Eight civil society organisations have sent a letter to 101 corporate investors holding shares in Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. or Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd voicing concern over land lease payments made by the two companies being a source of funding for the Myanmar military, through the Y Complex project, says Justice For Myanmar in a press release.
The gist of the letter is as follows. Eight civil society organizations that are deeply concerned about the business relationship that Japanese companies have with the Myanmar military sent a letter dated May 24, 2022 to 101 corporate investors holding shares in Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. or Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. Land lease payments made by the two companies in connection with a real estate development project in Yangon (commonly known as “Y Complex”), estimated to be about 2 million USD per year, and will be a source of funding for the Myanmar military.
The Myanmar military for decades has committed grave human rights violations and atrocity crimes with total impunity, and on February 1, 2021, began an attempted coup. The civil society organizations have pointed out to Tokyo Tatemono and Daiwa House on numerous occasions that they may be complicit in grave human rights violations perpetrated by the military and urged them to act in accordance with their own human rights policies and international standards. However, neither company has officially announced specific plans to avoid the risk of its activities in Myanmar abetting grave human rights violations and international crimes by the Myanmar military.
The letter requests the corporate investors in Tokyo Tatemono and Daiwa House to promptly engage with the two companies to urge them to take measures to ensure that their business activities do not benefit the Myanmar military. The letter further asks the corporate investors to consider divestment if the companies do not take sufficient measures.
The list of NGOs are as follows: Mekong Watch, Friends of the Earth Japan, Justice For Myanmar, Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT), Ayus: Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation, Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC), Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC) and Human Rights Now.
