GENEVA—The UN’s Myanmar expert on Wednesday criticized the US decision to lift sanctions imposed on the ruling generals’ allies and their military-linked firms, branding it “unconscionable”.
Washington lifted the sanctions after the junta chief sent a glowing letter of praise to US President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Tom Andrews, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, said removing sanctions from individuals and companies that have provided weapons, supplies and other material support was a “shocking” turn in US policy that risked emboldening the junta and its enablers.
“This is a major step backward for international efforts to save lives by restricting the murderous junta’s access to weapons,” he said in a statement.
“It is unconscionable to undermine these efforts by rolling back sanctions on Myanmar arms dealers and junta cronies.”
Myanmar has been engulfed in a brutal conflict since February 2021, when Min Aung Hlaing’s military wrested power from the civilian government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The coup sparked a civil war that has killed thousands, leaving 3.5 million displaced and half the nation in poverty.
Earlier this month, the junta chief sent a letter to Trump, responding to his threat of tariffs by lauding his presidency with praise, including for shutting down US-funded media outlets covering the conflict.
Andrews said the companies removed from US sanctions lists had all been implicated in the arms trade, including brokering the junta’s acquisition of weapons, raw materials, supplies.
“The junta’s use of weapons of war to attack civilians has been devastating—and this is a fact that the Trump administration has recognized by calling out the military junta for these attacks and other grave human rights violations,” said Andrews.
“What makes this action even more appalling is that sanctions against the junta are proving to be effective.
“The volume of military equipment that the junta was able to import declined by over 30 percent from 2023 to 2024, in part because of sanctions imposed by the United States and other nations.”
Andrews, a Democrat former US congressman, urged Republican Trump’s administration to reconsider.
“It is literally a matter of life and death,” he said.
Special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the UN Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
