Eleven months on from the military coup, Burma Campaign UK is calling on US President Biden and French President Macron to stop blocking sanctions to stop gas revenue going to the military.
“It is astonishing that 11 months after the coup, American and French companies are still providing hundreds of millions of dollars to the military,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Biden and Macron are the decision makers about sanctioning gas revenue and they are refusing to act. They appear content for American and French companies to fund violations of international law, including rape and murder.”
American oil giant Chevron, and French oil giant Total, are part of a consortium of companies operating the Yadana gas field in Burma. Before the surge in global gas prices in the past year, the project was estimated to earn the military around $400 million dollars annually. That amount is likely to have risen now. Chevron and Total are too embarrassed to reveal exactly how much the project is earning the military in the past year.
It is possible the military could receive around half a billion dollars from the Yadana gas project in the year since the coup.
Macron has veto power over European Union (EU) sanctions to stop gas revenue reaching the military. Unless he agrees, the EU can’t act.
“At a time when people in Burma are sacrificing everything to win their freedom, Biden and Macron appear more concerned about corporate profits, even if that means funding rape, torture and killings by the Burmese military,” said Mark Farmaner. “Biden and Macron have the power to deprive the Burmese military of hundreds of millions of dollars, but they refuse to act.”