Myanmarese citizens demand that gas sanctions be lifted in order to stop military funding

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

When the young woman in Myanmar understood that money from the company she liked was now in the hands of the military authorities she despised, she decided to speak up.

Her dad and she had both worked for Total Energies, a French corporation that owns and runs a valuable gas field off the coast of southern Myanmar with a state-owned company.
The military, however, took control of Myanmar's government and bank accounts in February, including those that collect hundreds of millions of dollars each year from the Total Yadana gas field.

 

The young woman joined others across Myanmar in a surge of support for targeted restrictions on oil and gas revenues, the country's single greatest source of foreign currency revenue, as military abuses such as the death and incarceration of thousands increased.
However, Western nations, most notably the United States and France, have declined to take that step in the face of pressure from energy industry officials and opposition from countries such as Thailand, which imports Myanmar's gas.
The US slapped a slew of sanctions against various Myanmar officials and entities on Friday, but again excluded oil and gas earnings.

 

Outside Total's offices, the young woman screamed slogans and later opposed the military's takeover.
She claims she has subsequently lost her job and has been sentenced to three weeks in prison.

"We had a nice relationship and good memories of Total," said the young woman, whose name, like the names of other Myanmar gas employees in this storey, has been changed to protect their identities.
"Total has taken a lot from Myanmar....so they should at least put in a little effort to support Myanmar at this horrific moment in our country."

 

Myanmar's popular outcry for penalties on gas earnings has become louder in recent months.
Activists initiated the "Blood Money Campaign" in August, marching through the streets with posters reading "Freeze payments to the junta and save Myanmar," risking their lives.
Others used social media to upload images of individuals with posters that said, "Total, Chevron — Stop accessory to murder."

 

Millions of people across Myanmar are imposing personal sanctions, according to the UN's top expert on human rights in Myanmar, by withholding taxes, refusing to pay power bills, and boycotting military-related businesses.
On Nov. 30, 540 Myanmar civil society organisations joined their international counterparts in writing to Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne, requesting that the company "put an end to its role in crimes against humanity" by transferring payments to a holding account.
Total is breaking local rules against misappropriating public funds, according to the letter, and "has aligned itself with the junta."

The Associated Press also obtained a copy of a letter from Yadana workers to their supervisors earlier this year, in which they requested that Total's subsidiary, Total E&P Myanmar, delay export payments to the military, store the monies in a safeguarded account, and freeze income tax.