The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"Myanmar’s Economy shows tentative stabilization, but fuel shock intensifies pressures
The economic outlook remains subdued, with growth projected at 2 percent in FY2026/27.
YANGON, June 16, 2026 — Myanmar’s economy was showing tentative signs of stabilization prior to the Middle East conflict, but activity remained weak and under strain, according to the latest Myanmar Economic Monitor released today by the World Bank.
Economic activity improved modestly through late 2025 and early 2026, supported by partial normalization after the March 2025 earthquake, some easing of power supply constraints, and pockets of resilience in manufacturing, construction, and services. However, output, sales, and profits remained well below pre-2021 and pre-earthquake benchmarks, reflecting continued constraints from power supply, weak demand, and limited policy space. Real GDP is estimated to have contracted by 2.0 percent in FY2025/26, despite modest improvement in activity toward the end of the fiscal year.
A fuel shock driven by Middle East tensions in early 2026 has amplified existing economic pressures. Higher fuel prices have raised transport and logistics costs, increased production and distribution costs, and intensified foreign exchange demand for fuel imports After easing through late 2025, inflation rose sharply from March 2026, reaching 24.6 percent year-on-year in April. This has further strained household welfare, particularly among vulnerable populations.
“While there are signs that economic conditions have stabilized, Myanmar’s economy remains under significant strain,” said Melinda Good, World Bank Division Director for Thailand and Myanmar. “Recent shocks continue to expose deep structural vulnerabilities, and without sustained improvements in the operating environment, recovery is likely to remain fragile.”
The economic outlook remains subdued, with growth projected at 2 percent in FY2026/27, revised down from 3 percent prior to the fuel shock. The report highlights persistent risks to the outlook, including continued conflict, disruptions to trade and logistics, and external pressures such as weaker export earnings and global energy price volatility.
The Myanmar Economic Monitor also finds that the private sector is operating in an uncertain and challenging environment. Businesses face rising costs, administrative burdens, and uneven policy implementation. As a result, many firms are focused on survival rather than growth, further weakening prospects for job creation and income recovery.
“Many of Myanmar’s business challenges stem from weak implementation of formal rules and inconsistent service delivery,” said Kemoh Mansaray, World Bank Senior Economist. “Greater predictability and better coordination will be key to supporting firms, restoring confidence, and unlocking growth.”..."
Source/publisher:
World Bank
Date of entry/update:
2026-06-16
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Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy
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"KEY FINDINGS
• Food prices were fairly stable in September, although the total NFI basket price increased 3%;
• Prices for hygiene NFIs rose sharply, and stockouts impacted soap and toothpaste in some markets;
• Cooking oil prices drew back from their August peak, and other essential foods were relatively stable;
• Myaung and Monywa saw prices rise 9-12%, while in Yinmarbin overall prices were mostly stable;
• NFI prices were up 74% year-on-year, while food prices were up 26% year-on-year;
• The total basket price was up 3% month-on-month, and it was up 48% year-on-year..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit (Myanmar) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2024-10-26
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Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Business and the Military
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"New investigation exposes companies supporting the Myanmar air force as it commits war crimes and crimes against humanity with impunity
Justice For Myanmar has uncovered a global network of companies that have enabled the Myanmar military to acquire and operate at least ten French-manufactured Avions de Transport Regional (ATR) aircraft from 2013 onwards.
The military has used the aircraft to transport troops and arms used in its commission of international crimes, and for surveillance and reconnaissance.
The investigation reveals that international companies, private military arms brokers and commercial airlines have transferred ATR aircraft to the military, in some cases hiding the end user in an apparent attempt to evade sanctions.
Myanmar and international companies have also assisted the military through the procurement of parts and the provision of maintenance services.
Companies operating out of the European Union (EU) – including ATR and Sabena Technics in France, and Axis Flight Simulation Systems in Austria – enabled the continuing flight operations of the military’s ATR aircraft by ensuring repairs of core components, supplying key parts and spares, and enabling the training of Myanmar air force pilots to fly the ATR aircraft.
This business has taken place despite the EU restrictive measures on Myanmar in place during the period investigated and strengthened in 2018.
Companies in Singapore have enabled the continuing flight operations of ATR aircraft in Myanmar by supplying key parts and spares, including after the military’s coup attempt.
Air KBZ (now Mingalar Aviation), owned by the crony 24 Hour Group, has played a central role, transferring two ATR aircraft to the air force and allowing arms broker International Gateways Group to use its name to procure two more ATRs from Vietnam Airlines before the military’s coup attempt.
Air KBZ has also leased at least two ATR aircraft from the military for commercial use, providing it with a source of revenue.
The military-linked crony conglomerate KT Group has brokered the acquisition of two ATR aircraft for the military, through its British Virgin Islands subsidiary MWG Limited.
Other ATR aircraft have been provided by the crony conglomerate Htoo Group, which has additionally provided maintenance for at least six of the air force’s ATRs.
Justice For Myanmar calls on governments to urgently block the Myanmar air force and its brokers from accessing spare and replacement parts, receiving flight crew and maintenance training, and accessing instructions needed for the continuing airworthiness of its ATR aircraft.
Targeted and coordinated sanctions should be extended to all Myanmar companies supporting the military’s ATR fleet, including 24 Hour Group, KT Group, International Gateways Group and Htoo Group.
Existing measures should be enforced for past and ongoing direct and indirect breaches.
International companies should halt all business with Myanmar arms brokers and civilian airline companies that have supported the Myanmar military.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "It is unacceptable that the Myanmar military has been able to acquire ATR aircraft, spare parts and maintenance services over many years while committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity.
"The junta is now using these aircraft to transport troops and weapons for its nationwide campaign of terror, supporting indiscriminate attacks on civilians that amount to war crimes.
"ATR and other international companies have failed in their human rights responsibilities by not conducting adequate due diligence to prevent their products from being used by the Myanmar military.
"Governments need to take urgent action to ensure that the Myanmar air force can no longer make use of the at least ten ATR aircraft that it relies on for its brutal attacks against children, schools, clinics and whole communities.
"This must involve cutting the military’s access to spare parts, training and technical support for its ATR aircraft.
"The military's use of French aircraft for the commission of international crimes also shows the clear need for the EU to expand and better enforce its restrictive measures on Myanmar.
