Another nonAsian company has pulled out of Burma. Is this considered a success? The Irrawaddy suggests that campaigners are out of touch and compromise is needed.

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DHL to pull out of Burma
Burma Campaign UK

The Burma Campaign UK has been informed by DHL’s parent company, Deutsche Post, that DHL will end its joint venture with Burma’s military dictatorship. DHL’s current contract with the regime expires at the end of 2006, and the Burma Campaign UK had called on the company to use this opportunity to cut its ties with the regime.

Deutsche Post told the Burma Campaign UK: “DHL Express Asia Pacific has decided not to renew its joint-venture agreement with Myanma Posts and Telecommunications in Myanmar which expires in December 2006. The decision was taken following a regular operational review of DHL's business in Myanmar.”

“This is a welcome but long overdue move by DHL”, said Yvette Mahon, Director of the Burma Campaign UK. “DHL have finally realised that it is not acceptable to have a military dictatorship as your business partner, especially one that is currently slaughtering its own population in a new military offensive against civilians.”

DHL’s partner in Burma is the regime-owned enterprise, Myanma Post and Telecomms. The joint venture began on 1st January 1997. It was a five-year contract. In early 2002 DHL signed a new five-year contract with the regime. In 1998 the regime expelled Fed Ex, UPS, TNT and other parcel carriers. Only DHL was spared. Rivals and observers speculated that the reason was to increase revenue for the regime, as none of the other operators were in joint ventures.

The move by DHL will increase pressure on French oil giant TOTAL Oil to pull out of Burma. TOTAL Oil is the target of an international campaign to persuade it to pull out of Burma. On Friday 12th May TOTAL Oil faces an international day of action, with protests taking place across Europe and Asia.

The Burma Campaign UK has a successful track record of forcing companies out of Burma through high profile public campaigns. It has persuaded more than 100 companies to end their involvement in Burma, including British American Tobacco, Premier Oil, WPP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kuoni, and Carnival Cruises.

Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world. Democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest following an attack by a pro-government militia on her and her supporters in May 2003. Up to 100 of her supporters were beaten to death. Around 1,300 political prisoners languish in jail where torture is commonplace.

The regime is currently engaged in a new military offensive against the Karen ethnic minority. More than 11,000 people have been forced from their homes and villages. Most are now hiding in the jungle with no food or medical supplies.

DHL will now be removed from the ‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or indirectly providing financial support to the regime in Burma. The full list can be viewed at: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/dirty_list/dirty_list.html.

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Pressure Point
 
The withdrawal of another multinational company from Burma was predictably well-received by campaign groups in May. After nearly 10 years of doing business in Burma under its military regime, DHL has been reintroduced to the ranks of corporations who feel ethically inhibited from operating in Burma by the likes of Burma Campaign UK. It will now disappear from the “dirty list” of firms dealing with the regime. End of story.
 
The issue, however, again raises the question of just what constitutes a success regarding engagement or disengagement with Burma. Is the withdrawal of a company moving goods between Burma and the outside world a positive or negative development?
 
Stories of the Burmese authorities rifling through parcels sent from abroad to Burma are not uncommon, while the same undoubtedly happens in the opposite direction. Clearly, companies like DHL operating in Burma are closely controlled by the regime. But is the company’s withdrawal any kind of success, particularly when we consider that the Burmese operations of Unocal (now Chevron) are still allegedly implicated in serious human rights abuses?
 
On a similar note, there was international rejoicing when it was announced that Rangoon would not become chairman of Asean this year. But as one diplomat with years of experience in Burma points out: once Burma’s chairmanship was cancelled, the heat was immediately off Snr-Gen Than Shwe and his regime. Although the junta had been internationally humiliated into climbing down, the consequences could well have been worse for Rangoon if it had held out.
 
Imagine the pressure that would have been exerted right up to the Asean summit at the end of this year, and the access the hermit-like junta would have been forced to afford foreign journalists had it hosted the event, the diplomat argued. Burma’s hosting of the Asean summit would have become a monumental public relations nightmare for the junta unless it significantly changed its ways. The possible damage, from its point of view, could have been enormous.
 
When international anti-regime pressure groups follow a particular tactical path, they have sometimes been accused of being out of touch, not least by the Burmese people themselves. The Asean chair example and particularly US sanctions suggest there is a distinct detachment between people inside Burma, those on the periphery and others in far-flung capitals. As the fight to free the Burmese people appears to be entering its most critical phase for some time, tactics will be all important. Generating a debate that does not degenerate predictably into black and white may be the key to ending the cycle of expectation and disappointment that has marked the past 18 years of political stalemate in Burma.
 
For instance, it must no longer be taboo to criticize the NLD when appropriate, or recognize the need for compromise, even with the most uncompromising of military governments. It may be vital for interested parties to be wary about being fooled again by the junta, but this should not lead to demands for highly unrealistic results immediately—the junta is too adept at withdrawing into its shell.
 
Remembering that easing the Burmese people’s suffering must be the number one priority, holding the junta accountable for its atrocious actions must come second. As NLD executive member U Lwin said shortly after UN Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari met Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon in May: “Softly, softly catchee monkey.”

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