New sanctions on Myanmar junta

Last Updated on November 1, 2024 9:47 am

The UK, the European Union and Canada have imposed new sanctions on Myanmar’s military junta government. The ban was announced on Tuesday on the junta’s “military equipment, supplies and funding”.

The UK, in coordination with Canada and the European Union, imposed the ban. The country said the new sanctions on companies that supply aircraft fuel and equipment to Myanmar’s military were aimed at “limiting its ability to carry out air strikes on civilians”.

In a statement, the Myanmar military carried out the highest number of air strikes in August, killing dozens of civilians and amounting to “serious human rights violations”. The sanctions target six companies involved in supplying fuel to the military junta’s aircraft or supplying prohibited goods.

“The human rights abuses committed by the Myanmar military across Myanmar, including airstrikes on civilian infrastructure, are unacceptable and the impact on innocent civilians is intolerable,” said junior British foreign minister Catherine West.

The UK Foreign Office in London said in a statement that Britain has provided more than $1.95 billion in humanitarian aid, health, education and support to civil society and local communities in Myanmar since the 2021 coup.

The statement said that more than 3.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting. More than 18 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance and Myanmar is now facing a surge in serious and organised crime.

The latest sanctions come after a year-long campaign by the People’s Defence Forces, which is fighting to crush an ethnic minority insurgency and a junta coup.

Source: Reuters