"Singapore also needs to do more to cut off the military’s access to dual use goods and technology, and to stop allowing Myanmar military arms brokers from operating in its territory."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-08-29
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"The Central Bank of Myanmar printed an additional 3 trillion kyats in a single week last month as the junta desperately attempted to contain an increasingly debilitating liquidity crunch at commercial banks, the civilian National Unity Government (NUG) and executives close to leading bankers said.
The central bank printed the banknotes and distributed them to private banks in the third week of July, NUG Minister for Planning, Finance and Investment U Tin Tun Naing said.
The amount is equivalent to about US$ 1.4 billion at the central bank’s official conversion rate of 2,100 kyats to the dollar and about $490 million at the market exchange rate.
U Tin Tun Naing and other economists warned, however, that the central bank’s attempt to contain a liquidity crisis by dramatically increasing the supply of money will cause the value of the local currency, the kyat, to continue its devastating plunge and further damage an economy already hammered by more than three years of severe economic mismanagement under military rule.
Within weeks of the junta ramping up the money supply, the kyat’s value quickly plummeted. On August 9, it fell to 6,000 to the US dollar, and on August 16 it breached the 7,000 mark.
The kyat was trading as low as 1,300 to the US dollar before the Feb.1, 2021 coup.
Residents of cities and rural areas across Myanmar were also hit by fuel shortages at the same time. As the value of the kyat plunged, prices of imported gasoline and diesel surged.
“These impacts are the result of the junta’s careless printing of banknotes since the coup,” U Tin Tun Naing said.
Two executives who are close to private bankers said the central bank pushed trillions of kyat into the banking sector to prevent it from collapsing.
Bank customers have faced restrictions and other difficulties withdrawing cash from banks since early July.
Trust in private banks fell after the regime announced at the beginning of the month that it was punishing major private banks for exceeding the central bank’s cap on home mortgages. Since then, customers have been lining up to withdraw their life savings.
Banks responded by lowering limits on daily withdrawals to between 1 and 2 million kyats.
In the second week of July, daily withdrawal limits fell to as little to only 500,000 kyats per day. They had been as high as 19 million kyats a day on normal savings accounts before the crunch.
Before printing an additional 3 trillion kyats, the junta held an emergency meeting with the country’s top bankers in Naypyitaw on July 10, where the senior junta officials berated them, and accused them of inflicting inflation on Myanmar and causing the kyat to plunge.
Following the 3 trillion kyat injection into the banking system last month, customers began to be able to withdraw more money from banks in late July and still can this month.
Residents of some wards in Yangon and some businesspeople say that the problem has been solved because they can still withdraw the amount of cash from banks that they usually did before the liquidity crunch.
“We are now able to withdraw the amount we want, but obviously, the quality of the banknotes is getting quite low. We can feel that the banknotes, especially the 5,000 and 10,000 banknotes, are much thinner than ever,” one businessman in Yangon explained.
A KBZ customer in Kyauktada Township who said she withdrew 2 million kyats from the bank in late July and a CB customer in Thingangyun Township who said he withdrew 20 million kyats from CB bank this week both said their banknotes were not only thinner but also smelled strongly of ink. This, they said, was evidence that they were printed recently.
The junta’s affection for printing plenty of cash is not new.
Both the National Unity Government and Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was jailed by the junta, previously revealed that the regime had printed about 30 trillion kyats in the three years since its coup.
The junta’s hyper-aggressive monetary expansion, they said, was a major reason for the kyat’s plunge.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy, Tin Tun Naing said the junta had to do this to raise the cash it needed to fund its war and administration, and that it will persist in expanding the supply of money to ensure its future.
“What we can say for sure now is that the amount of money that the junta has been printing since the coup has now already exceeded 30 trillion kyats. As a consequence, Myanmar’s kyat value will continue falling and we see no chance for the banks to recover,” he said.
In the two years before the coup, the government of the civilian National League for Democracy (NLD) injected a total of 3.656 trillion kyats into the economy to help ameliorate the challenges created by the pandemic.
In 39 months, the junta has printed more than eight times the amount of money that the NLD did in a pandemic-hit two-year period, the NUG said in a June press conference.
Economist Turnell, a former economic advisor to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, told The Irrawaddy that flooding an economy with cash is a common response to severe financial crises, especially those that involve a collapse in institutional trust.
“This is precisely Myanmar’s situation now,” he said. “Nobody can reasonably trust the country’s banks, nor the regulatory authorities that are meant to keep depositor money safe.”
“This is yet another sign of the desperate economic plight the State Administrative Council [the junta’s governing body] has put Myanmar in. This is ‘war economy’ stuff, but on the losing side of that narrative,” he added..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2024-08-22
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Human Rights and international relations
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Sub-title:
Ongoing civil war has impacted local currency, leading to rationing by gas stations
Description:
"Residents in northern Myanmar’s Mandalay city and Taunggyi city in Shan state have been queuing all day and – in some instances – overnight to keep their spot in line for the limited amount of gasoline being sold.
Citizen photos provided to RFA show hundreds of motorists in Taunggyi on Aug. 18, queuing to purchase fuel.
A Taunggyi resident told RFA that when gasoline sells out for the day, they have to line up in front of the stores a day in advance to get the fuel that won’t be sold until the next day.
“As soon as the gas distribution quota for the day runs out, people must queue for the next day’s distribution, leading to a full day’s wait,” the resident said.
“Without queuing, getting fuel is quite difficult. Additionally, with more people moving to Taunggyi from other areas, the number of motorcycles and cars in the city has increased.”
Similarly, in Mandalay, locals say that they have to wait in line overnight because there isn’t enough fuel for cars.
Last week, RFA reported that petrol stations in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, were closed because of a severe shortage that has forced gasoline suppliers to ration fuel. It’s the latest evidence of an economy struggling with a multitude of problems since the military overthrew an elected government in 2021.
The root of the shortage appeared to be the plummeting value of the kyat currency, and the junta’s efforts to rein in the inflation that the weak kyat is causing, along with the economic disruption stemming from the conflict that has swept the country since the military takeover.
However, the Myanmar junta’s Fuel Import, Storage and Distribution Supervisory Committee stated through junta media outlets on Aug. 14 that there is no fuel shortage..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-08-19
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"The Singapore based company Emerging Towns & Cities (ETC) is continuing to fund the Myanmar army as it commits war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity.
