myanmar. Multinational companies operating in Myanmar are expected to act as industry leaders on human rights and labour practices. This includes engaging with the government to encourage it to apply international standards, as well as engaging with local partners and subcontractors to have them comply with these standards. This report provides guidance for multinational companies operating in Myanmar on their huma
Source/publisher: International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
2015-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-10-12
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 2.11 MB
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Description: Summary: "Foreign investment in Myanmar has been increasing since 2012, after political and economic reforms by the Myanmar government led Western States to ease sanctions that had previously been imposed on the country. Such investment can improve the lives of the people of Myanmar. However, Amnesty International and other civil society groups have major concerns that basic legal safeguards are not yet in place to ensure that investment projects ? especially large extractive projects ? do not infringe on the human rights of persons living in communities in the vicinity. Amnesty International has conducted a detailed investigation into illegality and related serious human rights abuses linked to the Monywa copper mining project.2 These include forced evictions to make way for mining operations; violent repression of protests by Myanmar authorities; and environmental impacts posing a threat to local people?s health and access to safe drinking water. The corporate actors involved, which include Canadian, Chinese, and Myanmar companies, have profited from and in some cases colluded with the Myanmar authorities in these abuses ? yet the governments of China, Canada and Myanmar have failed to carry out proper investigations and hold the companies to account. These concerns are not unique to the Monywa project. Amnesty International urges the Human Rights Council to address corporate abuses in any forthcoming resolution on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. The Government of Myanmar should investigate and remedy past abuses at Monywa, and impose stronger legal safeguards to protect people from corporate human rights abuses. The organisation also calls for specific action by the home State governments of companies involved in the Monywa project, and for all governments to require companies entering Myanmar to carry out enhanced human rights due diligence...".....Written NGO statement to the 28th Session of UN Human Rights Council.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International via UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/28/NGO/160)
2015-02-27
Date of entry/update: 2015-09-15
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 251.72 KB
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Description: "The corporate social responsibility (CSR) contributions made by international oil companies operating in Myanmar have been made public for the first time, with France?s Total E&P Myanmar at the top of the list. The Ministry of Energy (MoE) has released figures dating back to 1998, on the CSR programs carried out by international oil companies working onshore and offshore in cooperation with the government..."
Creator/author: Aung Shin
Source/publisher: "Myanmar Times"
2015-08-26
Date of entry/update: 2015-08-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR)...published an online ?Myanmar Human Rights and Business Country Guide” concerning how businesses operating in Myanmar can impact human rights...The Country Guide is primarily intended for local and foreign businesses operating in Myanmar that want to improve their practices and those interested in entering the country. The report is also intended to be used by government officials, international institutions, investors and civil society organisations that want to support or incentivize responsible business...The main issues highlighted in the Myanmar report are: Myanmar is experiencing significant changes to the legal environment for business, especially in areas related to labour, environment and land...Trade unions were only legalized in Myanmar in 2012. The capacity to support this change, including among workers, government officials and trade unions themselves, is not yet in place...Working conditions, especially overtime and wages, as well as health and safety, represent ongoing human rights risks for companies operating in, or sourcing from, Myanmar...Land is an issue with major implications for human rights, development and the private sector...Protests are still met at times with use of force by public security forces and some protesters are detained...Parts of Myanmar remain vulnerable to conflict..."
