After Anwar’s remarks, M’sia urged to stop fuel ships to Myanmar

The government has been urged to block ships carrying fuel from Malaysian ports to Myanmar, in a bid to weaken the military junta.

This was following Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s condemnation of the “barbarism and depravity inflicted upon the people of Myanmar” in his United Nations General Assembly address, said the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar president U Maung Maung.

This was also after Malaysia announced it was blocking all ships flying the Israeli flag from docking in its ports, in support of Palestine amid the ongoing violence in Gaza.

Maung said while Malaysia is not expected to flex its military muscle against the junta, it should use non-military pressure against the regime.

“Blocking fuel leaving Malaysian ports going to Myanmar can weaken the regime to the point of collapse.

“We don’t expect any military or political interventions but we are calling on Malaysia to strictly implement existing sanctions on the export of diesel and jet fuel for military use in Myanmar.

“You don’t have to fire your guns but your actions will kill the regime,” he told Malaysiakini.

Trade Unions in Myanmar are part of the National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), a collective formed in response to the 2021 coup d’etat and aims to overthrow the military junta and restore democracy in Myanmar.

Maung added Malaysia’s intervention is especially crucial now, as it is reported that anti-junta forces, the Three Brotherhood Alliance, and ethnic militias have made significant territorial gains in Myanmar.

He said by cutting fuel supply, Malaysia can stop airstrikes which have reportedly hit civilian targets like schools, churches, monasteries, hospitals, and places of public gatherings.

“By disrupting the fuel supply, both diesel and jet fuel, we cripple their air force, hinder the transportation of ammunition and bombs, and the deployment of soldiers.

“The claim that fuels like diesel are intended for civilian use is merely a pretext,” he asserted.

Oil tankers departing from Malaysia

Data gathered by resistance groups, sighted by Malaysiakini, revealed that only 3.4 percent of the 607,040 gallons of high-speed diesel and pump diesel were allocated for civilian use between July and October, with the majority consumed by the military and the air force.

In the last three months, the resistance group said it monitored 16 oil tanker shipments departing from Malaysian ports including Pengerang Independent Terminals and Tanjung Pelepas ATB Oil Terminal in Johor, Port Klang, Selangor, and Kuantan.

The tankers from Dominica, Indonesia, Vietnam, Liberia, Thailand, Singapore, and Panama were monitored as they docked at Yangon and PEAS Thilawa terminals in Myanmar.

Notably, according to a log sighted by Malaysiakini, one Indonesian vessel completed four trips from Tanjung Pelepas ATB Oil Terminal to Thilawa, Myanmar within three months, shuttling between Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore.

In September alone the vessel arrived in Thilawa twice, with Yangon as its next port of call on the first trip and Singapore following the second trip.

In a statement early this month, the NUCC revealed a smaller list that included a Malaysian vessel and at least seven shipments leaving Singapore between November and December, indicating that the resistance was monitoring all oil tanker shipments from the region.

Besides Malaysia, Maung said India, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia also play a pivotal role in ensuring the success of the latest efforts against the junta.

“These are the countries that have voiced the necessity for change in Burma, so we are appealing to them to translate their words into action,” he said.

International O&G giants implicated

This is not the first time unions have appealed to Malaysia to halt the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar via Malaysian ports.

In October, several international union officials had an engagement with then-foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir, in support of the Myanmar Trade Union Movement within the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and the National Unity Government (NUG).

The CDM is a movement of targeted labour strikes in Myanmar since 2021 to oppose the coup d’etat while the NUG refers to the Myanmar government in exile formed by elected lawmakers and MPs ousted during the coup.

The group representing the Global Union Federations (GFU) have yet to receive a response to its requests.

One representative to the meeting, BWI Global Union regional representative Apolinar Tolentino, told Malaysiakini that the collective hoped Malaysia would adopt a decisive stance on the issue.

Last November, Amnesty International together with Justice for Burma and Burma Campaign UK released a detailed account of what it called the “most secretive and strategic business operations in Myanmar” – the supply of aviation fuel to the military.

The report implicates PetroChina’s wholly-owned Singapore Petroleum Company, Rosneft, Chevron, Thai Oil, and ExxonMobil.

All shipments originated from one of four countries – Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, or India.

Like the data logged by the allied resistance, this report also revealed that supplies for civilian aviation were being diverted by the military and recommended that all states impose a suspension of aviation fuel supplies to Myanmar.

‘Risking fines and sanctions’

Meanwhile, Maung cautioned that inaction on Malaysia’s part could invite sanctions or fines by the United States Treasury Department, which in August extended sanctions against Myanmar to include any “foreign individual and entity” involved in procuring jet fuel for military use.

The sanction initially introduced in March by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control covers the importation, storage, and distribution of jet fuel to the military.

Similarly, the UK’s sanctions focus on arms dealers accountable for providing restricted goods to security forces, along with those who finance the military.

Maung alleged that Malaysian companies were also implicated in the supply chain fueling the junta regime and warned that sanction fines are heftier than the small profits gained from the sale of fuel.

“We are monitoring them closely and allowing them to cease their activities before we report them to the authorities in the US and UK,” he warned, declining to name the perpetrators unless their activities persisted.

Maung, who has been living in hiding since his citizenship was revoked in 2021, said financial sanctions have also placed the regime in dire straits, forcing it to order exporters to give 70 percent of their earnings to fuel importers.

“This means the regime has run out of US currency,” said the veteran unionist who is among 30 trade union leaders targeted by the regime, but who cannot leave the country because their passports were cancelled.

‘Banks should sever ties with Myanmar’

Maung also urged multinational banks in Malaysia to sever ties with banks in Myanmar and close all accounts that belong to the junta and its cronies.

Malaysian banks Maybank and CIMB operate in Myanmar.

“Singapore’s United Overseas Bank had cut off ties with banks in Myanmar in September and all incoming and outgoing payments to and from Myanmar accounts have been restricted.

“Multinational banks in Malaysia need to follow suit. The move does not have to be announced. Banks can just issue a notice to banks in Myanmar and execute them,” he added.

Since taking over as prime minister, Anwar has made statements condemning the actions of the junta in Myanmar.

Last September, during the Asean Summit retreat, Anwar expressed disappointment with the lack of progress in the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus and continuous instability in Myanmar.

The Five-Point Consensus refers to the agreement between Asean leaders and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing to end violence in the country, commence dialogue with all parties, appoint a special envoy, for the special envoy to meet all stakeholders, and for Asean to extend humanitarian assistance.

In July last year, Malaysia urged Asean to strongly condemn the Myanmar junta’s actions, after the junta conducted multiple airstrikes.