ETC’s latest financial disclosure, for the 6 months to June 2024, shows the payment of a land lease premium of S$900,000 for Golden City, a real estate complex in Yangon on land leased from the Myanmar army’s office of the quartermaster general.
Earlier financial reports show the payment of S$1.68 million in 2022 and S$2.99 million in 2023, bringing the total paid to the Myanmar military to S$5.57 since its illegal coup attempt. ETC did not register any payments in 2021.
The office of the quartermaster general is under the office of the commander-in-chief of the army, Soe Win, a war criminal. In its December 2021 sanctions designation, the UK government described the quartermaster general’s office as “play(ing) a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel. This directly enables serious human rights violations, and the repression of the civilian population including peaceful protestors and ethnic minorities”.
On the same day, the office of the quartermaster general was also sanctioned by the USA and Canada.
The latest payments to the Myanmar army come as ETC has suspended trading for more than three years and has stated that it was in the process of divesting from Myanmar.
In February 2021, Justice For Myanmar published a report into ETC’s payments to the Myanmar army and the implications for the Singapore Stock Exchange, finding that payments to the army included a US$6.8 million “land use premium” and annual payments of US$2.8 million. The deal is under a build-operate-transfer contract, where the army receives the building as an asset at the end of the maximum 70-year term. Total payments to the army over the full 70 years would amount to US$191.1 million.
In response to Justice For Myanmar’s report, Singapore Stock Exchange Regulation took regulatory actions against ETC on February 26 2021 and the company suspended trading.
To address questions from the SGX regulator, ETC commissioned independent reviews into payments to the Myanmar military and its legal compliance.
In October 2021, Justice For Myanmar and the Australian Centre for International Justice published a legal memo from international law experts Felicity Gerry KC, International Criminal Court counsel, and Daye Gang of the Victorian Bar in Australia, which found that international law and guidance places due diligence obligations on the Singapore Stock Exchange and possible associated liability in international law on the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Government for companies doing business with the Myanmar military.
The legal memo found that Singapore has an international legal obligation “to investigate, prevent and cease transactions that amount to wrongful acts”, which are applicable to business transactions with the Myanmar military and its business interests, and that legal remedies would be “easily pursued and enforced” against SGX if the Myanmar military’s financial organs are found to be in breach of international laws and/or compliance regulations, including international human rights and humanitarian law.
In July 2023, ETC announced that they had entered into a sales agreement with the Singapore company, Grand Ally Investments, and recently extended the long-stop date to December 31, 2024.
As ETC and Grand Ally are both registered in Singapore, Singapore remains exposed to Golden City’s business with the Myanmar military, which helps fund its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We urge Singapore to impose sanctions on the junta and its business interests and to prevent continued payments to the Myanmar military from ETC and successor investors in Golden City.
If it fails to act, Singapore and its financial entities and private Singaporean financial institutions risk asset freezes as ETC’s money and assets move through US financial institutions.
Governments should impose sanctions on ETC’s Myanmar partner, Jewellery Luck Group of Companies, and their owners and directors, because of their continued business relationship with the office of the quartermaster general. Jewellery Luck Group of Companies owns 30% of Golden Land Real Estate Development. The group also finances the junta through teak purchases from the junta controlled Myanma Timber Enterprise, according to Justice For Myanmar sources.
Under the sale, ETC will discharge itself from a loan facility between Golden Land Real Estate and the international banks ICBC of China, E.SUN of Taiwan, and the Myanmar crony bank, KBZ, which will continue to be exposed to the financing of the Myanmar military through the Golden City project. Banks should end their business with the Myanmar military and its associates or risk their funds or assets being frozen in domestic and transnational money-laundering investigations and prosecutions, especially by the United States.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unacceptable that ETC can continue operating in Singapore while financing a genocidal military that is murdering children, bombing schools and clinics, and displacing millions.
“Through this continued funding to the Myanmar army, ETC is complicit in ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“It’s time for Singapore to do more to block its companies from providing the murderous junta with funds, arms, technology and jet fuel.
“We urge governments, including Singapore, to impose sanctions on the junta and its businesses. Governments should also sanction Jewellery Luck Group, ETC’s Myanmar partner, for its continued business with the junta."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-08-19
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"Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has come under fire from regime supporters for presiding over a series of historic military defeats, has promoted lieutenant generals in his inner circle in an apparent move to retain his shaky seat.
Three members of his regime’s governing body, the State Administration Council—Lieutenant General Aung Lin Dwe, Lieutenant General Nyo Saw and Lieutenant General Ye Win Oo—were promoted to the rank of general, according to sources in Naypyitaw.
The promotions came close on the heels of social media reports last week about a palace coup in Naypyitaw claiming that Lt-Gen Aung Lin Dwe, the SAC secretary, had ousted Min Aung Hlaing.
One defector from the Myanmar military said: “There is no organizational structure as such. He is just building a network of patronage. He has the power, so he is doing as he pleases.”
Aung Lin Dwe and Nyo Saw are reservists, and the Myanmar military previously had no tradition of promoting reservists.
Part of the 25th intake of the Defense Services Academy (DSA), Aung Lin Dwe, who turned 62 in May, was Min Aung Hlaing’s subordinate when the future coup leader served as the DSA Commandant in Pyin Oo Lwin.
Min Aung Hlaing served as Commandant of the Defense Services Technological Academy (DSTA) in Pyin Oo Lwin before being appointed as the head of Western Command, which oversees Rakhine State in western Myanmar, in 2014.
Aung Lwin Dwe became the judge advocate general in 2016 and was a member of the Union-level Ceasefire Monitoring Committee.
Part of the DSA’s 23rd intake, Nyo Saw is a Union minister at the SAC Chairman’s Office. He is also an advisor to Min Aung Hlaing. He is a recipient of the Thray Sithu title for his contribution to the construction of the colossal Mara Vijaya Buddha statue in Naypyitaw commissioned by Min Aung Hlaing.
Nyo Saw has served as commandant of the DSA and DSTA in Naypyitaw and as chief of both Southern Command and Central Command.
He was the quartermaster-general from 2014 to 2020, and currently leads a junta committee to purchase and distribute fuel from Russia.
He also chairs the Myanmar military-owned business conglomerate Myanma Economic Corporation and the military-owned Innwa Bank. Min Aung Hlaing appointed Nyo Saw as his advisor in July last year.
Part of the Officer Training School’s 77th intake, Ye Win Oo is the military intelligence chief responsible for the junta’s torture chambers, which use torture to glean information from dissidents.
He is also the joint secretary of the SAC, and often accompanies Min Aung Hlaing at the junta’s cabinet meetings and during his trips..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2024-08-19
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Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Business and the Military
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"Since it launched a coup attempt on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military junta has killed over 5,000 civilians and over 3 million people have been displaced by conflict and junta human rights violations. Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner, told the Human Rights Council last month that “we are hearing stories of horrific war tactics, such as beheadings. Midnight drone attacks. The burning of homes as people sleep. People being shot at as they flee for their lives.” It comes as the junta increasingly uses air strikes to target civilians.
Since the coup attempt began, the junta has used state-owned enterprises, particularly state-owned banks and revenues from the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), to fund its atrocities, purchase weapons and aviation fuel and access international financial markets.
The EU sanctioned MOGE on 21 February 2022, cutting the junta off from at least USD 500 million without stopping gas exports to China. The U.S. has, however, only partially sanctioned MOGE and PTT Group, the Thai state-owned fossil fuel conglomerate, continues to pay tens of millions in monthly gas revenues to MOGE accounts controlled by the junta.
On 21 June 2023, the U.S. belatedly heeded calls from Myanmar civil society to sanction the state-owned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB). While these banking sanctions were a welcome step forward, it came with warnings that the junta would switch to Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) and Myanma Agricultural Development Bank (MADB). The EU and U.K. have failed to sanction any of these banks while Canada and Australia have sanctioned only MFTB and MICB.
A report published on 26 June 2024, by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar shed further light on how weapons and military supplies continue to make it into Myanmar, including identifying the financial institutions responsible for facilitating military procurement transactions and confirming the continued outsized importance of gas revenues.
The Special Rapporteur’s report also shows two things. First, international actions can effectively disrupt the military junta’s supply chains – the report identifies a 33% drop in military procurement from the junta’s FY2022 to FY2023 and shows a major decline in the amount of military supplies sold by Singapore-registered companies and facilitated by Singaporean banks.
However, the report also shows how the junta has used gaps in sanctions and moved procurement to countries willing to leave routes open for it to get around these actions. Specifically:
As Singapore banks have cut their ties with the junta, Thai banks have stepped in to fill the gap. In particular the “Siam Commercial Bank facilitated just over US$5 million in transactions related to Myanmar military procurement in FY2022, that figure leaped to over US$100 million in FY2023.”
MEB has become a key conduit for the junta’s access to international financial services which it uses to buy weapons.
Thai companies, using Thai banks, sold USD 80 million of aviation fuel in 2023 that could be used by the junta to increase its attacks on civilians.
Gas revenues flowing PTT Group, through Thai banks to MOGE, via MEB, remain the largest single source of revenue for the junta.
In response to a previous report from the Special Rapporteur and subsequent pressure from the Singapore government, Singapore banks have largely cut ties with the junta. The UN Special Rapporteur sets out how Thai banks have stepped in to fill the gap. While ASEAN continues to rely on its failed 5-Point plan and its so-called policy of non-inference, Thailand is allowing PTT and Thai banks to fund the junta and ensuring that Thai banks and companies grant the junta access to weapons and aviation fuel. While the international community has gone some way to improve sanctions coordination, huge gaps remain.
We call on the international community to follow the recommendations of Special Rapporteur, in particular, to coordinate targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s state-owned banks, gas sector and aviation fuel. The U.S. must immediately sanction MEB and MADB and fully sanction MOGE. The U.N. Security council and individual member states, including the U.K. and EU, should sanction MFTB, MICB, MEB and MADB and follow the EU’s lead on sanctioning MOGE.
We call on ASEAN member states to address Thailand’s apparent policy of allowing PTT Group and Thai banks to back the Myanmar military junta.
We call on the Thai government to support sanctions that cut off the junta’s access to international financial services and gas revenues and follow Singapore’s lead in ensuring that its banks are not helping the junta procure weapons and aviation fuel.
We call on Thai banks to comply with their obligations under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights cease all transactions that support Myanmar’s military junta.
We call on PTT group to end its contribution to grave human rights abuses and divert gas revenues away from their junta in line with calls from Myanmar civil society, Myanmar’s National Unity Government and Thailand’s Move Forward Party.
We call on investors in PTT Group to follow the lead of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund and Robeco and divest from PTT Group due to its links to human rights abuses in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
240 Myanmar and International Organizations via Burma Campaign UK
Date of entry/update:
2024-07-15
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Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Sub-title:
Withdrawals have increased as kyat loses value and economy tanks.
Description:
"Amid steep inflation and a freefalling economy, Myanmar banks have begun restricting the amounts of cash that can be withdrawn each day, according to local residents, a bank branch, and a bank officer who told Radio Free Asia it was to prevent a bank run.
“People have experienced more anxiety,” the bank officer said, referring to the country’s economic situation.
“We have restricted the amount of daily withdrawal — as any bank does not have enough cash for massive withdrawal — to prevent the collapse of banks,” he said, speaking on the condition of anonymity for security reasons.
Yangon residents who also asked to remain anonymous for security told RFA that restrictions began at the start of this week.
One resident said that while previously he was able to withdraw unlimited amounts of cash, all banks now limited customers to 1,000,000 kyat (about US$208) to 2,000,000 (US$416) per day.
“Although there is no problem with depositing, there are many difficulties in withdrawal,” he said.
The limits come amid economic hardship for many in Myanmar, where the economy has shrunk 20% since the junta came to power in a 2021 coup and prices of consumer goods in some areas have risen 200%.
The kyat, meanwhile, has lost 28% of its value against the U.S. dollar over the past year, according to the latest World Bank report. The same report noted overall inflation was 30% year on year as of September 2023.
In the hopes of stabilizing the domestic economy, the junta has repeatedly lowered the dollar exchange rate and tried to clamp down on capital flight.
A factory owner in Yangon said his own bank branch, a KBZ located on Pyay road, had even lower limits of 500,000 kyat a day, making it hard for him to make payroll.
"People are facing a hard time now,” he said. “The central bank is likely to be watching deposits and withdrawals.”
RFA contacted a branch of KBZ bank in Yangon, which confirmed they had restricted withdrawals. On Tuesday, they allowed a maximum withdrawal of 3,000,000 kyat, but on Wednesday reduced that by a third.
The bank limits come on the heels of a July 1 announcement by the junta’s Ministry of Information saying it would charge executives and issue fines to seven private banks that issued mortgages exceeding limits imposed by the Central Bank.
The banks include Yoma Bank, Myanmar Citizen Bank, AYA Bank, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Bank, UAB Bank, Myanmar Metro Bank and the Construction, Housing and Infrastructure Development Bank.
The bank officer told RFA he believed the warning of legal action had led citizens to assume that the government no longer trusted private banks, apart from KBZ, which has ties to the junta. That, in turn, had led to higher than usual withdrawals in recent days.
Calls to Aung Kyaw Than, director general of the Currency Management Department of the Central Bank went unanswered.
In June, the Central Bank announced it had taken legal actions against approximately 40 people who were involved in illegal digital currency trades and foreign money transfer businesses..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-07-10
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Junta airstrikes have increased five-fold this year, UN rights official said
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"Shipments of aviation fuel are reaching Myanmar despite calls to deprive its military of the resources needed to carry out unlawful air strikes against insurgents battling to end army rule, international human rights group Amnesty International said on Monday.
The London-based group announced on Jan. 30 its researchers had documented new ways that the junta was skirting sanctions with aviation fuel shipped directly from Vietnam to Myanmar at least seven times in 2023.
The group said the pattern had continued with at least two and probably three shipments of aviation fuel reaching Myanmar between January and June.
“As with the previous shipments identified by Amnesty International in January, the fuel was bought and sold multiple times before reaching the last leg of its trip in Vietnam ahead of shipment to Myanmar,” the group said in a report.
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Myanmar has been in bloody turmoil since the military ousted an elected government in early 2021, ending a decade of tentative reforms.
Democracy activists have taken up arms and linked up with autonomy-seeking ethnic minority insurgents, and together they have made significant advances against junta forces in several parts of the country this year.
But the insurgents have few effective weapons with which to defend themselves against air attacks.
The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said last month that military airstrikes against civilian targets had increased five-fold in the first half of this year even though the United States and Britain announced sanctions against companies that import jet fuel to the junta in August last year.
Amnesty International said that in two instances this year a Chinese-owned oil tanker transported jet fuel from Vietnam to Myanmar and fuel traders based in Singapore appeared to have played a role in the supply chain.
“Like the 2023 shipments, the 2024 shipments involved multiple purchases and resales of the same fuel, making it hard to trace the original supplier,” the rights group added.
“The Myanmar military is relying on the very same Chinese vessel and Vietnamese companies to import its aviation fuel, despite Amnesty International having already exposed that reckless supply chain,” said Agnes Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International.
“It is a raw display of both the sheer impunity with which the Myanmar military is operating, and the utter complicity of the states responsible, including Vietnam, China and Singapore.”
Radio Free Asia was not able to contact Myanmar’s junta spokesman for comment. The junta has said it does not intentionally target civilians..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-07-08
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"Data reveals shipments of jet fuel still arriving in Myanmar
Investigation shows military air strike killed 12 civilians and injured 26 as historic monastery in Magway, Central Myanmar attacked
“My friends were killed right before my eyes on the street,” eyewitness tells Amnesty
Amnesty International has documented new shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar despite global calls to deprive the country’s military of the resources it needs to carry out unlawful air strikes.
In January 2024, Amnesty International exposed the Myanmar military’s new evasive tactics for importing aviation fuel throughout 2023, following sanctions imposed on parts of its supply chain.
That pattern continues with at least two, and likely three, additional shipments of aviation fuel having entered the country between January and June this year. As with the previous shipments identified by Amnesty International in January, the fuel was bought and sold multiple times before reaching the last leg of its trip in Viet Nam ahead of shipment to Myanmar.
In two instances, the Chinese owned HUITONG78 oil tanker transported fuel from Viet Nam to Myanmar. Other companies appear to have played a role in the supply chain too, including fuel traders Singapore-based Sahara Energy International Pte. Ltd. and Chinese state-owned entity (SOE) CNOOC Trading (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. A likely third shipment, also by HUITONG78, appears to have come to Myanmar from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in May 2024.
It is unclear how the fuel was used after it arrived, but the military’s control of the port means there are significant risks it could be used for non-civilian purposes.
“The Myanmar military is relying on the very same Chinese vessel and Vietnamese companies to import its aviation fuel, despite Amnesty International having already exposed that reckless supply chain,” said Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“It is a raw display of both the sheer impunity with which the Myanmar military is operating, and the utter complicity of the states responsible, including Viet Nam, China and Singapore.”
Air strikes on the rise
In June 2024 the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar reported that military air strikes against civilian targets in Myanmar have increased five-fold in the first half of this year.
Amnesty International documented one of these attacks. Witnesses told Amnesty that on the morning of 9 May, the Myanmar military launched an attack on a monastery in Saw Township’s Ah Kyi Pan Pa Lon village in central Myanmar’s Magway Region.
Following two initial air strikes, witnesses said that a fighter jet then circled back around and followed up with heavy gunfire directed at those fleeing the initial explosions.
The monastery, which is believed to be roughly 100 years old, was destroyed.
Amnesty International interviewed four survivors of the attack in Magway and one person who arrived at the scene afterwards to help the victims. Researchers also analysed 34 photos showing the corpses of victims, wounds of survivors, weapons used in the attack and the extent of the damage.
All the visual evidence of the destruction of the monastery is consistent with an air strike that caused a fire and severely burned both the structure and many of the victims. Photos of fragments of the ordnance used show the remnants of a tail kit for an aerial bomb, as well as unexploded 23mm High Explosive Incendiary (HEI) ammunition that is fired from the GSh-23 machine gun mounted as pods on fighter jets such as the Russian YAK-130.
