This is the deadly crackdown that we have feared. This morning, Myanmar troops fired on peaceful #CivilDisobedienceMovement protesters in Mandalay. Two people are reported dead, murdered by the military. The youngest was a 14 year old boy.
It is reported that the killers are from the 33rd division of the Burmese army. This division was involved in the Inn Dinn massacre and other atrocities against both the Rohingya and the Kachin. In August 2018, the US sanctioned the entire 33rd division for its war crimes. Very disturbingly, the army is now using troops, complicit in atrocities against ethnic minorities, against the Burman majority in the Myanmar heartlands.
We must respond fast to this atrocitiy and do whatever we can to end the military’s long brutal and corrupt rule in Burma. Will you take six actions today to help bring down and hold to account the Myanmar military?
Action #1: Stay Informed
Keep track of breaking news by following our Twitter: @rohingya_icr. Follow the up-to-the-minute news using these hashags: #CivilDisobedienceMovement #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar #JusticeForMyanmar
Excellent coverage from inside Myanmar is also available daily from Frontier Myanmar. as long as the military allows them to stay open, read their website and sign up for their daily emails.
Action #2. Demand the U.S. enact tough sanctions on the Myanmar military
If you have already signed the petition, share it with your friends worldwide. If so, please email, message, or text ten or more of your friends to ask them to join you. Send them this short link to the petition: http://bit.ly/BidenSanctionMyanmar
Action #3: Stop the flow of oil and gas money to the military
Sign – and share – our petition demanding that Chevron stop bankrolling the Myanmar military.
As Myanmar’s generals look for revenues to prop up their new dictatorship following the February 1 coup, there’s one source of money they can count on: natural gas projects backed by foreign investors including Chevron of the US, France’s Total, South Korea’s Posco, China’s CNOOC, Australia’s Woodbridge, and Malaysia’s Petronas. The Myanmar regime earns close to US$1 billion a year from natural gas sales.
Much of this money is not paid directly from oil companies to the government. It flows through Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state-owned enterprise with deep links to the military’s business empire. Alarmingly, the military coup places MOGE and the rest of the government under direct military control.
Action #4: End the Myanmar military’s trade in #GenocideGems
Myanmar produces more than 90% of the world’s rubies and jade. The Myanmar military’s extensive commercial interests in gemstone extraction and trade mean that the military profits when high-end jewelry retailers – like Harry Winston (owned by Swatch) – buy Burmese gems for their collections.
Would you also help us track down the jewelers who are selling gems from Burma? Search online for jewelers who are selling Burmese rubies or jade. If you find on sale, jewelry containing rubies or sapphires labeled as Burmese or from Myanmar, email us a tip at [email protected].
Action #5: Demand that Facebook ban the Myanmar military
Sign our petition telling Facebook to ban all accounts of the Myanmar military.
Facebook allows the Burmese military to use Facebook to spread hate speech, recruit soldiers, and build its lucrative business empire. The Myanmar military’s profits from its business empire help fund the Burmese army’s march towards its genocide of the Rohingya and its atrocities against the Kachin, Shan, Karen, and other ethnic minorities in Myanmar.
Action #6. Make a gift to build our movement
We can and must build our pressure on Myanmar’s military. Your actions have moved your governments to pass tough sanctions and successfully pressed companies, such as Western Union, online jeweler Angara, and Kirin Brewing, to end their business partnerships with the Burmese military.
Your gifts will help us keep building the campaigns and tools that we need to take effective action together. Please click here to make a gift of $30, $60, $120, $250, or more.
Together, we can build our movement to end the Myanmar military’s corrupt and brutal rule.Thank you so much,
Simon Billenness, Executive Director
For the International Campaign for the Rohingya: Debbie Stothard, Jack Rendler, J. Mark Brinkmoeller, Joseph K. Grieboski, Simran Stuelpnagel, Michael DeLong, and Alyson Chadwick.
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For Further Reading:
Subscribe to Frontier Myanmar’s excellent daily coverage from inside the country.
“Sanction Myanmar Military, Not Myanmar People,” Justice For Myanmar and Burma Campaign UK, 5 February 2021
“How to squeeze Myanmar’s military without hurting its people,” Southeast Asia Globe, 12 February 2021
“Who Profits From a Coup? The Power and Greed of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,” Justice For Myanmar, January 2021
“Dirty List” of companies doing business with the Myanmar military, Burma Campaign UK
“Military Ltd,” Amnesty International, September 2020
“Will Myanmar’s ‘Genocide Gems’ Become the New Blood Diamonds?,” BusinessWeek, October 17, 2018
“No Genocide Gems! Burmese Military Takes a Hit From Citizens Sanctions,” International Campaign for the Rohingya blog
“Time for Facebook to kick Burma military off Facebook,” Burma Campaign UK, 16 February 2021