Source/publisher: Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business, Danish Institute for Human Rights
2015-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2015-04-09
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.46 MB
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Description: Executive Summary: "This report is the culmination of a one year investigation by Amnesty International into alleged human rights abuses by companies, including multinational companies, operating in Myanmar. The report focuses on the Monywa copper mine project and highlights forced evictions, substantial environmental and social impacts, and the repression, sometimes brutal, of those who try to protest. It also raises serious questions about opaque corporate dealings and possible infringements of economic sanctions on Myanmar. The report calls on the Government of Myanmar to urgently introduce strong measures for the protection of human rights, and on multinational companies and the home governments of those companies to ensure that due diligence is carried out to international standards for all investment in Myanmar...This report examines the issues in relation to one major mining operation - the Monywa project - made up of the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung (S&K) and the Letpadaung copper mines. During an extensive one-year investigation, Amnesty International examined incidents that are specific to the Monywa project as well as some of the wider structural issues ? such as the processes for acquisition of land and environmental protection ? that will affect other extractive projects in Myanmar. The organization found that, since its inception and throughout its various changes in ownership, the Monywa project has been characterised by serious human rights abuses and a lack of transparency. Thousands of people have been forcibly evicted by the government with the knowledge, and in some cases the participation, of foreign companies. Environmental impacts have been poorly assessed and managed, with grave long-term implications for the health and livelihoods of people living near the mine. Protests by communities have been met with excessive force by police...".....CONCLUSION: The Government of Myanmar is responsible for the serious human rights violations that have taken place at the Monywa project over many years. It has forcibly evicted people and has failed to put in place safeguards to protect mine-affected communities from environmental pollution which can im- pact their rights to water and health, amongst other rights. It has shown an unwillingness to monitor corporate activity or to hold companies accountable for the harm their operations cause. The companies involved also bear responsibility. Despite a history of human rights violations sur- rounding the mine, a Canadian company, and subsequently a Chinese company, have invested without undertaking appropriate due diligence to ensure that past abuses were remediated and future abuses prevented. They have profited from abuses that they knew or should have known were happening, and have, in certain cases, themselves abused rights by participating in forced evictions or failing to remediate environmental pollution. The system that enabled the transfer of the Monywa project to a business venture that involved My- anmar military interests, without any transparency as to how such a sale occurred, is emblematic of the lack of accountability that exists around allocations of concessions and contracts in the extractive industry in Myanmar. The people of Myanmar must not see a resource curse unfold as it has done in so many other countries where powerful economic interests profit from a context in which regulation is weak, the government is unwilling to hold powerful political interests accountable and there is little or no transparency. The home states of multinational corporations must ensure that these corporations do not unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of Myanmar?s poorest people. The home states of companies involved in the Monywa project ? Canada and China ? have failed to do this...".....The report also contains critical analyses of Myanmar?s land legislation.
Source/publisher: Amnesty International
2015-02-10
Date of entry/update: 2015-02-11
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Corrupt politicians all over the world use companies and trusts with hidden ownership to seize public property worth billions of dollars. This deprives ordinary citizens of money that should be spent on development and empowers unaccountable elites, often helping them gain and maintain power at the expense of democracy, human rights and peace. Revealing the real people behind companies is critical to achieving genuine reform in Myanmar, where military families and crony tycoons have long benefited from control of natural resources like gas and gemstones. This is a critical time—in July 2014, Myanmar became a candidate member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global transparency standard which recommends that the identities of individuals who own and control oil, gas and mining companies are published. If Myanmar can meet the standard, it will go a long way to addressing the question of who really owns the companies that control the country?s most valuable natural assets. To test the waters, Global Witness asked each of the companies granted oil and gas blocks in Myanmar over the past 12 months to declare their ultimate beneficial ownership. These blocks were awarded in the wake of a public commitment by the Ministry of Energy to manage Myanmar?s energy sector in line with international best practices, and alongside the engagement of leading energy companies in Myanmar?s EITI process. As such, the willingness of block winners to open up their ownership is an important yardstick for progress on reform of Myanmar?s extractive industries..."
Source/publisher: Global Witness
2014-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2014-10-14
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese (မြန်မာဘာသာ)
Format : pdf pdf
Size: 1.25 MB 1.75 MB
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Description: "This photo set includes 18 still photographs selected from images taken by a community member from Bilin Township, Thaton District in January 2013. These photographs depict gold mining in Baw Paw Hta village and show village lands that were bought by the Mya Poo Company and subsequently damaged because of mining."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2013-06-28
