The European Union has imposed sanctions on six more Myanmar junta officials and one junta-controlled entity, citing the escalation in violence and grave human rights violations since the 2021 military coup.
The fresh sanctions announced on Thursday target the ministers for immigration and population, labor, and health and sports, two members of the State Administration Council (SAC), the Quartermaster General, and the No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), a state-owned enterprise controlled by and generating revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces.
The targets are subject to an asset freeze and travel ban that prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory, said the EU announcement.
“In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed,” it added.
The EU imposed sanctions on junta health and sports minister, Dr. Thet Khaing Win, under whose authority hundreds of doctors have been fired for political reasons and had their licenses revoked, while private hospitals were urged not to hire doctors who refused to work in public hospitals under the military regime. He also rebuffed UN Humanitarian Office (UNOCHA) requests for aid access during the pandemic, it said.
Junta labor minister Pwint San was also targeted in Thursday’s sanctions since under his authority, the rights of workers – especially those affiliated with the opposition movement – are being systematically violated, it said.
The labor minister has facilitated imports of oil and other goods necessary to sustain the regime’s power, while his ministry is aggravating disruption of supplies within the country by imposing import controls and restricting the transfer of remittances, it added.
Meanwhile, junta minister for immigration and population Myint Kyaing is supporting repressive regime policies, including restrictions on citizens’ travel within the country and ongoing human rights violations against ethnic-minority Rohingya, the EU said. He has also participated in preparations for the planned election aimed at legitimizing the military’s illegal coup of February 2021, it added.
Lieutenant General Kyaw Swar Linn, the Quartermaster General – the sixth most-senior post in the military – is involved in procuring weapons and other military equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, it stated.
Kyaw Swar Lin also runs the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is one of two major conglomerates operated by and generating revenue for the military, it added.
The two SAC members included on the new sanctions list are Porel Aung Thein, who is also a member of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party, and Aung Kyaw Min, the former chief minister of Rakhine State.
EU sanctions currently apply to a total of 99 individuals and 19 entities in Myanmar.
The EU has also imposed an embargo on exports of arms and military equipment, as well as items for monitoring communications that could be used for internal repression; an export ban on dual-use goods, and a ban on training and cooperation with the military.
The EU is also withholding direct financial assistance to the junta and freezing all assistance that may be seen as legitimizing military rule.
Thursday’s statement by the EU condemned continuing grave human rights violations including torture, sexual and gender-based violence; the persecution of civil society, human rights defenders and journalists; and the military’s indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population, including a deadly airstrike that killed at least 171 people on April 10.
“All hostilities must stop immediately. The military authorities must fully respect international humanitarian law and put an end to the indiscriminate use of force,” it said.