The date on the discarded cartridges from the 23mm HEI rounds indicate the ordnance was manufactured locally in Myanmar in 2024. The wounds of other victims of the attack are consistent with fragments from aircraft bombs or direct gunfire. Satellite imagery also shows that the monastery area has been heavily burned.
‘I heard the people screaming’
Saw Township is located in a contested area of central Myanmar, where parallel administrative structures and armed groups known as People’s Defense Forces (PDF), which sprang up after the coup to resist the military alongside the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), are active.
Witnesses said that while some PDF forces known as People’s Defense Teams, or Pa Ka Pha in Burmese, were present at the monastery, the majority of people were civilians. They also said there had been no fighting in or close to the village before the air strike.
In the early morning of the attack, witnesses said they heard buzzing in the skies, which they described as sounding like a drone. Some hours later, about 50 to 60 locals had gathered on the first floor of the monastery to discuss their concerns about transport issues, including taxation and routes.
In addition, witnesses reported that at least one child and the head monk of the monastery were on the second floor of the site, a place where computer classes were sometimes held.
According to survivors, who asked to be anonymous for fear of being targeted further by the Myanmar military, the first bomb dropped at around 10:45am.
“The bomb fell a bit far behind me, right into the place where my brother, uncle and sister were sitting,” one man said. His relatives were killed instantly.
“I am sure that the fighter jet aimed at killing all of us,” he said.
Following the first bomb, he said the monastery started to collapse and people were trapped under the falling debris.
He managed to escape the site: “Within a few minutes […], I saw the jet come again to the monastery, and this time another bomb was dropped that set the main building on fire,” he said.
Another man said he escaped from the monastery unharmed following the first bomb. He was hiding across the road when the second bomb was dropped. He saw the monastery ablaze. A fighter jet then started to shoot at people running away.
“I heard the people screaming in the monastery. Some people were running on the street amid the continuous gunfire from the fighter jet,” the man said. “The fighter jet flew over the monastery and opened fire on the people running around. I witnessed my friends being killed right before my eyes on the street.”
Those killed in the air strike included a child, while the head of the monastery was among the injured, according to a list of victims given to Amnesty International by a rescue worker.
Even if members of the Pa Ka Pha were present in the monastery at the time of the attack, the pilot should have known there could be civilians as well. Thus, the shooting of civilians attempting to flee and the bombing of a site of religious, cultural and historical value suggest the attack was indiscriminate. It should be investigated as a war crime.
“This recent attack joins a rapidly growing list of violations of international humanitarian law in Myanmar including air strikes, ground raids, arbitrary detentions, torture and numerous other violations targeting civilians,” Callamard said.
How Myanmar continues to access aviation fuel
Amnesty International and others have called on companies and governments to suspend jet fuel shipments to Myanmar or risk complicity in a deadly supply chain. But as these new findings show, many are still not listening.
Vessel tracking and trade data show that the Chinese oil tanker HUITONG78 transported two shipments of aviation fuel to the former Puma Energy terminal (now controlled by the Myanmar based Shoon Energy group and the Myanmar military) in Thilawa, Yangon port, on 14 January and 29 February, respectively. In common with all shipments identified by Amnesty International in 2023, the oil tanker picked up the fuel at the Vietnamese Cai Mep Petroleum storage terminal operated by Hai Linh Co. Ltd., before departing for Myanmar.
Also like the 2023 shipments, the 2024 shipments involved multiple purchases and resales of the same fuel, making it hard to trace the original supplier. In regard to the January 2024 shipment, before its arrival in Viet Nam, the fuel can be traced to the Vopak Singapore Banyan Terminal, a storage facility controlled by Dutch storage and logistics company Royal Vopak. Royal Vopak confirmed the shipment but emphasized that “[o]ur service is the safe storage of our customers’ products while it is in our terminals in the ports” and that they “respect applicable laws, regulations and sanctions”.
The February 2024 shipment can be traced back to the BP Hua Dong terminal in Ningbo port, Hangzhou Bay, China. Amnesty International was unable to identify the company that controls the Chinese terminal.
Before the final transfer and sale of fuel to Myanmar, the January shipment was sold to a Vietnamese company by the Singapore branch of the global fuel trader Sahara Energy. The February shipment was sold by the Singapore trading branch of Chinese SOE China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC Singapore). In both cases, customs data shows that Sahara Energy and CNOOC Singapore should have been aware that the fuel was transported to Viet Nam for transit purposes only. Each of the shipments was worth approximately USD 8 million.
Suspicions raised over third shipment
Evidence also indicates there was likely a third shipment of aviation fuel to Myanmar, in May 2024.
According to vessel tracking data, the HUITONG78 onloaded fuel at the Hamriyah port in Sharjah, UAE, in April, arriving at the Yangon port on or about 12 May. The vessel appears to turn off its AIS radar as it enters Thilawa port, during which satellite imagery shows what appears to be the HUITONG78 moored at the former Puma Energy terminal in Thilawa.
The vessel’s draught data (which indicates a change in overall weight of the ship) suggests that it offloaded fuel at the Thilawa terminal. Although Amnesty International was not able to confirm whether the fuel was in fact aviation fuel, it is quite likely the case given the pattern of shipments conducted by this same vessel.
The HUITONG78 vessel is registered for Protection & Indemnity (P&I) insurance with the West of England P&I Club, although in response to Amnesty International, the Club stated that “if […] this vessel was carrying jet fuel to Myanmar, then there was no cover for those trades”.
According to the P&I Club, the HUITONG78 is owned by an affiliate of the Chinese state-owned defence company China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC). According to a media report, CASIC has been involved in transporting US sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
“While Amnesty does not know for certain how the aviation fuel shipped in this way was used once it arrived in Myanmar, the risk is high that the military – which controls the terminal where the fuel was offloaded – uses it to fuel attacks against civilians. It means shipping and fuel companies have no option but to withdraw from that supply chain completely,” Callamard said.
“That includes everyone involved, from vessel owners to insurers to fuel traders. It’s high time that companies put an end to these shipments.”
All companies named in these findings were contacted for comment. The only companies to respond were Royal Vopak and West of England P&I Club..."
Source/publisher:
Amnesty International (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2024-07-08
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"Sanctions urged for Chinese ship, Vietnamese storage terminal, and other entities and individuals involved in supply of jet fuel to the junta
Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry urge the United States to enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar to effectively curtail the capacity of the Myanmar junta to continue its indiscriminate and deadly airstrikes. We are calling for the US to deploy the strong regulatory tools it has already put in place and to leverage the credible intelligence it is receiving from civil society.
