by Celeste Chenard
Monday, 01 June 2009 20:55
Highly committed to the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi’s for many years, British-born actress and singer Jane Birkin, a resident of France who met Aung San Suu Kyi in 1999, has asked Total CEO Christophe de Margerie to accept United Nations control over the the French oil firm’s benefits accrued from business with Burma's ruling junta.
In an open letter dated May 26th to Margerie, published in the French daily Le Monde, Birkin underlines the responsiblity of the oil firm to the ongoing hardship and fight of Aung San Suu Kyi and her political party. She enjoins Margerie not to stand in the way of the creation of an escrow account, a system that would place the company's vast earnings from Burma under the serveillance of the international body.
Singer Jane Birkin during a demonstration on May 29, 2009, in Paris, asking for the release of Suu Kyi.
"This is a cry of despair for Aung San Suu Kyi. If something bad happens to her, I mean by those words her death, because her health condition is getting worth each day, you need to know that I hold you responsible for supporting the Burmese junta at the expense of one million dollars a day, and this, over 15 years,” she wrote in her letter.
"After years of reaping monumental benefit from gas and petrol exploitation and pipeline construction, isn’t it time to buy back your conscience? Isn’t it time to act in favor of Aung San Suu Kyi? You, who have a huge influence on the junta with your dollars?” asked Birkin.
"Today, I beg you to intercede with the influential people of this country to stop her detention," she added.
Christophe de Margerie, in his response dated May 30th, justified the role of Total in Burma, though refraining from addressing the proposed escrow account. He argued that a withdrawal of Total, far from helping to solve Burma's ills, would only serve to aggravate the situation of thousands of Burmese dependent on Total for their living.
"Why advocate for the withdrawal of Total, that will just impoverish more of the population? It seems to me urgent to reflect, all together, about new solutions," he said in responding to Birkin's missive.
He further challenged that if Total leaves Burma, other companies "much less watchful about human rights and the labor conditions of their employees," would take the French company's position in Burma – leading only to an increase in the amount of money pouring into the generals' coffers.
"We try to use all of our influence every time we can, but this influence in Burma is still very limited," he admitted, before ending his letter by stating, "We sympathize with Aung San San Suu Kyi’s lot, but also with the thousands of Burmese who rely more on Total than on the state."
According to Birkin, even if such a sanction as the proposed escrow account were exposed to a Chinese or Russian veto in the United Nations Security Council, the measure would still be far from useless as it would prove that the benefits the junta accrues from Total's business in the country without question impact the interests of Burma's generals.
Meanwhile, European governments are currently reflecting on possible new sanctions against Burma that could deny the French energy giant the ability to continue its Burmese operations.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner previously acknowledged on May 20th in Brussels that "the only serious economic lever” against Burma to obtain the liberation of Aung San Suu Kyi "would obviously be Total."
He gave notice that "Total presents us with a problem that we are going to try to solve."
Total, France's largest and most profitable company, has been a major investor in Burma's Yadana gas field since 1992. Production from Yadana represents 60 percent of Burma's gas exports to Thailand.
Monday, June 1, 2009
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