BMC urges AICHR to act on ASEAN corporate links to Myanmar Junta airstrikes

Mizzima

The Blood Money Campaign (BMC) on 11 June, submitted a formal letter to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) urging the body to recommend action against ASEAN-based corporate actors it alleges have facilitated the Myanmar military junta’s aerial campaign against civilians.

The statement is as follows.

The Myanmar military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing has killed nearly 93,000 civilians in Myanmar. From 2021 to April 2026, over 5 years, the junta carried out at least 7,201 airstrike incidents, resulting in 7,809 casualties and 4,496 fatalities, including pregnant women and infants. Myanmar junta violence has forcibly displaced 5.3 million people within Myanmar as of the end of March 2026. At least 1,077 children and 2,193 women had been killed by the Myanmar junta forces since the 2021 military coup attempt.

The intensity of aerial attacks escalated sharply from 85 incidents in 2021 to over 2,504 in 2024. This escalation also highlights the broader link between war crimes in Myanmar and ASEAN’s failure to effectively pressure the Myanmar military junta, which has allowed the violence to continue.

In this advocacy letter to AICHR, we present evidence regarding the actions of companies in certain ASEAN Member States, notably Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia and their governments, which have facilitated human rights violations and war crimes in Myanmar. Evidence suggests that these actors have directly or indirectly facilitated access to foreign revenue, arms, equipment, aviation fuel supply chain, and technology that have fueled atrocities against civilians. These resources have been used to carry out airstrikes. Foreign revenue from the oil and gas sector is implicated in atrocity crimes in Myanmar, providing the military with millions of dollars and sustaining its terror operations and continued commission of international crimes.

According to the mandates in the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Five-Year Work Plans 2021-2025 (Priority Areas PA 2.5) and 2026-2030 (Mandate 4.11: which includes regional dialogues on responsible business and human rights as a Priority Programme), we urge AICHR to follow these recommendations.

𝙒𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙣 𝘼𝙄𝘾𝙃𝙍 𝙩𝙤 𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝘼𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤:

𝟏) 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 into companies, banks, and individuals supplying arms, dual-use goods, and aviation fuel to the junta, and take appropriate regulatory and sanctions measures.

𝟐) 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐢 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 to cut off the Myanmar junta’s access to international financial services and gas revenues, which are used to purchase arms, aviation fuel, and aircraft to kill civilians.

𝟑) 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐓𝐓, 𝐏𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐏, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐏𝐌 to stop bankrolling the junta through monthly gas payments and instead place those funds in an escrow account that the junta cannot access, preserving them for a future democratic government of Myanmar.

𝟒) 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 to stop facilitating the supply chain of aviation fuel from international companies.

𝟓) 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 to increase efforts to stop the support, facilitation, and sale of arms, equipment, and aviation fuel supply chain.

𝟔) 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 to end human rights violations linked to oilfield service companies operating in Myanmar’s oil and gas sector, and urge Indonesia to regulate its companies’ involvement in oil and gas projects linked to MOGE.

𝙒𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝘼𝙄𝘾𝙃𝙍 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝘼𝙎𝙀𝘼𝙉 𝙈𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤:

𝟏) 𝐂𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 imposed by the U.S., UK, Canada, and the EU, and ensure that ASEAN Member States do not engage in business with the Myanmar military, sanctioned banks, the oil and gas sector, or aviation fuel suppliers.

𝟐) 𝐔𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞,” 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚 𝐌𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞-𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞-𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to the crisis in Myanmar, and respect the human rights obligations owed to the people of Myanmar, as enshrined in the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration.

𝟑) 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, both collectively and through individual Member States, to stop the Myanmar junta’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide.