UN Experts Say Myanmar's Military Junta Can Still Access Weapons And Money Abroad

Myanmar Military Junta Leader Senior Cender, Min Aung Hlaing. (Wikimedia Commons.Mil.ru)

JAKARTA - UN experts in a report published Wednesday said international efforts to isolate Myanmar's military junta appear to have hampered its ability to purchase new military equipment from abroad, but the military can still access money and weapons for its war against anti-coup forces.

Myanmar has been hit by turmoil since the military seized power from elected governments in a coup in 2021, prompting financial sanctions imposed on the military, banks, and other related businesses by Western countries.

More than three years later, the protest movement against the coup has grown into a massive civil war, with the military accused of carrying out airstrikes against rebels and civilians for losing control of much of the territory.

A report by a special UN reporter on the human rights situation in Myanmar Tom Andrews found that the value of weapons, multiple use technology, manufacturing equipment and other materials imported by the junta amounted to 253 million US dollars a year until March 2024.

That number is a third less than the previous year, the report said, thanks to Singapore's efforts to prevent its companies from helping the junta.

Andrews told Reuters the progress suggests sanctions and other international efforts could have an impact on the junta's ability to resupply, and therefore reduce the military's ability to launch attacks such as airstrikes that have killed civilians in their villages.

"The way they attack these villages depends on their access to weapons and materials supplied from abroad," Andrews said.

Myanmar's military denies accusations of committing atrocities against civilians, saying they are fighting "terrorists."

Meanwhile, officials have reduced the impact of sanctions, saying it will only delay the military plan to return the country to democracy.

Andrews observed purchases by entities controlled by the junta's defense ministry, identifying military procurements worth US$630 million between 2022 and 2024.

The report said exports from Singapore fell from more than 110 million US dollars in the 2022 fiscal year to just over 10 million US dollars.

However, neighboring Myanmar, Thailand, partially fills the gap. The company registered in Thailand transferred weapons and related materials worth USD 120 million in the fiscal year 2023, compared to USD 60 million in the previous year.

"In a striking example, in 2023, the company listed in Thailand became a source of SAC parts for Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters previously provided by companies listed in Singapore," the report said, referring to the junta's official name, the State Administration Council.

"SAC used this helicopter to transport soldiers and carry out airstrikes against civilian targets, such as the April 2023 attack on Pazigyi Village in Sagaing Region which killed about 170 people, including 40 children," he continued.

The Myanmar military said armed resistance members were killed in the Pazigyi Village attack.

Thai Prime Minister Sretta Thavisin told Reuters in an interview in April that Thailand would not side with and would address all issues in the conflict.