French oil and gas company TotalEnergies said on Friday that it has decided to withdraw from Myanmar over the rule of law issues and human rights violations that continue to worsen in the country since last year's coup
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2022) French oil and gas company TotalEnergies said on Friday that it has decided to withdraw from Myanmar over the rule of law issues and human rights violations that continue to worsen in the country since last year's coup.
"Following the coup of 1st February 2021 in Myanmar, TotalEnergies has firmly condemned on several occasions the abuses and human rights violations taking place there. Since then, our company's decisions have been guided by clear principles: to halt all our ongoing projects, but to continue to produce gas from the Yadana field, which is essential for supplying electricity to the local Burmese and Thai population, to protect our employees from the risk of criminal prosecution or forced labour," the company said in a statement.
The situation in Myanmar since February 1, 2021 prompted the French company to reassess its business activities in the country and has concluded that it can no longer make a financial contribution to the Burmese state, TotalEnergies added.
"As a result, TotalEnergies has decided to initiate the contractual process of withdrawing from the Yadana field and from MGTC in Myanmar, both as operator and as shareholder, without any financial compensation for TotalEnergies. This withdrawal has been notified today to TotalEnergies' partners in Yadana and MGTC and will be effective at the latest at the expiry of the 6-month contractual period," the company said.
After the military coup, Myanmar was gripped by civil protests that lasted for four months and led to over 1,300 casualties in clashes with law enforcement officers. Also in February 2021, the county declared a year-long state of emergency, which was later prolonged until August 2023. As of late December, about 10,000 people across Myanmar have been displaced by clashes, according to humanitarian organizations.
