By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff reporter
Three oil companies, Total, Chevron and PTTEP, have provided Burma's military junta with half of their revenue, worth nearly $5 billion earned from the Yadana Natural Gas Project, an environment watchdog claimed Monday.
If confirmed to be true, this suggests that part of the cash could have gone to North Korea which reportedly exported nuclear and weapons technology to Burma (Myanmar).
EarthRights International, an environment group headquartered in Washington D.C., claimed that "the funds have enabled Burma's autocratic junta to maintain power and pursue a nuclear weapons program while participating in illicit weapons trade with North Korea."
The group made the allegations during a news conference held in Paris.
According to its 49-page report, titled "Energy Insecurity: How Total, Chevron, and PTTEP Contribute to Human Rights Violations, Financial Secrecy and Nuclear Proliferation in Burma," the three oil companies have generated over $9.03 billion in profits through the pipeline project in Burma from 1998 to 2009.
"The Burmese regime's share, after costs, was approximately $4.59 billion, of which $915 million was taken for domestic gas use, while the rest was taken in cash," the watchdog claimed.
"Given the evidence of Burma's illegal nuclear ambitions, illicit weapons trade with North Korea and its ongoing and severe repression in the lead up to its widely discredited national elections, now is the time for the international community to focus on the Burmese generals' nerve center, its gas revenues," it said.
The accusation came approximately a month after the U.S. State Department expressed apprehension about the relations between North Korea and Burma.
During a press briefing on June 3, Philip Crowley, spokesman of the State Department, said the United States has been concerned about Burma's relationship with North Korea and the transactions that take place between the two sides.
"We are very conscious that North Korea is a serial proliferator of dangerous materials and weapons, and this is something that we have expressed directly to Burma and that continues to be a major concern of ours," he said.
Earlier, the United Nations accused North Korea of exporting nuclear and missile technology to several countries and companies, including those in Burma.