As the junta’s brutal aerial war against the Myanmar population intensifies, Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry urge the US Department of the Treasury to finally use its jet fuel determination to sanction Chinese-flagged ship HUITONG78, Vietnamese petroleum storage terminal operator Hai Linh Co. Ltd., and all other entities and individuals involved in the supply of jet fuel to the junta.
We welcomed the adoption in August 2023 of a series of measures by the US Treasury Department targeted at the jet fuel supply to the Myanmar junta and, notably, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector that “allows for sanctions to be imposed on any foreign individual or entity determined to operate in the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy.” This determination was accompanied by guidance clarifying that the Treasury Department’s Office on Foreign Assets Control “intends to target activities for or related to military regime end users in Burma.” Yet after almost one year, no new jet fuel sanctions have been imposed.
In January 2024, Amnesty International exposed how jet fuel shipments to Myanmar had increased in volume following the adoption of US sanctions. The report notably named two key parties to transshipments aimed at circumventing sanctions: Chinese-flagged ship HUITONG78 and Vietnamese petroleum storage terminal operator Hai Linh Co. Ltd.
In a new report published today, Amnesty International further details how jet fuel shipments to the Myanmar junta continue—with the ongoing involvement of HUITONG78 and Hai Linh Co. Ltd.
Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “The US Treasury Department has put in place the regulatory arsenal to strike at those international actors involved with the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar junta. Amnesty International has now twice provided credible intelligence on who these actors are and how they continue to send the deadly cargo to Myanmar. Treasury must act and sanction these enablers of the Myanmar junta’s air force to show that it is not bark only but that it will use its teeth. These actions can disrupt the supply chain fueling the junta’s air assets and deter international actors from participating in this murderous supply chain.”
Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, said: “It has been more than three years since the military’s illegal coup attempt, and the junta continues to wage a campaign of terror against the Myanmar people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity. As the junta continues to lose ground to resistance forces, it is increasingly relying on indiscriminate airstrikes, killing women and children; destroying schools, healthcare facilities and whole communities; and causing mass displacement. This is continuing amid a lack of international action to cut off the junta’s jet fuel supply chain. The US has the power to act to disrupt the junta’s access to jet fuel, and now it needs to take concrete action by sanctioning HUITONG78, Hai Linh Co. Ltd. and all other companies that are enabling the junta’s atrocities.”
For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]
About Justice For Myanmar
Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel's global network.
About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-07-08
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UN Report Shows Foreign Banks Help Military Receive Revenue, Buy Arms
Description:
"The United States, European Union, and other governments should urgently counter illicit activities by foreign banks that are assisting the Myanmar military in evading sanctions imposed after its 2021 coup, Human Rights Watch said today. A United Nations report released on June 26, 2024, reveals that since 2022 the military junta has switched the banks it uses to receive foreign revenue and make payments for weapons and other military needs, after the US, EU, and other governments imposed sanctions on military-controlled entities and banks.
The report, by the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews, focuses on the military’s use of banks in third countries to engage in sanctioned transactions. The special rapporteur found that from 2022 to the present, most of the junta’s foreign revenue that previously was sent to foreign accounts at the sanctioned Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank has instead been sent to accounts at the non-sanctioned but also junta-controlled Myanmar Economic Bank. The report also shows that after authorities in Singapore began restricting the military’s use of banks to make arms purchases in 2022-2023, the junta dramatically ramped up the use of its other accounts at banks in Thailand, mostly at Siam Commercial Bank.
“Sanctions on Myanmar’s military have reduced its capacity to receive revenue and purchase arms, but funds are still getting to the junta and vigilant enforcement is essential,” said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Authorities in Thailand, Singapore, and other countries need to put banks on notice that they should not provide services that facilitate further junta atrocities.”
The UN report provides figures showing that the largest source of the junta’s outside income still comes from Thailand: at least US$660 million in payments for natural gas sent to Thailand by pipeline. The payments, made to the military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), come from Thailand’s government-owned energy company PTT. The US and EU have sanctioned MOGE, and banks in numerous other jurisdictions have enforced some US and EU sanctions, including in Singapore and China, since many of these banks operate internationally and have close ties with the US and EU financial systems.
PTT and all Thai banks named in the UN report should stop payments to MOGE and divert future payments to escrow accounts, Human Rights Watch said. Governments should call on Thailand to instruct Thai companies to end transactions involving MOGE.
The UN report shows that sanctions are impeding the junta’s capacity to make military purchases. The military’s use of the international banking system to procure weapons and military supplies declined by 33 percent between March 2022 and March 2023, from $377 million to $253 million. The use of military procurement agents and banks in Singapore, Malaysia, and Russia all declined markedly from 2022 to 2024.
During the same period, however, the use of Thai banks and Thailand-registered military suppliers doubled, from approximately $60 million to almost $130 million. Most of these payments, over $100 million, were handled by Siam Commercial Bank.
For years, the Myanmar military has engaged in war crimes and other atrocities in the context of armed conflict with ethnic armed groups and grave human rights violations against the civilian population. It carried out atrocities and ethnic cleansing of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine State, including crimes against humanity and acts of genocide in 2017. Since the 2021 coup, the military has been engaged in a broad crackdown on civilians who oppose its rule and committed numerous war crimes in fighting with armed opposition groups. Despite the abuses over many years, however, international efforts in response have been meager, Human Rights Watch said.
Amid economic and infrastructure collapse in Myanmar, the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance has grown to 18.6 million. The UN estimates that 10,000 children under age 5 died in 2023 due to lack of treatment for malnutrition. Over 2.7 million people have been internally displaced or have become refugees. But the junta has ramped up its deadly blocking of humanitarian aid as a form of collective punishment of the population. These blockages sustain the military’s longstanding “four cuts” strategy, designed to maintain control of an area by isolating and terrorizing civilians.
