Global Blueprint: Extraction Goes Global · Episode 2 of 5 · 40 min
A Pipeline Built on Forced Labor: How Villagers Sued an Oil Company
To bring Myanmar's offshore Yadana gas ashore in the 1990s, TotalEnergies and Unocal partnered with the Burmese military junta, whose army provided pipeline security by forcing villagers, many of them Karen, into labor and committing killings and rapes. Karen plaintiffs sued in Doe v. Unocal, leading to a landmark 2005 settlement, and after the 2021 coup the companies withdrew in 2022.
Where it happens
- Yadana gas field, MyanmarOffshore field whose gas was piped to Thailand
- MyanmarCountry ruled by the military junta
- ThailandBuyer of the gas through a pipeline
Timeline
- Early 1990sTotal and Unocal partner with the junta to develop Yadana
- October 1996Karen plaintiffs file Doe v. Unocal under the Alien Tort Statute
- 2005Unocal settles; Chevron acquires Unocal
- February 2021Military coup overthrows the elected government
- 2022TotalEnergies and Chevron withdraw
- 2010sGas becomes Myanmar's largest source of foreign currency
Still debated
The court found Unocal knew of and benefited from the forced labor but did not establish that it directed the army. Whether the 2022 withdrawal helped or hurt is argued, since shares passed to partners including junta-controlled MOGE, and relative responsibility of Total and Unocal is disputed.