"プレスリリース ODA円借款事業受注企業のミャンマーでの人権配慮に関する質問状を送付しました," 30 January 2024

[Japanese-to-English translation: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

The five civil society organizations engaged in policy advocacy activities to ensure that appropriate environmental, social, and human rights considerations are taken into account in the Japan's official development assistance (ODA) projects and oversea projects by Japanese companies sent letters of inquiry on 29 January regarding the implementation of human rights due diligence to 30 Japanese companies that were awarded contracts for yen loan (ODA) projects.

Of the 30 companies, 27 are listed in the contract list published by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). We confirmed the involvement of 3 others by press releases published by companies. It is believed that all companies are currently engaged in yen loan projects, but as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and JICA do not disclose the progress of each project, there is a possibility that some of the projects have already been completed.

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It is known that that the Myanmar military funds its activities through its own businesses.

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In fact, in the Bago River Bridge Construction Project, which is a yen loan project, a military-owned company, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), is included in the supply chain, and it is clear that the military is receiving revenue from the ODA project.

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As the Japanese government continues to provide ODA even after the 2021 coup, we have repeatedly called on the government to disclose information about these projects and suspend ODA projects until the country returns to a democratic state. However, since the Japanese government has not disclosed details about the status of the projects and continues ODA, we have sent the letters of inquiry directly to the implementing companies to express our concerns and to ascertain whether human rights due diligence is being conducted.

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The answers will be published on the websites on the websites of the five organizations that sent the letter.