By 
Klaus M. Schmidt Flores
by Life Of Pix from Pexels, 16 May 2015
Corporate compliance issues raise scrutiny over the relationship between domestic and international corporations funding the local junta’s violent hold over Myanmar. This situation highlights the need for stricter international laws and stricter corporate responsibility.
Recent reports illustrate that Myanmar’s unfolding humanitarian crisis is being nurtured through revenue streams that often originate from corporate boardrooms. As the current military regime continues to commit grave human rights violations, the role played by businesses operating and potentially connected to Myanmar is placed under international scrutiny. The United Nations (UN) has published a report indicating that corporate partnerships, usually within the energy and infrastructure sectors, may have direct participation in the enabling of junta-related atrocities within Myanmar (UN OCHR, 2024).
Companies such as the military-controlled conglomerates Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) remain a critical financial backbone to the junta funding (UN OCHR, 2024). According to the UN Special Rapporteur, these corporations have had a long relationship with joint ventures and supply chain operations with multinational corporations, in what has been referred to as “a pipeline of profit into tyranny” (UN OCHR, 2024). Additionally, as conducted by Chevron and TotalEnergies, gas production projects in Myanmar have continued channeling revenues despite systemic censures and widespread sanctions (UN OCHR, 2022). Despite these organisations withdrawing from their Myanmar operations, their delayed departure has left civil society organisations contending that national military operations have benefitted from this, allowing for the expansion of their campaign of violence (Human Rights Watch, 2024).
As the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights pressure corporations to evaluate and manage human rights risks in their practices, these previously mentioned instances demonstrate the urgent need for corporations operating within high-conflict areas to implement these principles (UNHRC, 2011). To hold international corporations accountable, human rights activists are urging the support of the international community to implement legislation requiring human rights due diligence.
The recorded corporate negligence in Myanmar serves as a worldwide example. The need for effective action becomes apparent as global mechanisms develop to enforce corporate adoption of ethical and transparent practices that are disconnected from providing any support to authoritarian governments.
Sources and Further Readings
Human Rights Watch. (2024, February 9). Myanmar: Rohingya at Risk in Rakhine Fighting.
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