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Introduction: "This briefing summarises major business and human rights developments in Myanmar (Burma) from November 2010, when the country held its first elections after 20 years and pro - democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was released from hous e arrest, to the present. It covers the positive and negative impacts of companies operating in the country, and is based on reports from a range of sources that the Resource Centre has featured on its website and in its Weekly Updates. It also refers to responses we received from companies when we asked them to reply to concerns raised by civil society, and refers to the failure of certain companies to respond. This briefing provide s an overview of major issues, cases, developments and trends ; it is no t intended to be comprehensive . For more detail and more cases, see our website section: ? Myanmar ?. Part 3 presents key cases in the sectors that have ha d major impacts on human rights, namely oil & gas, construction, hydropower, mining and manufacturing. It summarises allegations of human rights impacts of specific projects, presents company responses to these allegations where available, and outlines co mmunity, NGO, and government actions. It also draws attention to freedom of association and child labour concerns. The briefing show s how Myanmar people affected by business activities have made use of newfound freedoms to raise their concerns before com panies and the Myanmar G overnment. It also shows that in some cases people have suffered retaliation for their efforts to protect human rights. Part 4 tracks key relevant domestic and international policy and legislative developments, and refers to civil society inputs and reactions. Part 5 presents a selection of commentaries and reports that provide guidance for companies in Myanmar and for those considering entry to Myanmar . These materials were developed in response to the easing and lifting of inte rnational trade sanctions"
Source/publisher: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
2013-08-05
Date of entry/update: 2013-08-05
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 135.66 KB
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Description: Testimony of Marco Simons to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission: "This submission describes the emerging landscape as U.S. businesses reengage in Burma and identifies specific human rights concerns associated with current and prospective corporate activities in Burma (Myanmar). A number of companies, including General Electric, have already invested in Burma, and U.S. oil supermajors are considering participation in upcoming auctions for oil blocks. Increased foreign investment has already been linked to large-scale displacement of local communities and loss of traditional livelihoods in Burma. The legal framework for land rights is inadequate to protect the fundamental human rights of those whose homes and fields stand in the way of economic development; indeed, it facilitates arbitrary and inadequately compensated alienation of land. Moreover, violence and gross human rights abuses continue to occur in association with natural resource development projects, as at the Letpadaung Copper Mine at Monywa, and in Shan State along the Shwe Gas Pipeline corridor. Having decided that public disclosure, rather than regulation, is a more appropriate tool to address the human rights and environmental concerns associated with Western investment in Burma, the U.S. Government has proposed Reporting Requirements for Responsible Investment in Burma that are expected to take effect prior to April 2013. While they may assist government and civil society to monitor the human rights implications of the relaxation of U.S. sanctions on Burma, these Reporting Requirements have a number of troubling weaknesses that may allow serious human rights risks to avoid detection. Moreover, while the U.S. is now allowing the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to extend loans to Burma, such projects are already being met with complaints over lack of transparency and consultation..."
Source/publisher: Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission
2013-02-28
Date of entry/update: 2013-07-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 4.66 MB
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Description: This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in June 2012 by a community member describing events occurring in Thaton District, during the period between January to June 2012. Specifically, it describes villagers? education, their livelihood and explains how some of the villagers who have to go and work in other countries because of the lack of opportunities in their area. This report also presents detailed information about companies that have cooperated with KSDDP leaders (formerly DKBA) and BGF Battalion #1014 soldiers to confiscate land for rubber and teak plantations and, consequently, have forced the civilians to clear and plant tress in the plantation without providing wages. Also reported, is forced recruitment committed by one former DKBA leader, Moe Nyo. This report describes changes in the activity of the Tatmadaw and contains information on the villagers? concerns about Tatmadaw troop movement following the 2012 ceasefire.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2013-05-31
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-22
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 53.38 KB
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Description: "The following incident report was written by a community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights abuses. The community member who wrote this report described an incident that occurred on April 24th 2012, where soldiers from BGF Battalion #1014 ordered the villagers of T---, W---, V--- and X---, in Hpa-an Township, Thaton District, to do forced labour on plantation land that they had confiscated for private companies, for three weeks without providing any pay, food or tools. The information was learned when the community member interviewed Saw B---, a 36 year-old chairman from W--- village. This report has been summarized along with three other Incident Reports received from this area in: ?Border Guard #1014 forced labour and forced recruitment, April to May 2012,” KHRG, May 2013."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2013-05-28
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 122.69 KB
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Description: The following incident report was written by a community member who has been trained by KHRG to monitor human rights abuses, which describes an incident that occurred on April 25th 2012, when BGF soldiers forced villagers from T--- village, Meh K?Na Hkee village tract, Hpa-an Township, Thaton District, to clear plantations owned by Thein Lay Myaing and Shwe Than Lwin companies, which were located on land confiscated from the villagers. The report identifies the perpetrators as Thein Lay Myaing and Shwe Than Lwin companies, KSDDP and a company affiliated with BGF Battalion #1014, commanded by Tin Win and based out of Law Pu village in Hpa-an Township. This report has been summarized along with three other Incident Reports received from this area in: "BGF Battalion #1014 forced labour and forced recruitment, April to May 2012," KHRG, May 2013.
