Should international companies pull investments out of Myanmar?

Protesters take part in a demonstration against the Myanmar military coup outside the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok on February 7, 2021 [Jack Taylor/AFP]

Protests against the February 1 military coup in Myanmar are spreading, despite internet shutdowns and threats of arrests.

International firms are under growing pressure to cut ties with the army’s vast business empire.

For years, rights groups and the United Nations have revealed extensive corruption by military-controlled firms, with revenues going directly to army generals and their families.

So will pulling foreign investment be enough to force the coup leaders to bring back civilian rule?

Presenter: Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Debbie Stothard – Founder and coordinator of ALTSEAN-Burma, a network of ASEAN organisations working to support human rights and democracy in Myanmar

Ronan Lee – Visiting scholar at Queen Mary University of London, author of Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide

Tharaphi Than – Associate professor at Northern Illinois University