In coordinated action against the Myanmar military regime, the US has imposed sanctions on its main source of foreign revenue, Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), while the UK and Canada have blacklisted individuals and entities to build on earlier sanctions and target the junta’s ability to buy weapons.
The new restrictions on the junta come after more than two years of renewed military rule in the country, where the regime has used air strikes, shelling, arbitrary arrests and killings against nationwide anti-regime resistance forces and civilians.
As of Tuesday, the junta had killed 4,162 people since the coup, according to monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners-Burma.
“Burma’s military regime has repeatedly harmed civilians in air strikes, suppressed pro-democracy movements, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and displaced millions of people” since the coup, said the US Treasury Department, using Myanmar’s former name.
It added that the latest sanctions target companies and individuals, including government officials, who perpetuate or facilitate violence in Myanmar.
The most significant step in Tuesday’s coordinated action is the US sanction against MOGE, which the US said is “the biggest single source of foreign revenue for the military regime, providing hundreds of millions of dollars each year.”
The action prohibits certain financial services by Americans to MOGE starting on Dec. 15, the Treasury said in a statement, in the first direct action against the state-owned enterprise.
Rights groups and democracy activists at home and abroad have been calling for the sanction against MOGE since the junta began committing atrocities after the coup, pointing out that the regime uses revenue from selling oil and gas to buy weapons to crush resistance groups and civilians.
“We continue to encourage all countries to take tangible measures to halt the flow of arms, aviation fuel, and revenue to the military regime,” said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
The US Treasury also “designated” three companies that have helped the military regime import arms and other goods, and five people. The companies are: Sky Royal Hero Company Limited, Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited. The five individuals are the regime’s Industry Minister Charlie Than, Investment and Foreign Economic Relations Minister Kan Zaw, Ministry of Legal Affairs’ Prosecution Department Director General Swe Swe Aung; and the Chief of General Staff for the Myanmar Army, Navy, and Air Force Maung Maung Aye.
It said the step “close avenues for sanctions evasion and strengthen our efforts to impose costs and promote accountability for the regime’s atrocities.”
“Today’s action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom, maintains our collective pressure on Burma’s military and denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts,” said Brian Nelson, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
In a separate statement, the UK announced sanctions against five individuals and one entity involved either in providing financial services to the regime or supplying restricted goods.
They are Myo Thitsar, head of Department, Procurement & Supply of Dynasty International; Htoo Htet Tay Za, a director of Htoo Group of Companies; Pye Phyo Tay Za from Myanmar Avia Services, Yangon Aircraft Engineering Company Limited and Htoo Group of Companies; Kyaw Min Oo, the director of Sky Aviator Company Limited; and Sit Taing Aung, the director of Yatanarpon Aviation Services who also works with Mottama Holdings.
The entity sanctioned is International Group of Entrepreneur Services Company Limited (IGE) for its involvement in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through making available funds or other economic resources to the Myanmar security forces.
Canadian authorities added that with their latest actions, the country has now taken aim at 95 individuals and 63 entities.
Blood Money Campaign, a collective of Myanmar activists campaigning to stop revenues for the junta, welcomed the sanction against MOGE, saying it would “significantly support Myanmar people fighting to end the military dictatorship and trying to establish federal democracy in the country.”
But it called for more serious sanctions against the enterprise as a whole, not just action that “prohibits certain financial services by Americans to MOGE.”
“On behalf of Myanmar people, we urge the US to keep taking more actions as soon as possible against the MOGE and other revenue sources to topple the junta’s financial pillars,” it said in a statement.