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2013-05-27
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 125.55 KB
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Description: "This report includes a situation update submitted to KHRG in February 2013 by a community member describing events occurring in Papun District, during the period between November 2012 and January 2013. The community member discusses abuses that happened during the period, such as how private construction workers collected stones near P--- villagers? farmland without the consent of the local community. Consequently, there is an increased threat of flooding that could affect more than 20 or 30 acres of farmland from the damage to natural water barriers caused by the stone collection. Also discussed, is how frontline soldiers from Tatmadaw Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) #434, which is based at Pa Heh army camp, forced four villagers from H--- village to porter unknown cargo between Papun town and Hsaw Bgeh Der. The community member also raised problems regarding destruction of the natural environment, such as how irregular rainfall and pests are damaging paddy crops."
Source/publisher: Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
2013-05-24
Date of entry/update: 2013-06-18
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 269.02 KB
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Description: "American companies investing in Burma should not let new US government reporting requirements lull them into complacency on human rights concerns. The US ?Reporting Requirements on Responsible Investment? in Burma went into effect on May 23, 2013. Doing business in Burma involves various human rights risks that the US rules do not fully address, Human Rights Watch said. These include the lack of rule of law and an independent judiciary, major tensions over the acquisition and use of land, and disregard of community concerns in government-approved projects. The military?s extensive involvement in the economy, use of forced labor, and abusive security practices in business operations heightens concerns. Corruption is pervasive throughout the country..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2013-05-25
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-27
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "In January 2013, the Burmese government announced plans to liberalize the country?s telecommunications sector and invited bids for two nationwide telecommunications licenses. Successful bidders will be allowed to provide a range of services, including mobile and Internet services. The Burmese government has promised to significantly reduce the cost of mobile phones and has set an ambitious goal of 50 percent mobile penetration by 2016, a remarkable increase from current penetration estimated at 5-10 percent. Human Rights Watch has long believed that Internet and mobile technologies have an enormous potential to advance human rights. Developing Burma?s information and communications technology (ICT) and telecommunications sectors could enhance economic growth and civic participation in a country that has been closed for decades. Email, social media, and cell phones have become essential tools for journalists, human rights defenders, and civil society groups worldwide because these technologies support instant communication, access to information, and effective organization on the ground. However, these benefits may be jeopardized unless governments and corporations safeguard the ability of people to use new technologies freely and without fear of reprisal. Improved telecommunications networks can become powerful tools for censorship and illegal surveillance, absent protections for human rights and other critical measures. Yet Burma?s democratic reforms remain incomplete and the government and its security forces continue to commit serious human rights violations. Companies entering Burma face a significant risk of contributing to abuses, particularly in sectors, such as telecommunications and the Internet, that have been linked with past abuses and where rights-based reforms to date have been inadequate. Opening up these sectors to international investment raises the risk that the government may seek to involve technology companies in illegal surveillance, censorship, and other abuses. In this report, Human Rights Watch has outlined several steps necessary to promote adequate human rights protections for Internet and mobile phone users in Burma, and the actions needed to foster responsible investment in Burma?s telecommunications and Internet sectors. Telecommunications and ICT companies should not move forward in Burma until such measures are in place, in view of the human rights risks. The analysis and recommendations contained in this report are based on research conducted from February to April 2013. The report?s analysis focuses on laws most relevant to Burma?s telecommunications and ICT sectors, and does not provide a comprehensive treatment of Burma?s laws, legal system or constitution...To respect the rights of the people of Burma, international telecommunications and ICT companies should take meaningful steps at the outset to assess the human rights impact and address any harm that may result from their operations. They should conduct what is often referred to as ?human rights due diligence? and adopt robust safeguards to prevent and address abuses, including with respect to the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and privacy..."
