Bangladesh slates countries that invest in firms linked to Myanmar military

Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has lambasted the countries and international banks that continue to help Myanmar financially despite its military facing charges of carrying out genocide against the Rohingya ethnic minority.

Momen urged journalists on Sunday to question the envoys of these countries about the investment in Myanmar.

BankTrack, an international group that targets private sector commercial banks and the activities they finance, recently reported that nine international banks have investments in companies linked to the Myanmar regime and atrocities.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and BNP Paribas hold shares worth over $24 billion across 18 companies affiliated with the military junta and its conglomerates in Myanmar, according to the report.

“These banks are giving [Myanmar] money despite the human rights violation there. And they are of the countries that lecture around about human rights. It’s unacceptable,” Momen said.

“Find out which countries invest in Myanmar and ask their ambassadors why they are investing in a country where genocide is taking place. It’s not right to do this when you speak about human rights,” he told the reporters.

The minister also said the United Nations will soon engage in the activities supporting the Rohingya refugees relocated to Bhasan Char island from Cox’s Bazar.

Foreign diplomats and UN officials who visited the island are positive about the issue, he said.