ASEAN companies accused of fuelling Myanmar junta’s atrocities, says rights group

Justice For Myanmar (JfM) has issued a strong statement demanding that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) take immediate action to sever all corporate and governmental ties with Myanmar’s military junta. The appeal comes as the 46th ASEAN Summit is underway, hosted by Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur from 26 to 27 May 2025. The report by the NGO, titled Complicity in Crimes, details how 54 firms from Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia are maintaining links with junta-controlled enterprises. These ties remain active more than four years after Myanmar's military seized power in a coup on 1 February 2021, overthrowing the elected National League for Democracy government. The NGO accuses the states whose companies continue doing business with the junta of enabling war crimes, crimes against humanity, and widespread repression. JfM's statement also highlights that many of these companies are state-owned or supported by national governments. This summit marks Malaysia’s first of two chairmanships of ASEAN for 2025. Civil society organisations and observers are urging Malaysian leadership to push for stronger regional action, as ASEAN’s long-standing Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar has failed to deliver tangible results. JfM stated: "ASEAN's failure to address corporate complicity has allowed the junta to intensify its brutal campaign of terror that has killed thousands of civilians and displaced millions with total impunity." The group underscored the staggering human cost of inaction—citing over 3.5 million people displaced and hundreds of civilians killed in indiscriminate airstrikes, including 22 children and two teachers in Sagaing earlier this month. According to the group, businesses based in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia have provided vital resources to the junta, including aviation fuel, surveillance technology, and revenue from oil, gas, timber, and land leases. “While international sanctions have attempted to isolate the junta, companies in the ASEAN region continue to carry out business as usual,” said spokesperson Yadanar Maung. “This directly undermines efforts to cut off the junta’s access to funds and aviation fuel.” ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, adopted in April 2021, called for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar. However, JfM argues that the plan has failed, as junta-led violence has intensified, while ASEAN member states have continued providing legitimacy, and in some cases, direct assistance. Among the 54 companies named are:

• Thailand’s PTTEP, which operates major gas projects with the junta.
• Singapore’s Interra Resources, accused of supplying over US$200 million worth of oil.
• Malaysia’s ENRA and Uzma Group, both involved in servicing junta-linked gas projects.
• Vietnam’s state-owned Viettel Global, which co-owns the Mytel telecom network with a junta conglomerate.
• Singapore-based timber companies such as Greenply Alkemal and Valency International, which exported timber via junta-controlled enterprises.
• Banks from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore holding accounts for sanctioned junta-controlled banks, enabling procurement of fuel and military goods.

JfM's statement directly challenges ASEAN governments for their failure to enforce bans on aviation fuel and arms, criticising them for shielding businesses that continue to enrich the Myanmar junta. It calls for an immediate halt to the supply of aviation fuel and military technology, stressing that these resources are critical enablers of the junta’s ongoing campaign of violence. The group further demands a complete cessation of all financial transactions and tax payments to entities under junta control, which sustain the regime’s operations and legitimacy. Additionally, it urges an end to land lease agreements that provide the military with long-term revenue streams through real estate developments involving foreign investors. Finally, JfM insists that ASEAN must move beyond the ineffective Five-Point Consensus and adopt a new framework grounded in the aspirations of the Myanmar people, led by civil society and democratic actors. The group highlights that many of these businesses have profited significantly from the post-coup crisis, with firms like ThaiBev and Singapore’s Shoon Group paying taxes or providing fuel despite global warnings and sanctions. “As leaders of ASEAN gather in Malaysia, they must take a clear stand for human rights,” said Yadanar Maung. “It is high time ASEAN ends this ongoing complicity with the Myanmar junta and respects the rights and democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar.” The 46th ASEAN Summit will be watched closely by human rights observers, civil society groups, and Myanmar’s diaspora, all of whom have renewed calls for an effective regional response. JfM warns that without concrete action, ASEAN risks further complicity in ongoing atrocities. Earlier this year, the United Nations strongly condemned Myanmar’s military for launching continued attacks in regions devastated by the 28 March earthquake, warning that these actions are worsening an already dire humanitarian crisis. Speaking on 11 April 2025, UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said the military has carried out more than 120 attacks since the quake, including aerial and artillery strikes. Over half of these assaults reportedly took place after the military’s declared ceasefire on 2 April. “Civilians are continuing to suffer in Myanmar as military operations persist, despite ceasefires declared after last month’s tragic earthquake,” Shamdasani said.

No excuse for complicity in war crimes

Companies such as Interra Resources have refuted the claims made against them. In collaboration with UK-based Finance Uncovered, JfM released its investigation in February, revealing that Interra has supplied over 2.3 million barrels of crude oil to Myanmar’s military junta since its February 2021 coup attempt. In response to these allegations, Interra stated that its Improved Petroleum Recovery Contracts (IPRCs) were established and extended under Myanmar’s civilian government, prior to the military coup in 2021. The company emphasised that the current contracts were obtained and extended before the military seized power. Interra holds a 60% stake in Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company (GJOC), which operates two onshore oil fields in Chauk and Yenangyaung in central Myanmar. The production-sharing contract between GJOC and the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) was initially secured in 1996 and extended for 11 years in April 2017. Interra had claimed it has “no control over or power to dictate how MOGE distributes or uses the oil that is produced by GJOC [Goldpetrol Joint Operating Company].” JfM argued that the company’s contractual agreements with MOGE do not absolve it of responsibility. The activist group claims that Interra’s operations contribute to the military’s war crimes, despite the company’s assertion that it has no control over how the oil is used. JfM directly challenged Interra’s assertion that its contracts were signed before Myanmar’s 2021 coup and therefore do not implicate the company in the military’s actions. “The fact that the IPRCs [Improved Petroleum Recovery Contracts] were entered into before the military coup attempt in 2021 cannot provide an excuse for the company’s decision to continue business with MOGE after the military illegally seized control,” said Maung.