A year and a half after the #militarycoup and things just get more brutal in Myanmar
On February 1, 2021, the military seized control of Myanmar and threw out the democratically elected government. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), 2,145 peaceful protesters have been killed by the junta. Another 14,962 have been arrested. Last week, the military executed four activists.
Working with the International Campaign for the Rohingya, Campaign for a New Myanmar, and other partner organizations we have worked hard to cut off funding to the brutal military that is ruling the country. All totaled, No Business with Genocide supporters took 1.7 million actions on behalf of the people of Myanmar. That’s petitions signed, letters written, calls made, and meetings attended.
We made some progress:
- The Burma Act of 2021 passed the U.S. House of Representatives. Now we are working on getting it passed through the U.S. Senate.
- Harry Winston stopped selling #GenocideGems. Moments after we dropped your petitions off at their flagship store in New York City, they announced they will no longer sell jade and rubies from Burma. Now we are working to get Bulgari to follow suit.
- Kirin Beer ended its relationship with the Burmese military. “Kirin has finally acknowledged its grievous mistake in choosing to do business with a wholly-owned subsidiary of a brutal military with over a half a century of dictatorial rule, brutal civil war, venal corruption, and mass atrocities, including genocide,” Simon Billenness, Executive Director, No Business with Genocide.
- Chevron ceased its operations in Myanmar. The Burmese military depends on the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) to fund its oppression of the people. Chevron leaving is a huge deal and we have been pushing for the United States to sanction MOGE since the coup happened. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has even gone as far as to express support for this measure should Myanmar’s neighbors fail to act.
Together, we have made great progress but we need to do more
Our email list of supporters has grown almost exponentially to nearly half a million. This includes over 150,000 people inside Myanmar who can take our actions targeting corporations from the safety of their homes. In the United States, our supporters have used our online action to send over 40,000 messages to their Members of Congress.
However, we face a gap between the money we’re raising and the money we need. We have ambitious plans to help support and organize our supporters given the massive increase in their numbers. That’s why we ask you now for your additional financial help.
Please just click here make a one-time or sustaining recurring gift to support our work.
Each week, we make it easy for you to make your voice heard by your government or in corporate boardrooms. Your gift will build our grassroots movement to end the atrocities and the repression of the Burmese army. Your support will fund our campaigns to:
- lobby governments worldwide to impose sanctions on Burma’s generals and their business empire;
- put our consumer, shareholder, and media pressure on corporations to end their business partnerships with Burma’s army;
- organize students and faculty to press their campus to step up and join the movement to end genocide in Myanmar and throughout the world;
- promote “end genocide” bills in cities and states globally.