Women Nobel Laureates Urge Oil Businesses to Stay Clear of Burma
A group of Nobel Peace Prize recipients is urging oil and gas companies to avoid doing business in Burma.
Sources: Irrawaddy News
Weekly Business Roundup (March 6, 2010)
The energy exploration and production industry in Burma uses slave labor and steals land from ordinary Burmese people, the Nobel Women’s Initiative alleged this week.
The appeal to international oil businesses was made during a self-styled tribunal held in New York by the Nobel group.
The main purpose of the tribunal was to draw attention to the abuse of women in Burma by military junta soldiers.
In the wake of the Nobel laureates’ appeal, human right group Burma Campaign Australia this week petitioned the Australian government to take action. “The government can stop Australian companies funding human rights abuses in Burma by imposing targeted trade and investment sanctions,” the campaign group said.
The Nobel Woman’s Initiative is based in Ottawa, Canada, but includes peace laureates from North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
