Lifting Sanctions, Dismissing Accountability

In a dangerous rollback of US policy towards Myanmar, the United States Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has undone years of Myanmar people’s tireless efforts by lifting targeted sanctions on junta-linked individuals and companies. This move enables the junta’s access to funds, arms, and aviation fuel—resources weaponized to commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. This alarming policy shift follows a troubling pattern of backtracking on human rights in conjunction with Trump’s tariff letter to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing—welcomed by a junta desperate for any form of recognition—and the abrupt aid cut. Since the 2021 coup attempt, Myanmar’s people have consistently called for targeted sanctions, the urgent restoration of aid, and an increase in aid, without which many lives remain at risk.

On July 24, 2025, OFAC announced the removal of Myanmar-related and North Korea designations, including the deletion of companies and individuals complicit in junta crimes—such as Services & Logistics and its founder Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung; Myanmar Chemical and Machinery (MCM) Group and its owner Aung Hlaing Oo; Suntac Technologies and its owner Sit Taing Aung; and the individual Tin Latt Min.

Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung and the KT Group are known for their generations-long history of lucrative business ties with Myanmar military conglomerates and financial support to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing during the Rohingya genocide. Aung Hlaing Oo, Chair of MCM Company and a major supplier of weapons and aircraft parts to the junta, has also been delisted, though he continues to be sanctioned by Canada, the European Union, and the United Kingdom. Similarly, Sit Taing Aung, another major arms supplier, has been removed while still being sanctioned by the EU and Canada. Alarmingly, Tin Min Latt, who co-owns the Shwe Byain Phyu Group with her husband, Thein Win Zaw, who remains sanctioned, has also been taken off the sanctions list. 

The US government has failed to fully and transparently explain why it removed these sanctions. This decision lacks principled political grounds, undermines US national interests, and is both inhumane and dangerously short-sighted. Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender stated that “individuals, including in this case, are regularly added and removed from the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List) in the ordinary course of business.” Meanwhile, Erich Ferrari—an attorney from Ferrari & Associates lobby firm—boasted about it as a victory for his clients, calling it  “unprecedented” and a “triple removal action.” Together, these statements clearly reveal that supporters of the war crime-guilty junta are pouring vast funds and resources into lobbying efforts to get themselves removed from sanctions lists. This is deeply troubling as it opens a dangerous loophole the junta can exploit to further its acts of terrorism against Myanmar people. There is no excuse for the US government not explaining this rollback in accountability. The American public and people of Myanmar deserve full transparency and an honest account.

On 7 July 2025, the US government took another wrong turn by sending a tariff letter to the junta, falsely legitimizing a criminal institution that Myanmar people have wholly rejected. The junta took pride and responded as if it were the legitimate government of Myanmar and asked the US to ease sanctions heavily impacting itself and its cronies.

Salai Mang Hre Lian, the US government’s Global Human Rights Defender Award winner of 2024 from Chin Human Rights Organization noted, “Sanctions were never about punishment, they were a tool of accountability, a clear message that crimes like genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing will not be tolerated. Removing them now sends a troubling signal: that the suffering of victims can be overlooked, and that power outweighs justice.” The US is reversing—rather than reinforcing—the multilateral and coordinated sanctions essential to weakening the terrorist junta. The immediate and tangible consequence of this mistake is that the suffering of the people of Myanmar will increase, as it emboldens and enables the junta with renewed access to weapons, finances, and resources to commit further atrocity crimes across the country.

Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, stated, “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.” He further called on the Trump administration to reconsider its decision and extend sanctions to Myanma Economic Bank, a financial institution illegally under siege by the junta. 

Days before the announcement of sanctions being lifted, committee within the US Congress finally moved forward in advancing meaningful accountability through the three bills—the BRAVE Burma Act, the Burma Genocide Accountability and Protection Act (Burma GAP Act), and the No New Burma Funds Act—offering hope that the US may still live up to the expectations for stronger action on the Myanmar crisis. Apparently, there is a contradiction in US policy as the US Congress advances bills promoting accountability while the administration is simultaneously removing sanctions that undermine such progress.

This latest rollback in US government policy follows its abrupt, callous aid cuts, which have already put countless lives at risk, forcing the closure of programs that provide food, healthcare, and other essential services to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Myanmar. Furthermore, Myanmar nationals were banned from travelling to the US, as announced in June 2025.

It is a bitter disappointment to witness what the US stands for now—dismissing accountability, emboldening criminals, shutting down lifesaving aid, and betraying the values of human rights and democracy it once championed. The US Congress must hold the Trump administration accountable for its actions in lending false legitimacy to the junta through the tariff letter and by dropping sanctions.

At this critical juncture, the people of Myanmar urgently need international support, yet continue to be forgotten. One thing is clear: The Myanmar people’s revolution is not only resisting a brutal military junta but also building a peaceful and sustainable future. True allies of democracy must stand firmly with the people of Myanmar—not only in solidarity but also by taking decisive actions as a strategic pushback against the rise of tyranny. To be precise, already enforced sanctions on junta-linked individuals and companies by countries and entities such as Australia, Canada, the UK, and the EU must be effectively implemented and reinforced. Additionally, these champions of human rights and democracy must extend formal support to the legitimate representatives of Myanmar people including the National Unity Government, Ethnic Resistance Organizations, emerging federal and ethnic units, as well as civil society organizations, while taking decisive action to cut all ties with the junta. 

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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.

Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”