New EU Burma Sanctions Welcome – But Implementation Too Slow

Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new EU sanctions on 19 individuals and on the State Administration Council (SAC) but called on the EU to rapidly step up the pace and scope of sanctions implementation.

The individuals sanctioned include members of the military and arms brokers.

“The EU has the right policy, to cut off sources of revenue and arms to the Burmese military, but they are not implementing it fast enough,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Every day there are more airstrikes, artillery strikes or arrests, the EU needs a sense of urgency. Cutting off the Burmese military’s access to money and arms will save lives.”

The new EU sanctions target members of the Burmese military, members of the SAC, and the judiciary and prisons service. Also sanctioned are business cronies Tay Za and Aung Myo Myint, who have brokered arms for the Burmese military, and Naing Htut Aung, who has funded the military in relation to genocide of the Rohingya and also brokered arms.

Details are available here:

https://wp.progressivevoicemyanmar.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CELEX-32022D2178-EN-TXT.pdf

This is the first round of new EU sanctions since February. The UK and USA have been leading the way on implementation of targeted sanctions, but they are also moving far too slowly.

A fraction of the action being taken in response to the invasion of Ukraine would be transformative for the situation in Burma.

Burma Campaign UK is also calling on the EU to sanction suppliers of aviation fuel to Burma, and to ban European companies from any involvement in the supply of aviation fuel to Burma.

A recent report by Amnesty International, Deadly Cargo: Exposing the Supply Chain that Fuels War Crimes in Myanmar, detailed the Burmese and international companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to Burma. These companies enable the Burmese military to carry out airstrikes and are complicit in the deaths of civilians and mass displacement, which are war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Amnesty International report is available here.

“The EU can and must do much more to cut off the supply of money, arms and aviation fuel to the Burmese military, there is no excuse for not acting,” said Mark Farmaner.

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