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WASHINGTON: The United States and Britain imposed sanctions on conglomerates controlled by Myanmar’s military on Thursday (March 25), following the generals’ coup on February 1 and deadly crackdown, and Washington called it a response. to “abuses and abhorrent violence.”
The US Treasury Department said its sanctions were targeting Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation Ltd (MEC).
Britain imposed similar sanctions on MEHL, citing serious human rights violations committed by the Myanmar military against Rohingya Muslims.
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Representatives for the two entities, which control large sections of Myanmar’s economy, had no immediate comment on when Reuters reported Wednesday that the sanctions were expected.
Thursday’s actions were by far the biggest against the Myanmar military’s business interests, ranging from beer and cigarettes to telecommunications, tires, mining and real estate.
Washington’s move freezes all assets held by entities in the United States and is the latest in a series of post-military takeover sanctions that have targeted Myanmar’s central bank and top generals.
The designation also prohibits US citizens or businesses from trading or conducting financial transactions with those listed.
Since almost all dollar payments are settled through US financial institutions, the measure effectively expels blacklisted companies from the US banking system.
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In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Myanmar’s military “has taken increasingly disturbing actions against its own citizens since February 1.”
“These actions will be specifically directed at those who led the coup, the economic interests of the military and the sources of funding that support the brutal repression of the Burmese military,” he said. “They are not directed at the people of Burma.
“By designating these entities, the United States and the United Kingdom have shown that we will deliver on our promises to promote accountability for the coup and the heinous violence and other abuses we have seen in recent weeks,” Blinken said.
At a hearing in the US Senate on the response to the coup, Senator Ed Markey, Democratic chairman of the Asia subcommittee, said he welcomed the latest sanctions but called for more.
“More must be done to deny the military its economic livelihood and to deny it weapons of war. The United States must play a leadership role in urging our partners and allies, including ASEAN members, to take steps to cut funding. of the military, “he said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Human rights groups welcomed the US move.
Human Rights Watch said the sanctions would create significant difficulties for conglomerates to do business with outside companies, but it also said the United States could do more.
“This is a very important step, but it is not the biggest economic sanction that could be implemented,” said the group’s Asia defense director John Sifton, adding that the United States should also target Myanmar’s revenue from joint ventures in natural gas with international companies.
Global Witness urged the European Union to follow suit in sanctioning the commercial interests of the military, and said Britain should also follow the United States in imposing sanctions on the MEC.
Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said that by imposing the sanctions, the United States was “targeting the Burmese military’s control of significant segments of the Burmese economy, which is a vital financial underpinning for the military meeting”. “
In announcing the sanctions, the United States issued several licenses granting exemptions for official transactions of the US government and those of international and non-governmental organizations.
A license authorized the transactions necessary to close the business involving MEC and MEHL or any entity they own, until June 22.
