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ERI Commends Foreign Corporations in Burma Providing Assistance to Cyclone Nargis Victims
EarthRights International Urges Korean President to Heed Warnings of Harmful Impacts
The Hunt for Energy At Any Cost: The Politics of Doing Business with a Brutal Regime
Activists Outraged at Lenient Sentencing of Daewoo Executives for Arms Export to Burma
SGM Calls for Suspension and Support of UN Efforts in Burma
ERI Calls on Oil and Gas Industry to Help Stop Violence in Burma
Salween Watch Coalition Issues Statement Condemning Violence Against Thai Workers at HatGyi Dam

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Press Releases
ERI Presents At Inaugural Yale Law School Symposium on Corporate Social Respnosibility Blind Eye in Burma ERI Contributes Two Chapters To New Book On Burma; Canadian Mining Company Gone But Still Profiting ...more

Burma Project

EarthRights International's Burma Project collects vital on-the-ground information about the human rights and environmental situation in Burma. Since 1995, ERI has worked in Burma to monitor the impacts of the military regime's policies and activities on local populations and ecosystems. ERI's staff has gathered a vast body of valuable, rare information about the state of the military regime's war on its peoples and its environment. Through gathering testimonies, grassroots organizing, and distributing information through campaign work, the Burma Project has made a significant contribution to human rights and environment protection in Burma. Where possible, we link our grassroots fact-finding missions and community organizing with regional and international level advocacy and campaigning.

We work alongside affected community groups to prevent human rights and environmental abuses associated with large-scale development projects in Burma. Currently, the Burma Project focuses on large-scale dams, oil and gas development, and mining. We share experiences and resources with local communities, as well as provide assistance relevant to community needs. Over the past 10 years the Burma Project has raised awareness about the alarming depletion of resources in Burma and their relationship to a vast array of human rights abuses, as well as the local, national, and regional implications of these practices.

Burma Project Reports

ERI Releases Findings of Chinese Multinational Investment in Burma's Natural Resource Sectors

The Burma Project released a background paper today on the increasing involvement of Chinese multinational corporations (MNCs) in securing Burma’s natural resources. The paper, entitled China in Burma: The Increasing Investment of Chinese Multinational Corporations in Burma’s Hydropower, Oil & Gas, and Mining Sectors, finds more than 26 Chinese MNCs involved in more than 62 projects in Burma over the past decade, and includes a preliminary list of Chinese MNCs operating in Burma. The projects, ranging from small hydropower projects to a planned dual oil and natural gas pipeline from western Burma to Yunnan Province, are indicative of the increasing presence and influence that China has in Burma. While the actions of Chinese MNCs outside China have received much attention in recent years, their activities in Burma have too often been overlooked. In fact, the environmental degradation and abuses that often come from large-scale development projects in Burma is reason to pay attention.

We encourage others, locally, regionally, and internationally, to increase dialogue regarding China’s operations in Burma, and to call upon China’s MNCs to increase transparency regarding operations in Burma, to ensure that abuses connected to their projects do not happen, and to ensure that environmental and social assessments are carried out.

Click here for the China in Burma Background Paper. (Also available in Chinese and Burmese.)

| Learn more about ERI's Burma Project |

Shwe Gas Politics Update

In recent months, both China and India have signed agreements with the Burmese military junta indicating their willingness to buy gas from the proposed Shwe gas project in western Burma, with Thailand also expressing interest. If built, the Shwe project would be Burma’s largest gas evelopment project ever. Matthew Smith and Naing Htoo analyze the events surrounding the recent agreements and the inevitable consequences if the project were to proceed. Read the full article here. Please also see the more detailed report about these latest developments.

Turning Treasure Into Tears - New Report Details Strategic Business Interests & Violations In Burma

This report describes how human rights and environmental abuses continue to be a serious problem in eastern Pegu division, Burma – specifically, in Shwegyin township of Nyaunglebin District. The heavy militarization of the region, the indiscriminate granting of mining and logging concessions, and the construction of the Kyauk Naga Dam have led to forced labor, land confiscation, extortion, forced relocation, and the destruction of the natural environment. The human consequences of these practices, many of which violate customary and conventional international law, have been social unrest, increased financial hardship, and great personal suffering for the victims of human rights abuses.