5/22/22, 10:09 AM Myanmar rights groups complain to OECD over Telenor sale | Financial Times Myanmar Myanmar rights groups complain to OECD over Telenor sale Norwegian state-owned telco offloaded operations in conflict-torn nation to Lebanese investment firm As violence against protesters escalated after a February coup, Telenor’s employees came under threat © AFP via Getty Images John Reed in Bangkok and Chloe Cornish in London JULY 27 2021 Receive free Myanmar updates We’ll send you a myFT Daily Digest email rounding up the latest Myanmar news every morning. Enter your email address Sign up Myanmar-based rights groups have submitted a complaint to the OECD against Telenor after the Norwegian state-owned telecoms company sold its business in the conflict-torn south-east Asian country to a Lebanese investment firm. The groups alleged that Telenor “irresponsibly disengaged from its Myanmar operations” and failed to act in accordance with OECD and UN principles on business and human rights when it sold its local business to M1 Group, which was founded by Lebanon’s new prime minister-designate, for $105m this month. The transaction came amid widespread disorder in the country following a military coup in February. “Telenor has failed to conduct appropriate risk-based due diligence and has failed to seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts to its customers potentially arising from the sale of its Myanmar operations,” the groups said in a complaint to Norway’s national contact point under the OECD’s guidelines for https://www.ft.com/content/f7631bfb-25b5-48d8-9c15-39650c6b7f85 1/3