03 July 2003

BAT asked to withdraw investment from Burma

The Foreign Office has upped the diplomatic pressure on Burma today by asking British American Tobacco (BAT) to withdraw their investment from the country.

The move comes a week after the Prime Minister declared that trade or investment in Burma was appropriate "when the regime continues to suppress the basic human rights of its people".

On June 19, it was revealed that Nobel prize winner and human rights activist Daw Aung San Suu was being held at the notorious Insein Jail, just outside of Rangoon.

She is being detained through Burma's State Protection Law which allows for detention without access to family or lawyers for 180 days at a time up to a total of five years – with no prospect of appeal.

BAT has approximately £10 million invested in Burmese cigarette factories. With the recent decision by Premier Oil to withdraw from Burma – the UK's largest investor in the country – attention has switched to BAT.

Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien met with Martin Broughton, chairman of BAT, to make the request. Mr Broughton agreed to consider the request and to give a formal reply soon.

In a debate in the House of Commons this morning, Mr O'Brien said that the Burmese people would continue to receive the "full and active support" of the British government.

"The Burmese people want nothing more than to be left free from repression to build an inclusive, tolerant and prosperous society," he said.

"But they need help and encouragement from their friends in order to emerge from the shackles of this repressive and incompetent regime."

He went on to welcome recent action by the US and Japan and added that the UK was "actively considering with partners further action if the regime do not see sense".

Burma's ambassador to the UK was summoned to the Foreign Office on June 20 to hear protests over the detention of Daw Aung San Suu. And in a speech on June 26, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw criticised the regime for perpetrating "acts of torture against minority groups and even women and children".

On June 16, EU foreign ministers decided to bring forward strengthened measures such as extending the EU travel ban and assets freeze against members of the Burmese regime, their families and associates, and tightening the arms embargo.

(GMcG)