On October 14, 2005 activists in cities around the world protested the Shwe gas project in western Burma.  With one voice, activists in South Korea, the United States, India, Timor-Leste, the United Kingdom, Japan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand and The Netherlands stood up for human rights and environmental protection, protesting Daewoo International and the state-owned Korea Gas Corporation (KOGAS) for their involvement in the controversial Shwe gas project in Arakan State, western Burma.

Our message was clear: due to severe human rights abuses that will accompany the project - including forced labor, forced relocation, land confiscation, and violence such as rape, torture, and murder - the Shwe gas pipeline project in Burma must stop immediately and the government of Korea should discontinue support for the project.

The epicenter of the International Day of Action was Seoul, Korea, where EarthRights International joined activists from over ten Korean civil society groups to protest in front of the Daewoo International Headquarters, demanding Daewoo pay attention to the basic human rights and environmental rights threatened by their gas project. Coordinated by the Korean House for International Solidarity (KHIS), protestors in Seoul demanded the Korean government, KOGAS, and Daewoo International release all information related to the Shwe project and that the government of Korea reconsider their relationship with the repressive government of Burma. ERI made a number of television, radio and press interviews highlighting our experience with the Yadana pipeline and the claims of plaintiffs in the recently settled Unocal lawsuit.

Protests in India, Bangladesh, and The Netherlands drew comparatively large crowds.  In New Delhi, India nearly one hundred people gathered, including politicians and pro-democracy activists, all calling for Daewoo International’s divestment from Burma until a democratically elected government can ensure the people’s interests will be represented in development decisions.

In The Hague, The Netherlands, a crowd of activists demonstrated in front of both the French and Korean Embassies, taking the opportunity to protest the Yadana pipeline in Burma - financed in part by France’s Total - as well as Daewoo’s Shwe gas pipeline. (to read about similarities between the Yadana and Shwe pipelines, see EarthRights International web article Another Yadana.)

Like groups elsewhere, Burmese and local activists in The Hague delivered an open letter to the Korean Ambassador calling for Daewoo’s divestment from Burma and the Korean government’s immediate attention to the basic human rights compromised by the Shwe gas investment. Similar letters were delivered by groups of activists to Korean Ambassadors in Bangkok, Thailand; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Tokyo, Japan; London, England; and Seattle, USA.

EarthRights International and local activists delivered a letter to the Korean Ambassadors in New York and Washington, DC, and met with Yoon-June Park, Counselor with the Permanent Mission of Korea to the United Nations in New York to discuss the earth rights abuses associated with the Shwe project.

A large group of activists in Dili, Timor-Leste delivered a letter to their local Korean Embassy, recognizing that both Timor-Leste and Korea emerged from brutal military dictatorships to peaceful democracies only with the solidarity and support of the international community. The letter added that Korea, Timor-Leste and Burma each have leaders who are Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, except of course Burma’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was president of the the National League for Democracy which won 82% of the total vote in the 1990 elections, remains under house arrest. In four major cities in Arakan State in western Burma anonymous posters condemning the Shwe gas project appeared in public places, an act that faces stiff and violent penalties in the authoritarian state.

On this day of solidarity with the people of Arakan and Chin states in Burma, the international community told Daewoo that their controversial investment in the Shwe gas project will not go unnoticed. The international community told the government of South Korea that their support for the Shwe gas project is unacceptable. There were 14 protest actions in 10 countries, each with substantial press coverage.

The Shwe pipeline is projected to carry natural gas from the Bay of Bengal in an overland route through Arakan State, Burma, through Bangladesh, for consumption in India. The Korean based company Daewoo International is the largest investor in the international Shwe gas consortium, holding a sixty percent share. The Korean government has provided Daewoo substantial supportive loans for Shwe gas exploration, and the Korean state owned KOGAS holds a ten percent share in the project.

Shwe, meaning gold in Burmese, is the given name of the natural gas deposit in the Bay of Bengal that is valued between 19-26 billion US dollars, potentially the largest source of revenue for the brutal and repressive Burmese military government.  The Shwe gas will be sold to India.

International Days of Action against Daewoo International and the Shwe Gas Project will continue until appropriate attention is given to the basic earth rights of the struggling people of Burma.