Analysis: Burma’s natural resources curse
Zin Linn, Oct 18, 2013
Wealth of oil, gas and mineral resources lies at the heart of continuing civil and economic strife in Burma
Burma (Myanmar) is one of Southeast Asia’s most natural resource-rich
countries. It earns billions of dollars yearly exporting natural
resources such as oil and gas, teak, gems, and minerals. Sending natural
gas overseas is the country’s particular prime source of foreign
revenue.
Burma has been exporting gas to Thailand from the Yetagun and Yadana
offshore blocks located in Mottama Gulf since 1998 and 2000
respectively. In 2008 BP ranked Burma as the largest gas exporter via
pipelines in the Asia-Pacific with gas exports totaling 9.7 bcm in 2007.
This made it the 11th largest gas exporter in the world that year,
according to the report Burma’s Resource Curse: The case for revenue transparency in the oil and gas sector, issued by Arakan Oil Watch, an independent, community-based, non-governmental organization operating in Burma.
The bulk of profitable resources in Burma, including oil and gas, are
unearthed from ethnic states and sold to neighboring countries. Local
populations have never been enjoyed the benefits of these deals as the
profits wend directly to the military.
Additionally, these states – such as Kachin, Shan, Kayah, Karen and
Mon states – have never been repaid for the social and environmental
damage that goes with the extraction and export of resources. This
remains the main reason behind hostilities between the government and
ethnic rebel forces today.
Nobody knows exactly how revenues from the sale of gas resources are
spent. However, it is easy to figure out that government spending for
social improvement is stingy, while the military continues to enjoy the
lion’s share of state revenues.
Unfair sharing of resource benefits is also contributing to ethnic
conflicts. Although a so-called civilian government is now running
day-to-day affairs, the military remains unwaveringly above the law
under the 2008 constitution. Many analysts believe that the role of
military conglomerates in Burma’s economy and in managing country’s huge
oil and gas revenues remains unfettered.
According to the Arakan Oil Watch (AOW), Foreign Oil Companies
engaging in Myanma’s oil and gas sector also refuse to publish how much
and how they pay the military regime.
The most crucial question surrounding political reform that many
foreign governments overlook is the economic monopoly of Burma’s
military elite. They have been exploiting the country’s natural
resources under the names of the Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings
Limited (UMEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) while the
country’s average population has suffered various social miseries.
President Thein Sein’s reforms hav reached few at grassroots level as
farmers and workers struggle to make ends meet and their land and
properties are unlawfully confiscated by the military, local authorities
and government cronies. As a result, the people are suffering severe
unemployment in a country where 5 million unemployed citizens have
already migrated to neighboring countries in search of work. Most of
these are in Thailand and Malaysia.
(READ MORE: Burma farmers find little relief from land grabs)
Burma remains one of the world’s least developed countries, and was
ranked 149 out of 187 countries in the 2011 UN’s Human Development Index
concerning health, education and income. Burma was ranked 172 out of
176 of the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency
International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index in 2012 – fifth from
bottom above Sudan, Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia.
If the President is truly reform-minded, he needs to make sure
transparency and first-rate management of the country’s largest source
of foreign income – revenues from the export of oil and gas – and cope
with military monopoly in the market-based economy. With military
involvement in the country’s economy, regardless of good management and
sustainable development, the natural resources sector in Burma will draw
out the resource curse situation even longer.
In order to control extractive industries’ revenues properly, the
government must provide a yardstick for checking the use of those
revenues. It’s also necessary to set up a responsible revenue management
system. Such a check-and balance system should take the form of a
constitutional mandate followed by more specific nationwide legislation
that extensively controls the use of the benefits that come out of
natural resources.
Although the extractive industries’ foreign earnings are biggest in
the country, there has been no revenue transparency under both the
previous military regime and the current U Thein Sein government. The
government’s credit-and-debit accounts concerning the extractive
industries’ foreign earnings are not publicly revealed. The same is true
of defense budget spending.
