Organisations call on French company to sever ties with Myanmar military

01 December 2021
Organisations call on French company to sever ties with Myanmar military
Australia is to partner with French industrial giant Thales to develop a "world first" joint civilian-military air traffic control system that could help track MH370-type incidents (AFP Photo/Eric Piermont)

Reporters Without Borders (RSF), along with three other organisations, Info Birmanie (IB), Justice For Myanmar (JFM) and Sherpa, have denounced exports of military technology carried out by French transnational company Thales to an Indian intermediary partner of the Myanmar military junta, which could allegedly be carried out in violation of the restrictive measures imposed by the European Union (EU).

The organisations called on Thales to stop these exports, and ask the French authorities to take the necessary measures to put an end to the partnership and adopt a law making it possible to penalise violations of arms embargoes.

A JFM investigation published last spring revealed that one of Thales' long-time partners, the Indian company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), has a particularly close relationship with the Myanmar junta, and exports military technology to it.