They work for Total in Burma and call on their company to cease all collaboration with the military junta which took power on 1er February, by a coup d’etat. Five Burmese employees, whose identities could be verified, answered questions from the World under assumed names on a secure messaging system, to evoke their unique situation. That of working for a company that finances, thanks to the Yadana gas field that it operates off the Burmese coast, the regime which has suppressed their freedoms.
“We want Total to stop funding the military junta, calls Allen straight away, but there is no simple solution. “ Like thousands of other Burmese, some employees of the French company wanted to join the civil disobedience movement and stop work to block gas production. This vast campaign, which mobilizes thousands of workers in public administration or in private companies, blocks ports, banks, hospitals and even railways.
Total employees were quickly called to order by their superiors. “They told us that if we joined the protest, we would pay the price, without giving more details, testifies Min Thu. We quickly understood that we would be refused unpaid leave and that we would have to resign. “ Min Kha, who works on the Yadana offshore platform, even goes so far as to accuse a superior of having him “Threatened” : “He told us that if we joined the civil disobedience movement, we would be stopped at the airport by the military, when we returned by helicopter. “
The fight would pay too much
Only a handful of employees, among the 300 in the company on site, have resigned in recent weeks, a sign that a large majority of them considered that the fight for freedom would be too expensive, especially in a country that is sinking into economic and social crisis. The United Nations (UN) fears an explosion of poverty due to the political and health situation, which risks erasing years of development. In a report published on Friday April 30, she warns that half of the population could soon live on less than 1.5 dollars (1.2 euros) a day by 2022. Min Thu explains that with her salary from Total, he can, at least, financially support two civil servant friends who have gone on strike.
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