Irrawaddy-May 13
Justice for Myanmar (JFM) has launched the Dirty Over 30 ASEAN Edition campaign, naming 12 powerful tycoons across Southeast Asia who it says are fueling the regime’s terror campaign against the country’s population with financial and material support. The rights group accuses the business elites of profiting from the junta’s atrocities through funds, the sale of military equipment, and the provision of financial services. The list of tycoons features some of Southeast Asia’s wealthiest individuals, including Robert Kuok of Malaysia, Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi and Chatchai Yenbamroong of Thailand, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao of Vietnam, and Lee Tih Shih of Singapore. Kuok is Malaysia’s richest tycoon with a net worth of US$ 11.4 billion, according to Forbes, while Charoen ranks as third richest in Thailand with $11.7 billion. The list also includes Myanmar tycoons Ne Aung of International Group of Entrepreneurs and Aung Myo Min Din of Amazing Group of Companies and Adventure Myanmar Group. JFM says their businesses have helped sustain the junta’s escalating violence, including more than 500 air and artillery strikes since the March 28 earthquake, massacring civilians even in disaster-hit areas. Meanwhile they have faced little scrutiny for their ties to the military regime, JFM added.
The launch comes ahead of the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Malaysia on May 26–27, where regional leaders are expected to discuss the civil war that has engulfed Myanmar since the 2021 coup. ASEAN’s member states have not only failed to curb regime violence via their Five Point Consensus for peace but also permitted companies under their jurisdiction to continue funding and equipping the Myanmar military, JFM said. “Rather than helping to resolve the crisis in Myanmar, ASEAN has actually fueled it through granting the junta false legitimacy, providing military training, obstructing effective international action and turning a blind eye to the business dealings of member states with the military junta and its associates,” it said.
“ASEAN can’t claim to promote peace while its tycoons fund war crimes. The people of Myanmar deserve more than empty summits and broken peace plans,” said JFM spokesperson Yadanar Maung, while calling for action based on the interests of Myanmar’s people, as demanded by civil society across the region. Read more at:
