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Japan, South Korean firms among businesses supporting Myanmar military abuses, Amnesty says
- The rights group urged the companies that partner with Myanmar’s MEHL to cut ties that may be helping to finance atrocities against the Rohingya
- Pan-Pacific South Korea, which runs garment factories, said that it intends to end its relationship with the military-backed conglomerate
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The overwhelming control of Myanmar’s economy by the military through some of its biggest companies means its foreign and domestic business partners are likely supporting army units and leaders suspected of human rights abuses, critics say.
A report by Amnesty International released on Thursday details some of those links with Myanmar Economic Holdings PLC a huge conglomerate that was set up by the military in 1990.
The human rights group is urging the government and companies that partner with the company, known as MEHL, to cut ties that may be helping to finance such activities, including atrocities against Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingya minority.
MEHL’s foreign business partners include South Korean steel maker Posco International, trading company Pan-Pacific and the Inno Group; RMH Singapore Pte, formerly owned by British American Tobacco; China’s Wanbao Mining, which jointly operates copper mines in Myanmar, and drink manufacturer Kirin of Japan.
Some of MEHL’s domestic and foreign partners, including Kirin, have said they are investigating the concerns raised by the report. Others have not.
The Amnesty report, compiled in collaboration with the human rights group Justice for Myanmar, outlines links between key military units and leaders involved in what Myanmar’s military has called a clearance campaign in the northwestern Rakhine. It was home to more than 700,000 Rohingya who have fled Myanmar to neighbouring Bangladesh and other countries since August 2017.
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