Pressure Builds On Total To Get Out Of Burma

What with North Korea’s nuclear dick-swinging, swine flu, and an endless parade of MPs expenses fiddling, all set against a peachy backdrop of economic decline, internally-repressive regimes such as Burma’s seem to have fallen off the UK news agenda lately. But despite their low media profile, protestors assembled yesterday outside the French embassy in Knightsbridge for the second week running, campaigning for the withdrawal of French oil giant Total from Burma. 

They did seem a sorry bunch, huddled quietly in the rain as they posed for more pictures in exactly the same spot as last week. But they certainly had reason to be glum, as yesterday heralded two grim anniversaries. 27th May marked 19 years since Aung San Suu Kyi led the National League for Democracy to victory in Burma’s first elections for 30 years, only to have her resounding 82% landslide ignored by the military junta; and 6 years since she has been under house arrest. 

After having the rozzers turn up unexpectedly last week, this time the Total Out Of Burma group made sure that they had given police advance warning, and shook hands politely with them before the two bike cops checked the paperwork and left the group to go peaceably about their business. Thelondonpaper even had a snapper in the area at exactly the same time, but they were understandably more concerned with the fact that Beyoncé might walk out of the Lanesborough hotel at any moment. 

Even though the media spotlight may be falling in more frivolous places, the Burmese government’s heavy handed treatment of Kyi for letting a trespasser stay in her jail/house is cranking up the pressure on the French energy giant to seriously reconsider its continued involvement in Burma. 

Total, France’s largest and most profitable company and the fourth largest oil company in the world after Exxon, BP and Shell, has been coming under fire from activists ever since it signed a production-sharing contract to develop and operate the Yadana gas field in Myanmar in 1992. Activist’s claim that Total’s investment in the Yudana pipeline earns the Burmese regime approximately $500m a year.  

Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer for Burma Campaign UK, said: “Total’s involvement in Burma helps to fund a brutal regime and bankrolls a campaign of ethnic cleansing in the East of Burma, enabling the junta to maintain their grip on power through military might.” 

Last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner acknowledged that Total was the sole major European investor in the country, telling the French Parliament that “The only serious economic lever [against the junta] would obviously be Total.” Natural gas is now Burma’s largest single source of export revenue since the Yadana and Yetagun gas fields came online, accounting for almost 42% of all export revenue. 

As EU countries pondered possible sanctions against Burma in response to the junta’s threat to imprison Kyi for another 5 years, Koucher pointed to the political minefield that any economic action involving Total would create, including the likelihood that Chinese energy firms would swoop into the void left by Total if they were to withdraw from Myanmar’s gas fields. 

Kyi has repeatedly called on companies like Total and the USA’s Unocal to leave Burma. In an interview with El Monde, she has said that: “Total has become the main supporter of the Burmese military regime.” 

According to figures from UNICEF, almost half the regime’s budget is spent on augmenting its military, while only 2-4% is spent on health care, enabling it to increase its armed forces from 200,000 in 1988 to around 400,000 today. 

In light of the media restrictions in Burma, the only thing that is clear about the Total’s predicament is how difficult it is for outsiders to make an accurate judgement. Although groups such as Total Out Of Burma claim that the presence of the energy company strengthens the position of the Burmese government, the energy giant refute this, claiming the value of a number of socio-economic programs they implement outweigh any negatives of their presence. 

In a letter from 2008 François Lassalle, Total’s Vice President for Public Affairs said: “In the area around the Yadana gas pipeline, people say that they are pleased with the presence of the company. They appreciate the fact that Total provides free medical care, increased opportunities to earn a living through agricultural and micro-credit programmes and better educational opportunities than they would have if we were not there.” 

However, Burma Campaign UK don’t agree. Chatterton said: “It may  be true that a tiny number of Total’s projects help a handful of Burmese people, but they are giving an estimated $2.6 million dollars a day to the regime. Total admit publicly that the amount they spend on these sustainable development projects is less than $5 million per year, so it’s a pittance really- a distraction from the truth.” 

Lassalle also said: “We know that if our presence in Myanmar were ended, we would immediately be replaced by other operators who might not apply the same social or ethical standards.” Chatterton dismissed this claim: “I simply point to the case of Ivanhoe mines which attempted to withdraw from Burma from international pressure, they found that no-one would buy their mine as no one wanted to get involved with the regime. They are still looking for a buyer. There isn’t one example of a Western company withdrawing from Burma and a Chinese company taking over, so its an easy thing for Total thing to say, but it doesn’t justify their continued involvement. It smacks of desperation if you ask me.” 

Mark from Total Out Of Burma, who refused to give his second name, said: “I think that is quite possible [that another company would take Total's place], but it would still leave the regime in a much weaker position”.

Posted by Mike Bennett in Green Rush | May 28, 2009 1:12PM |