Source/publisher: Human Rights Watch
2013-05-19
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-23
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 294.78 KB
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Description: About this Paper: "This is the first in a series of Occasional Papers by the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB). Papers in this series will provide independent analysis and policy recommendations concerning timely subjects on the business and human rights agenda from the perspectives of IHRB staff members and research fellows. This paper was prepared by IHRB Policy Director, Salil Tripathi with input from IHRB?s South East Asia Programme Manager, Donna Guest. Over the past year in particular, IHRB has been studying Myanmar?s re-emergence in the global economy and believes political changes in the country represent an important opportunity in the area of business and human rights. IHRB staff members have visited Myanmar, most recently in July 2012 at the invitation of the British Government to present a round-table on business and human rights with Myanmar government and opposition leaders, as well as local and international business representatives. In collaboration with the Danish Institute for Human Rights, IHRB is working with local and international partners to establish a responsible investment resource centre in Myanmar and will be developing a number of activities aimed at fostering trade and investment in the country consistent with the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and other international corporate responsibility standards. The resource centre will be open to all actors: local business, international business, government, parliamentarians, investors, civil society, trade unions and communities. From September 2012 a local co-ordinator is in place, based at the British Council in Yangon, to establish the resource centre and also to organize a series of thematic workshops on many of the issues discussed in this paper." For more details contact: [email protected]
Source/publisher: Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) - Occasional Paper series, No. 1
2012-09-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-08
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights include guidance on the role of meaningful consultation by companies with their stakeholders, particularly those groups that their operations may impact directly. Meaningful consultation can assist companies both to gauge and to mitigate their risk of involvement with human rights impacts…Shift?s report is designed to assist companies with this challenge, as they consider or commence operations in Myanmar. The report (1) provides a survey of stakeholder views regarding the entry of companies into Myanmar; and (2) sets out key elements for companies to consider in their stakeholder engagement strategies. The report describes the high expectations interviewees have of the benefits that companies can bring to Myanmar, from building workers? skills in labor-intensive sectors, to improving working conditions and reducing poverty. It also highlights their fears that their lands will be taken from them, their environment degraded, and their livelihoods destroyed…" (from the Business & Human Rights entry on this report)
Source/publisher: Shift
2013-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2013-05-06
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "Just two weeks after the violent police crackdown on peaceful copper mine protests, an international business investment assessor has included Burma in a top-10 league of countries at ?extreme risk” for human rights abuses. Burma was ranked sixth in the bad league behind only Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the UK business advisory company Maplecroft said in its ?Human Rights Risk Atlas 2013.” Despite reforms of the past 18 months in Burma, the risk to foreign investors concerned about their public image remains extremely high, Maplecroft said. The warning comes as Western and Japanese multinational businesses weigh up prospects for investing in Burma, especially in infrastructure development and mining, oil and gas exploration. So far, recorded abuses such as land confiscations and forced labor have been linked to Burmese military-connected firms or Chinese companies such as China National Petroleum Corporation, which is building controversial oil and gas pipelines through the length of the country. But as pressure mounts for economic growth, more cases are coming to light..."
Creator/author: William Boot
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy"
2012-12-19
Date of entry/update: 2012-12-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "After submitting a detailed comment [MAIN URL] to the US Department of State expressing concern over weak reporting requirements for US companies considering investing in Burma, EarthRights International, Freedom House, Physicians for Human Rights, U.S. Campaign for Burma and United to End Genocide issued the following statement: ?We continue to be deeply concerned by the US government?s decision to lift all remaining sanctions, and allow corporations unrestricted investment access to Burma despite widespread corruption, ongoing human rights violations and a total lack of rule of law. Although US companies will be required to report on their investments, the current requirements lack specificity about enforcement and consequences for non-compliance. Furthermore, existing loopholes enable companies to designate information as ?confidential? as a way to avoid public scrutiny. The US government should take immediate steps to ensure that there is a strong regulatory framework that can effectively promote accountability and transparency..."
Source/publisher: Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) et al
2012-10-04
Date of entry/update: 2012-10-07
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 134.6 KB
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Description: (Yangon, 1 May 2012) – "Speaking to more than 200 participants at a ceremony in Yangon, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon chaired the launch of the UN Global Compact in Myanmar today, underscoring heightened interest in corporate responsibility as the country is going through a process of political and economic reforms. ?In order to deliver prosperity and opportunity widely, Myanmar needs strong and inclusive markets,? the Secretary-General said in his keynote remarks to participants, which also included nearly 50 representatives of the international community, including foreign investors. ?Business has to be the backbone of growth. However, investment and business activity must be sustainable and responsible – upholding the highest standards of business ethics.? The meeting with business and government representatives came on the last day of the Secretary-General?s three-day visit to Myanmar. At the event, 14 companies and the Myanmar Chamber of Commerce formally joined the Global Compact in a signing ceremony..."
Source/publisher: UN Global Comact
2012-05-01
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...Extractive companies will be tempted by Myanmar?s rich reserves of oil, gas, minerals, and teak. In talks with another multinational company, we were reminded that it is possible to combine activities in the extractive industry with sound sustainable practices such as environmental and social impact assessments, grievance mechanisms and strategic social investments. Since extractive companies inevitably have to work closely with the government, they should leverage government relations to pursue sustainable development and the protection of human rights..."
