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A gas project of Chevron and Total is responsible for major funding of the military junta in Myanmar, allowing Burmese generals to accumulate billions of dollars in Singapore banks, and human rights abuses have been linked to the Yadana Pipeline, says human rights group EarthRights.

EarthRights claims that both Total and Chevron have tried to dismiss the abuses, which include forced labor and killings, by Myanmar troops along the Yadana Pipeline. The group also maintains that the $4.8 billion in revenue from the project has allowed the ruling military junta to continue to exist.

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“The military elite are hiding billions of dollars of the peoples’ revenue in Singapore while the country needlessly suffers under the lowest social spending in Asia.” - Matthew Smith, EarthRights

Revenues from the Yadana project were kept off the national budget and the ruling generals moved almost all of the money offshore with the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Group (DBS) in Singapore.

“The revenue from this pipeline is the regime’s lifeline and a critical leverage point that the international community could use to support the people of Burma.” - Smith

The two energy companies have managed to avoid Western sanctions against the ruling generals because for Total (based in France), EU sanctions against the country only cover arms exports, wood, minerals, metals, and gems, and for Chevron (U.S.), US plans for sanctions that would have ended tax write-offs enjoyed by Chevron were dropped. EarthRights says those sanctions could have pressured Chevron to withdraw from the Yadana Pipeline project.

The response from Total about the reports? Still studying it, the company says. And from Chevron? They claim that local development from the project benefited the people and had a positive impact on the communities involved.

Over 31% of the Yadana project is owned by Total, with 28% held by Chevron. The Yadana project is responsible for 60% of the country’s gas exports to Thailand.

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