Burma Campaigners Protest Trilateral Gas Meet

Mizzima News 

New Delhi; January 12, 2005

In protest against the tri-state gas pipeline meeting to be held in Burma's capital, Rangoon, an exiled Burmese campaign group has sent a memorandum to the Indian embassy in Rangoon urging India to postpone the extraction of Shwe natural gas from Burma until a democratically elected government is installed.

The memorandum, dated January 9, urged the Indian Government to "postpone the extraction of Shwe natural gas deposit until a time when the affected people... can participate in the decisions about the use of their local resources without fearing persecution". 

Speaking to Mizzima News, Mr Kim, coordinator of the Shwe Gas Campaign Committee (India), said that given past experience, the military regime in Burma will implement the projects using force labour, forced relocation and large military deployment to protect the gas pipeline. This will result in rape and other human rights violations. Therefore, as a free and democratic country, India should postpone this project.

Kim further said, "We want India to see the suffering that the project will cause to the people of Burma. It's not that we do not want India to have a relationship with Burma but we are simply asking India to wait until Burma gains democracy".

Despite the protest, India, Burma and Bangladesh will hold a trilateral meeting on January 12-13 in Rangoon to explore the possibilities of laying natural gas pipelines from Burma to India via Bangladesh.

India last week has struck a 25-year deal to import 7.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran starting in 2009 but is still looking for more fuel as demand is expected to rise to 400 million standard cubic meters per day by 2025, from 90 million standard cubic meters per day available now. Domestic production of fuel meets only half of the demand.

Reportedly, Burma has agreed to supply gas to India. However, a bottleneck in negotiations currently lies with Bangladesh as the proposed pipeline would pass through Bangladesh.

Determined as it is, India is ready to import gas through the proposed pipeline either by crossing Bangladesh or by-passing the country altogether. 

In 1990s, the Burmese military junta, in contract with transnational oil companies, Unocal (US) and Total (France), constructed gas pipelines in southern Burma.

The companies had also contracted the military junta to provide security for the projects. Thus, the Burmese army engaged in a pattern of systematic human rights abuses and environmental degradation to fulfil its contractual responsibilities to Unocal and Total. 

There have been reports of extra judicial killings, torture, rape, force relocations, force labour and extortion by pipeline security forces.

According to analysts, gas reserves in the Shwe field are estimated to be as much as 14 trillion cubic feet. Gas from Shwe field in block A-1 is expected to be imported to India by 2009.