According to the report by the Arakan Oil Watch, billions of dollars
in revenues from the sale of natural gas have gone unrecorded in the
country’s public accounts and been siphoned off by corrupt military
rulers, leaving the nation with some of the worst social indicators in
the world and ongoing armed conflicts in ethnic regions.
Friday, October 18, 2013
Thursday, October 17, 2013
384,000 People in Burma Are Modern Day Slaves: Report
384,000 People in Burma Are Modern Day Slaves: Report
TIMOTHY LARGE / THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION, October 17, 2013
LONDON — Some 30 million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labor, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude, a global index on modern slavery showed on Thursday. The report estimates that 384,000 people are enslaved in Burma.
Almost half are in India, where slavery ranges from bonded labor in quarries and kilns to commercial sex exploitation, although the scourge exists in all 162 countries surveyed by Walk Free, an Australian-based rights group.
Its estimate of 29.8 million slaves worldwide is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. The International Labor Organization estimates that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor.
“Today some people are still being born into hereditary slavery, a staggering but harsh reality, particularly in parts of West Africa and South Asia,” the report said.
“Other victims are captured or kidnapped before being sold or kept for exploitation, whether through ‘marriage’, unpaid labor on fishing boats, or as domestic workers. Others are tricked and lured into situations they cannot escape, with false promises of a good job or an education.”
The Global Slavery Index 2013 defines slavery as the possession or control of people to deny freedom and exploit them for profit or sex, usually through violence, coercion or deception. The definition includes indentured servitude, forced marriage and the abduction of children to serve in wars.
According to the index, 10 countries alone account for three quarters of the world’s slaves.
After India, China has the most with 2.9 million, followed by Pakistan (2.1 million), Nigeria (701,000), Ethiopia (651,000), Russia (516,000), Thailand (473,000), Democratic Republic of Congo (462,000), Burma (384,000) and Bangladesh (343,000).
The index also ranks nations by prevalence of slavery per head of population. By this measure, Mauritania is worst, with almost 4 percent of its 3.8 million people enslaved. Estimates by other organizations put the level at up to 20 percent.
Chattel slavery is common in Mauritania, meaning that slave status is passed down through generations. “Owners” buy, sell, rent out or give away their slaves as gifts.
After Mauritania, slavery is most prevalent by population in Haiti, where a system of child labor known as “restavek” encourages poor families to send their children to wealthier acquaintances, where many end up exploited and abused.
Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Gabon have the next highest prevalence rates.
At the other end of the scale, Iceland has the lowest estimated prevalence with fewer than 100 slaves.
Next best are Ireland, Britain, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Finland and Denmark, although researchers said slave numbers in such wealthy countries were higher than previously thought.
“They’ve been allocating resources against this crime according to the tiny handful of cases that they’ve been aware of,” said Kevin Bales, lead researcher and a professor at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at Hull University.
“Our estimates are telling them that the numbers of people in slavery – whether it’s in Great Britain or Finland or wherever – in these richer countries actually tends to be about six to 10 times higher than they think it is.”
Walk Free CEO Nick Grono said the annual index would serve as an important baseline for governments and activists in the anti-slavery fight.
“This kind of data hasn’t been out there before,” he said. “It’s a multi-year effort, and next year we’ll have a much better picture of where slavery is and what changes there are. If you can’t measure it, you can’t devise policy to address it.”
Countries With Highest Absolute Numbers of Slaves
Country Estimated slaves
India 13.9 million
China 2.9 million
Pakistan 2.1 million
Nigeria 701,000
Ethiopia 651,000
Russia 516,000
Thailand 473,000
D.R. Congo 462,000
Burma 384,000
Bangladesh 343,000
Ranking by Prevalence of Modern Slavery per Head of Population
Rank Country Estimated slaves Population
1 Mauritania 151,000 3.8 million
2 Haiti 209,000 10.2 million
3 Pakistan 2.1 million 179.2 million
4 India 13.9 million 1.2 billion
5 Nepal 259,000 27.5 million
6 Moldova 33,000 3.6 million
7 Benin 80,000 10.1 million
8 Ivory Coast 157,000 19.8 million
9 Gambia 14,000 1.8 million
10 Gabon 14,000 1.6 million
(Source: Global Slavery Index 2013, Walk Free)
TIMOTHY LARGE / THOMSON REUTERS FOUNDATION, October 17, 2013
LONDON — Some 30 million people are enslaved worldwide, trafficked into brothels, forced into manual labor, victims of debt bondage or even born into servitude, a global index on modern slavery showed on Thursday. The report estimates that 384,000 people are enslaved in Burma.
