Burma Campaign UK has published the latest iteration of its ‘Dirty List’, adding 28 new companies said to be linked to the Burmese military and, as such, to human rights violations and the environmental destruction of Burma, reports the Democratic Voice of Burma.
The additions to the list — which now targets 116 entities — are registered across 12 different countries, the majority from Japan and Vietnam.
BCUK director Mark Farmaner says that, despite a May 2021 commitment made by Japan (as part of the G7) to observe an embargo on the sale of arms to the junta, the country continues to do business with the military across other sectors. “So there’s a real inconsistency there at the heart of Japanese policy – that they’ll fund [military companies participating in] arms sales but they won’t fund the arm sales themselves.”