[Reader-list] Tata among the top investors in Burma

[S. Jabbar]

New Burma ŒDirty List¹ - Companies Named and Shamed
03 Jun 2008
New Burma ŒDirty List¹ - Companies Named and Shamed
View the Dirty List here:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/dirty-and-clean-list/dirty-l
ist/contact-details
BBC Worldwide, Toyota, Qantas, TATA join Burma ŒDirty List¹
50 new companies have been added to the ŒDirty List¹ published today by the
Burma Campaign UK. A total of 154 companies feature on the new list. The
ŒDirty List¹ exposes companies that are directly or indirectly helping to
finance Burma¹s brutal military dictatorship.
Major companies named and shamed include, BBC Worldwide, Toyota, Qantas,
TATA, TOTAL Oil, Orient Express, Kuoni, Schlumberger, Lonely Planet, Daewoo,
China National Offshore Oil Corp and Hutchison Whampoa, owner of 3 Mobile.
³In an age where companies like to claim they behave ethically, this list
exposes those corporations for whom corporate responsibility is just a
hollow public relations exercise,² said Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer
of the Burma Campaign UK. ³If you are serious about ethics, you don¹t fund
dictatorships that rape five year old girls, shoot at peaceful protestors
and leave storm victims to die.²
The regime spends half its budget on the military and just 1.4% of GDP on
health and education, less than half that spent by the next poorest country
in Asia. Burma is the only country in Asia whose defence budget is greater
than that of health and education combined. As a consequence Burma has the
4th highest child mortality rate in the world.
The new companies added to the list are the result of new information and an
influx of new investment in Burma¹s gas sector.
- 30 companies on the list are in the tourism sector ­ either operating
tours to Burma or promoting tourism through guides.
- 33 companies on the list are in the oil & gas sector.
Since the Dirty List was first published six years ago over 100 companies
have withdrawn from Burma including PwC, Rolls Royce, DHL, Swiss Re and
Willis.
For more information and a copy of the Dirty List, contact Johnny
Chatterton, Campaigns Officer, on 020 7324 4710
NOTE TO EDITORS: THE CURRENT SITUATION IN BURMA
Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. In May
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi had her detention without trial extended.
She has now been under arrest for more than 12 years. Rape is used as a
weapon of war against ethnic minorities and over 1,800 political prisoners
languish in jail, many subjected to horrific torture. Over 2.4 million
people are currently at serious risk due to the regime¹s deliberate
obstruction of international aid efforts to the victims of Cyclone Nargis.
Subscribe to the Dirty List
You can subscribe to the Dirty List to receive: advance copies of each
ŒDirty List¹, free checks on any company to establish known details of any
links to Burma (up to 20 per year), free background checks to provide extra
information on companies on the list, immediate notification of any changes
to the ŒDirty List¹ during the course of the year, emailed updates of
significant events relating to companies on the list, advance notice of new
or planned campaigns against companies on the list. For more details contact
johnny.chatterton at burmacampaign.org.uk +44 20 7324 4714