Two Years Of Military Coup, US And Allies Drop New Sanctions Against Myanmar

Myanmar military junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (front). (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - The United States and its allies imposed new sanctions on Myanmar on Tuesday, marking the second anniversary of the coup by curbing energy officials and members of the military junta.

Washington imposed sanctions on the United Electoral Commission, mining companies and energy officials, among others.

This marks the first time the United States has targeted officials of the Myanmar Oil and Gas Company (MOGE) under the current Myanmar sanctions program, a Treasury Department spokesperson said.

Canada, Australia and the UK also announced sanctions.

Myanmar's top generals led a coup in February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a semi-civilian political system created by the military, which led to a decade of unprecedented reforms.

The Land of the Thousand Pagodas has been in turmoil since then, with an insurgency fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions reinstated.

Tuesday's US move targeted the managing director and deputy managing director of MOGE, which is the junta's top revenue-generating state-owned enterprise, according to the Treasury Department.

Human rights advocates have called for sanctions against MOGE, but Washington has so far refrained from imposing them.

Also targeted by Washington is the Union Minister for Energy, who the Treasury Department says represents the Myanmar government in international and domestic energy sector engagement, managing state-owned entities involved in the production and export of oil and gas.

Mining Enterprise No. 1 and Mining Enterprise No. 2, both state-owned enterprises, as well as the General Elections Commission, were also sanctioned by Washington.

In addition, Washington has also targeted former and current Myanmar military officials, the Treasury said, accusing the Air Force of continuing airstrikes using Russian-built aircraft against pro-democracy forces that have been killing civilians.

Myanmar Military illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/Mil.ru)

Separately, Canada targeted six people and banned the export, sale, supply, or delivery of aviation fuel in action on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Australia is targeting members of the junta and companies run by the military.

The United Kingdom, meanwhile, targeted two companies and two individuals who helped supply the Myanmar air force with aviation fuel used to carry out bombing campaigns against its own citizens.

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said Tuesday's US sanctions still fall short of stronger sanctions imposed by the European Union, especially in terms of natural gas revenues and banks processing overseas payments.

"Consequently, the steps taken so far have not weighed heavily on the military junta enough to force him to change his behavior," Sifton said in an emailed statement.

"Today's sanctions, while a step forward, are unlikely to change this reality. Specifically, in the case of Myanmar's lucrative natural gas revenues, the US should attack the payments that are actually made, not just sanction a handful of conglomerate officials," he said.

The military has promised to hold elections in August this year. On Friday, the junta announced tough conditions for parties to contest elections, including a massive increase in their membership, a move that could sideline military opponents and strengthen its grip on power.

The arrangement benefited the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the military representative made up of former generals, who were defeated by Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2015 and 2020 elections.

The NLD was crushed by the coup, with thousands of its members arrested or imprisoned, including Suu Kyi, and many more in hiding.

The NLD in November described this year's election as "sham" and said it would not recognize it. The election was also seen as a sham by Western governments.