Norway’s Parliament has launched a probe into reports that state‑controlled telecoms giant Telenor exposed hundreds of Myanmar opposition figures to arrest and detention during its exit from the country after the 2021 coup.
Among those affected was Myanmar’s civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other elected National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders in the early hours of the putsch.
On Tuesday, Norwegian media outlet NewsinEnglish.no reported that lawmakers from the Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs Committee are examining the case. Committee chair Per‑Willy Amundsen has called the matter “extremely serious,” warning that the government, as majority owner, may share responsibility for human rights violations.
The committee sent a string of questions to the ministries of trade and foreign affairs and the Prime Minister’s Office in November, but is reportedly dissatisfied with the answers.
The government has also refused to turn over several documents requested by the panel.
In August, national broadcaster NRK revealed that Telenor had complied with a junta demand to hand over personal data of 1,300 customers or block the use of their phones. Telenor confirmed that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s data was handed to the regime, citing risks to staff if it refused military orders.
Prior to its pullout, activists urged Telenor to halt the sale of its Myanmar operation to a regime-linked business, warning this would hand the personal data of millions of users to junta authorities.
However, Telenor went ahead with the March 2022 sale to Investcom PTE LTD, a joint venture between Lebanese investment firm M1 Group and Myanmar company Shwe Byaing Phyu (SBP), owned by junta crony Thein Win Zaw.
Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, has a stake in SBP, which controls 80 percent of Telenor’s old Myanmar operation.
M1 was added to Burma Campaign UK’s “Dirty List” in 2019 for doing business with the Myanmar military as a major shareholder in Irrawaddy Green Towers, which operates almost 4,000 telecom towers across the country under military-owned telecom firm Mytel.
Telenor’s sale also involved the transfer of surveillance equipment to M1.
In December 2024, human rights groups Justice for Myanmar (JFM) and ICJ Norway filed a complaint with Norway police against Telenor and its former Myanmar managers for violating Norwegian sanctions and transferring sensitive customer data to the junta.
