New Burma ‘Dirty List’ - Companies Named and Shamed

New Burma ‘Dirty List’ - Companies Named and Shamed

View the Dirty List here:
http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/burma/dirty-and-clean-list/dirty-list/contact-details

BBC Worldwide, Toyota, Qantas, TATA join Burma ‘Dirty List’
50 new companies have been added to the ‘Dirty List’ published today by the Burma Campaign UK. A total of 154 companies feature on the new list. The ‘Dirty List’ exposes companies that are directly or indirectly helping to finance Burma’s 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.
“In 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,” said Johnny Chatterton, Campaigns Officer of the Burma Campaign UK. “If you are serious about ethics, you don’t fund dictatorships that rape five year old girls, shoot at peaceful protestors and leave storm victims to die.”

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 Burma’s 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Since the Dirty List was first published six years ago over 100 companies have withdrawn from Burma including PwC, Rolls Royce, DHL, Swiss Re and Willis.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 regime’s 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 ‘Dirty List’, 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 ‘Dirty List’ 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 (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) +44 20 7324 4714

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