Myanmar villagers protest against Europe’s Airbus after airstrikes

By RFA Burmese2024.10.30

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

Victims of military airstrikes in Myanmar protested against Europe’s largest aerospace group, Airbus, saying it and neighboring China were supporting the junta in its war against pro-democracy forces in which their village was destroyed and dozens of people killed.

Myanmar had been in bloody turmoil since the military overthrew an elected government in early 2021 with pro-democracy activists taking up arms in alliance with ethnic minority guerrillas in a battle to end military rule.

Anti-junta forces have made unprecedented gains in fighting over the past year but the military has responded with sustained airstrikes on the insurgents and civilians in areas they have captured.

“We are protesting to ask companies to stop supporting the junta’s airstrikes and warfare, like the Chinese government and the aircraft company Airbus,” said a leader of the protest in Hseng Taung village in northern Myanmar Kachin state.

“We’re demonstrating here specifically because we want to show Hseng Taung’s destroyed houses, caused by the shooting and the bombs,” said the protest leader who declined to be identified given the military’s crackdown on dissent.

Hseng Taung was devastated during a month of battle between the military and anti-junta forces, residents said. More than 30 people were killed and about 400 homes were destroyed in airstrikes and shelling in the battle that ended on Oct. 8, they said.

About 50 people took part in the Tuesday protest with some of them holding banners saying: “Airbus – stop investing in war crimes.”

The activist group Justice for Myanmar outlined the sale of a combat aircraft and missiles to the Myanmar air force by the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC, as well as continued “maintenance, repair, and overhaul services for Chinese fixed-wing aircraft in use by the junta.”

Airbus is an investor in AVIC’s Hong Kong-listed holding company and strategic partner, AviChina Industry and Technology Co. Ltd.

An Airbus spokesperson, in response to a report by RFA Burmese on Sept. 16 about the links, said the company was in compliance with all relevant sanctions against Myanmar and had not supplied defense products to Myanmar or its armed forces.

“Airbus\’ relationship with Chinese companies, including AVIC, is fully compliant with all European and international laws and regulations, notably with regards to the existing arms embargo on China,” the company said.

“Airbus\’ industrial and technology partnerships in China are exclusively focused on civil aerospace and services.”

Similar protests against the supply of weapons to the military were held this week in the Sagaing region, one of the areas of Myanmar most impacted by the junta airstrikes and shelling.

RFA contacted the junta’s main spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, for comment but he did not respond by the time of publication.

Similarly, China‘s embassy in Myanmar did not respond to enquiries from RFA about the protesters’ demands, by time of publication. China is one of the junta’s main foreign supporters.

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA Staff.