Almost half are in India, where slavery ranges from bonded labor in quarries and kilns to commercial sex exploitation, although the scourge exists in all 162 countries surveyed by Walk Free, an Australian-based rights group.
Its estimate of 29.8 million slaves worldwide is higher than other attempts to quantify modern slavery. The International Labor Organization estimates that almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor.
“Today some people are still being born into hereditary slavery, a staggering but harsh reality, particularly in parts of West Africa and South Asia,” the report said.
“Other victims are captured or kidnapped before being sold or kept for exploitation, whether through ‘marriage’, unpaid labor on fishing boats, or as domestic workers. Others are tricked and lured into situations they cannot escape, with false promises of a good job or an education.”
The Global Slavery Index 2013 defines slavery as the possession or control of people to deny freedom and exploit them for profit or sex, usually through violence, coercion or deception. The definition includes indentured servitude, forced marriage and the abduction of children to serve in wars.
According to the index, 10 countries alone account for three quarters of the world’s slaves.
After India, China has the most with 2.9 million, followed by Pakistan (2.1 million), Nigeria (701,000), Ethiopia (651,000), Russia (516,000), Thailand (473,000), Democratic Republic of Congo (462,000), Burma (384,000) and Bangladesh (343,000).
The index also ranks nations by prevalence of slavery per head of population. By this measure, Mauritania is worst, with almost 4 percent of its 3.8 million people enslaved. Estimates by other organizations put the level at up to 20 percent.
Chattel slavery is common in Mauritania, meaning that slave status is passed down through generations. “Owners” buy, sell, rent out or give away their slaves as gifts.
After Mauritania, slavery is most prevalent by population in Haiti, where a system of child labor known as “restavek” encourages poor families to send their children to wealthier acquaintances, where many end up exploited and abused.
Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, Ivory Coast, Gambia and Gabon have the next highest prevalence rates.
At the other end of the scale, Iceland has the lowest estimated prevalence with fewer than 100 slaves.
Next best are Ireland, Britain, New Zealand, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Luxembourg, Finland and Denmark, although researchers said slave numbers in such wealthy countries were higher than previously thought.
“They’ve been allocating resources against this crime according to the tiny handful of cases that they’ve been aware of,” said Kevin Bales, lead researcher and a professor at the Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation at Hull University.
“Our estimates are telling them that the numbers of people in slavery – whether it’s in Great Britain or Finland or wherever – in these richer countries actually tends to be about six to 10 times higher than they think it is.”
Walk Free CEO Nick Grono said the annual index would serve as an important baseline for governments and activists in the anti-slavery fight.
“This kind of data hasn’t been out there before,” he said. “It’s a multi-year effort, and next year we’ll have a much better picture of where slavery is and what changes there are. If you can’t measure it, you can’t devise policy to address it.”
Countries With Highest Absolute Numbers of Slaves
Country Estimated slaves
India 13.9 million
China 2.9 million
Pakistan 2.1 million
Nigeria 701,000
Ethiopia 651,000
Russia 516,000
Thailand 473,000
D.R. Congo 462,000
Burma 384,000
Bangladesh 343,000
Ranking by Prevalence of Modern Slavery per Head of Population
Rank Country Estimated slaves Population
1 Mauritania 151,000 3.8 million
2 Haiti 209,000 10.2 million
3 Pakistan 2.1 million 179.2 million
4 India 13.9 million 1.2 billion
5 Nepal 259,000 27.5 million
6 Moldova 33,000 3.6 million
7 Benin 80,000 10.1 million
8 Ivory Coast 157,000 19.8 million
9 Gambia 14,000 1.8 million
10 Gabon 14,000 1.6 million
(Source: Global Slavery Index 2013, Walk Free)
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