Bangkok, Sep 16 (EFE).- Human rights organizations on Monday urged aircraft manufacturer Airbus to break ties with the Aviation Industry Corporation of China for supplying warplanes the Myanmar military junta warplanes it uses to attack citizens.
«Airbus and its state shareholders must end the flow of weapons from (the corporation) to the genocidal Myanmar army, or ensure Airbus ends its business with (the corporation) forever,» said Yadanar Maung, spokesman for Justice for Myanmar, the group who led the investigation into the matter with NGO Info Myanmarnie.
Both organizations say the state-owned company, with which Airbus has several cooperation and investment agreements in the sector, supplies warplanes through a subsidiary to the Myanmar junta, which has held power since 2021 after a coup that ended a decade of democracy.
Among the examples, the 37-page report highlights the delivery in November 2022 of six FTC-2000G fighter jets, which participated in January in the bombing of rebel groups in the northeastern Shan State, among other attacks.
«Airbus has been turning a blind eye to (the corporation)’s dirty deals with the brutal Myanmar Army for too long. With United Nations documentation and reports on the human rights crisis in Myanmar, Airbus should know that its business partner supplies aircraft, weapons and maintenance services to the junta,» Maung said.
The investigation claims that despite the links between the corporation and the Myanmar regime, Airbus has increased its collaboration with the Chinese company. Other investors in the state-owned aircraft company – such as the Norwegian Government Pension Fund – have withdrawn because of its links to the military junta.
Airbus shareholders include the governments of Spain, France and Germany, which have previously condemned the attacks carried out by the Myanmar army, and who are asked by the NGOs to ensure that the company acts to cut its links with war crimes in Myanmar.
«The French, Spanish and German governments, together with the European Union, have condemned the atrocities committed in Myanmar. Today they have the opportunity to demonstrate their capacity to act, in line with their statements, values and sanctions,» said Johanna Chardonnieres, coordinator of Info Myanmarnie.
«How can we take the condemnations of Spain, Germany and France seriously, if they have investments that support the junta in Myanmar?» the representative of Justice for Myanmar said.
The military uprising has plunged Myanmar into a deep political, social and economic crisis and has opened a spiral of violence with new civil militias that has exacerbated the guerrilla war the country has experienced for decades. EFE
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