Creator/author: Kris Douma
Source/publisher: responsible-investor.com
2012-05-07
Date of entry/update: 2012-05-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: "...This briefer focuses on the impacts of two of Burma?s largest energy projects, led by Chinese, South Korean, and Indian multinational corporations in partnership with the state-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Burmese companies, and Burmese state security forces. The projects are the Shwe Natural Gas Project and the Burma-China oil transport project, collectively referred to here as the ?Burma-China pipelines.? The pipelines will transport gas from Burma and oil from the Middle East and Africa across Burma to China. The massive pipelines will pass through two states, Arakan (Rakhine) and Shan, and two divisions in Burma, Magway and Mandalay, over dense mountain ranges and arid plains, rivers, jungle, and villages and towns populated by ethnic Burmans and several ethnic nationalities. The pipelines are currently under construction and will feed industry and consumers primarily in Yunnan and other western provinces in China, while producing multi-billion dollar revenues for the Burmese regime. This briefer provides original research documenting adverse human rights impacts of the pipelines, drawing on investigations inside Burma and leaked documents obtained by EarthRights and its partners. EarthRights has found extensive land confiscation related to the projects, and a pervasive lack of meaningful consultation and consent among affected communities, along with cases of forced labor and other serious human rights abuses in violation of international and national law. EarthRights has uncovered evidence to support claims of corporate complicity in those abuses. In addition, companies involved have breached key international standards and research shows they have failed to gain a social license to operate in the country. New evidence suggests communities in the project area are overwhelmingly opposed to the pipeline projects. While EarthRights has not found evidence directly linking the projects to armed conflict, the pipelines may increase tensions as construction reaches Shan State, where there is a possibility of renewed armed conflict between the Burmese Army and specific ethnic armed groups. The Army is currently forcibly recruiting and training villagers in project areas to fight. EarthRights has obtained confidential Production Sharing Contracts detailing the structure of multi-million dollar signing and production bonuses that China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) is required to pay to MOGE officials regarding its involvement in two offshore oil and gas development projects that, at present, are unrelated to the Burma- China pipelines. EarthRights believes the amount and structure of these payments are in-line with previously disclosed resource development contracts in Burma, and are likely representative of contracts signed for the Burma-China pipelines; contracts that remain guarded from public scrutiny. Accordingly, the operators of the Burma- China pipeline projects would have already made several tranche cash payments to MOGE, totaling in the tens of millions of dollars..."
Source/publisher: EarthRights International (ERI)
2011-03-29
Date of entry/update: 2011-03-29
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Korean
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Description: Chevron Corp. of San Ramon is drawing harsh criticism for its business ties to Burma, the Asian nation conducting a brutal military crackdown. The company owns part of a natural gas project in Burma, where soldiers crushed pro-democracy protests last week and killed at least 10 people. U.S. sanctions prevent most U.S. companies from working in Burma, but Chevron?s investment there existed before the sanctions were imposed and continues under a grandfather clause. As a result, the company is one of the few large Western companies left in the country.
Creator/author: David R. Baker
Source/publisher: San Francisco Bay Area
2007-10-04
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Bis vor kurzer Zeit war Burma (Myanmar) das Land mit mehr intaktem Tropenwald als irgendein anderes Land auf dem s?dostasiatischen Festland. Es liefert das wertvollste Teakholz, das weltweit auf dem Markt ist - Holz aus den letzten prim?ren Teakw?ldern der Erde. Nachdem in den letzten Jahrzehnten die Prim?rw?lder Indiens, Thailands und Kambodschas weitgehend gepl?ndert wurden, sind seit einigen Jahren die Teakw?lder Burmas an der Reihe. Vom Ausverkauf dieser bedeutenden (und extrem artenreichen) W?lder profitiert allein das burmesische Milit?rregime, das mit den Profiten aus dem Holzhandel den Krieg gegen die aufst?ndischen Minderheiten im S?den des Landes finanziert. keywords: Logging, teak, military regime, human rights, forced labour
Creator/author: Sabine Genz
Source/publisher: Robin Wood Magazin Jg. 98 Nr. 2; S.20
1998-00-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-11-17
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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Description: "Burma and China prepare to build seven hydroelectric dams in Kachin State that will not provide the people of Burma with jobs, security or even electricity Large-scale hydroelectric dams have long been decried for the immense damage they do to the environment and rural communities. Not everyone agrees, however, that the problems associated with mega-dams outweigh their benefits. After all, say pragmatists, dams are a reliable supply of electricity, without which no country can hope to survive in the modern world. (Illustration: Harn lay / The irrawaddy) But in Burma, such arguments fall flat. Not only do massive dam-building projects take an especially high toll on people?s lives—besides destroying villages and the environment, they result in intensifying human rights abuses and make diseases such as malaria more prevalent—they also come without a payoff for the general population. At the end of the day, the electricity they generate—the only benefit the Burmese people can expect to get from them—remains as scarce as ever..."
Creator/author: David Paquette
Source/publisher: "The Irrawaddy" Vol. 18, No. 4
2010-04-00
Date of entry/update: 2010-04-19
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
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Description: Message from KDNG: "As a network of residents of Kachin State, we, the Kachin Development Networking Group, have been monitoring plans by the stateowned China Power Investment Corporation and Burma?s military regime to build seven dams on the Irrawaddy River and its two main tributaries. In 2007 we published the report, "Damming the Irrawaddy" which surveyed the environment and peoples in the affected area and analyzed the negative impacts of these dams. Today construction of the 2,000-megawatt Chibwe Dam on the N?Mai River is already underway. The forced relocation of 15,000 people to clear out the flood zone of the Irrawaddy Myitsone Dam has also begun. In August 2009 villagers were informed that they must begin to move out within two months. There have been no public assessments of the projects, no consultation with affected people within the flood zone or downstream, and no consent from local residents or the larger population of Burma. As a result, public resistance to the dams is growing. Despite the risks of arrest, torture or death for dissent in military-ruled Burma, brave people are demanding a halt to the dams. Mass prayer ceremonies calling for the protection of the rivers have been held along the river banks and in churches up and downstream. Posters, open letters, and graffi ti from students, elders and prominent leaders have objected to the dams. In a face-to-face meeting with the Burma Army?s Northern Commander, local residents made it clear that no amount of compensation will make up for the losses these dams will bring to their community and future generations. We stand with the people of Kachin State and throughout Burma who oppose these dams. The demand to stop this project has been made clear to our military rulers and now we specifically appeal to China Power Investment Corporation and the government of China to stop these dams..."
Source/publisher: Kachin Development Networking Group (KDNG) via Burma Rivers Network (BRN)
2009-10-00
Date of entry/update: 2009-11-21
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English
Format : pdf
Size: 1.05 MB
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Description: "At night the Shweli has always sung sweet songs for us. But now the nights are silent and the singing has stopped. We are lonely and wondering what has happened to our Shweli?" ... "Exclusive photos and testimonies from a remote village near the China-Burma border uncover how Chinese dam builders are using Burma Army troops to secure Chinese investments. Under the Boot, a new report by Palaung researchers, details the implementation of the Shweli Dam project, China?s first Build-Operate-Transfer hydropower deal with Burma?s junta. Since 2000, the Palaung village of Man Tat, the site of the 600 megawatt dam project, has been overrun by hundreds of Burmese troops and Chinese construction workers. Villagers have been suffering land confiscation, forced labour, and restriction on movement ever since, and a five kilometer diversion tunnel has been blasted through the hill on which the village is situated. Photos in the report show soldiers carrying out parade drills, weapons assembly, and target practice in the village. "This Chinese project has been like a sudden military invasion. The villagers had no idea the dam would be built until the soldiers arrived," said Mai Aung Ko from the Palaung Youth Network Group (Ta?ang), which produced the report. Burma?s Ministry of Electric Power formed a joint venture with Yunnan Joint Power Development Company, a consortium of Chinese companies, to build and operate the project. Electricity generated will be sent to China and several military-run mining operations in Burma. As the project nears completion, plans are underway for two more dams on the Shweli River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy..."
Source/publisher: Palaung Youth Network Group
2007-12-03
Date of entry/update: 2007-12-04
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: English, Burmese, Chinese
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Description: Mit Zwangsarbeit, ethnischen Umsiedlungen und ausländischen Investitions-Dollars sichert die Militärjunta ihre Machtstrukturen in Myanmar. Forced labour, internal displacement, foreign investments, power structures.
Source/publisher: politikerscreen
2005-04-29
Date of entry/update: 2005-06-10
Grouping: Individual Documents
Language: Deutsch, German
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