Cutting funds to Myanmar’s military and impeding its capacity to make military purchases is essential to limiting abuses, Human Rights Watch said. The US, EU, and other concerned governments should quickly sanction the Myanmar Economic Bank, which is now handling most junta banking transactions on the international level, as well as the Myanmar Agricultural Development Bank and the Myanmar Investment and Commercial Bank. The US, Canada, and Australia have already sanctioned some of these banks, while the EU and UK have not sanctioned any of them.
All governments should also sanction the networks that provide aviation fuel to the Myanmar military, including insurance and trading companies, owners of storage facilities and transport vessels, and Myanmar-based agents and buyers. Governments should also establish cooperative agreements on sanctions and coordinate their implementation and enforcement.
“All of Myanmar’s state-owned and military-controlled financial institutions and companies should be sanctioned,” Sifton said. “Depriving the junta of revenue and banking services impairs the military’s capacities to brutalize the people of Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-06-28
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"India, one of the Myanmar junta’s closest allies, has urged the regime to protect its assets in the west of the country as fighting rages there between junta troops and ethnic forces.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he expressed Delhi’s “deep concern” over the issue on Wednesday during talks with junta foreign minister Than Swe.
“Met with Deputy PM and FM of Myanmar U Than Shwe [sic] as he transited New Delhi today,” Jaishankar said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“Discussed our deep concern at the impact of continuing violence and instability in Myanmar on our border.
“Pressed for credible security protection for our ongoing projects in the country,” the post continues.
India is funding the US $484-million Kaladan multimodal transport project in Myanmar’s western states of Rakhine and Chin. The mega-project is a crucial plank of India’s Act East Policy to counter China’s influence in Myanmar through its Belt and Road Initiative.
The Kaladan project will link the seaports of Kolkata and Sittwe in Rakhine State and extend to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan River, then by road to Mizoram in northeast India.
Construction of the project was suspended following the 2021 military coup due to tension between junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA). The project has been shelved completely since the AA seized most of northern Rakhine and southern Chin State in an offensive launched late last year.
The rest of Chin State remains a resistance hotbed, with several Chin ethnic forces combining to fight the regime after the coup.
The AA currently controls Paletwa in Chin State and nine towns in northern Rakhine, where it is now advancing on Thandwe, home to the world famous Ngapali Beach.
Launched 12 years ago to provide an alternate route to India’s landlocked northeast, the Kaladan project had been scheduled for completion in 2023 after long delays. But the war in Rakhine and Chin states has shattered that plan.
Despite proclaiming itself the world’s largest democracy, India has strengthened ties with Myanmar’s regime since the coup, even as other major democracies shun it.
India has been assisting the regime in military, economic and diplomatic affairs along with its other two major allies, China and Russia. Delhi has also offered to help the junta hold a general election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to cement military rule.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing demanded speedy completion of construction during his visit to the Kaladan transport project in March last year, when he also hailed India as a good neighbor and friend. His visit came after Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra called for acceleration of the project during talks with the junta boss in Naypyitaw in November 2022.
Jaishankar said he urged an early return to the path of democratic transition for Myanmar in talks with Than Swe on Wednesday, adding that India was ready to help in any manner..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2024-06-27
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"
Thai banks and registered companies are taking on an expanding and leading role securing weapons to Myanmar’s military regime even as it grows increasingly isolated amid a brutal civil war claiming thousands of lives, a United Nations report released Wednesday says.
The report, Banking on the Death Trade: How Banks and Governments Enable the Military Junta in Myanmar, says international sanctions have helped to slash the regime’s purchase of weapons through the global financial system by a third from the 2022 to 2023 fiscal year, which runs April to March, to some $253 million.
“That is a very significant step in the right direction and shows the impact that international action can take,” said the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, the report’s author.
Andrews attributed much of the drop in trade to Singapore, which investigated its own banks and companies in the wake of a report he wrote last year that named the city-state among Myanmar’s main pipelines for arms since the military’s 2021 coup.
The new report says Myanmar’s military purchases through the global financial system from companies registered in Singapore crashed between 2022 and 2023 some 90% as a result, from $110 million to just $10 million last year.
“The bad news is that we’ve seen the opposite happen in Thailand, where there has been a significant increase in both the facilitation of weapons procurement transactions by Thai banks and the export of weapons materials from Thai companies into Myanmar,” Andrews told VOA.
According to his report, Myanmar’s military purchases from companies registered in Thailand over the same period doubled to $120 million, topping all other countries, including China and Russia.
China and Russia saw their companies’ arms trade with Myanmar through the global financial system fall in 2023, to $80 million and $10 million respectively. India’s trade stayed steady at $15 million.
Myanmar’s recent military purchases via Thailand, the report says, included items ranging from chemicals to machine tools and radios to spare parts for fighter jets and helicopters, which the junta is widely accused of using to deadly effect on civilian targets.
Myanmar’s military regime has denied targeting civilians and claims it is taking proportionate action against “terrorists.”
Andrews’ report does not claim that the Thai government was directly involved in the arms trades, or that all the military material and goods were made or assembled in, or exported from, Thailand. It also does not capture any arms trade outside of the global financial system, including any deals that may have been settled with hard cash or by barter.
Previous research by Andrews and others showed most weapons shipments to Myanmar since the coup starting out from China and Russia.
Even so, this week’s report highlights the major role international commercial banks continue to play in arming Myanmar’s military despite the mounting allegations of the junta’s war crimes. It names 16 banks in Thailand and six other countries across Asia handling $630 million worth of military-related purchases for the junta over the past two years.
Despite the impact sanctions have had in stemming that trade, Andrews told VOA countries keen on thwarting Myanmar’s junta can do much more to enforce, coordinate and add to the sanctions, to leave fewer gaps for the junta to exploit.
Countries that have placed sanctions on Myanmar have not all sanctioned the same companies, and some companies vital to the junta’s arms trade still have not been sanctioned at all.
Andrews said the junta has reacted to sanctions on two of its key banks for military trades, for example, by redirecting most of that business through another bank still free of sanctions. The junta has also gotten better at disguising its arms purchases.
“What is critical now is that the response of the international community, specifically with respect to sanctions, be coordinated, be strategic and be focused, and that the international community work together to enforce these sanctions and eliminate these loopholes,” he said.
“The reason that is so important is because, given the fact that the junta is on its heels … their response is to escalate attacks on civilians,” he said.
Citing research by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S.-based research group, he said the junta has picked up air strikes fivefold in the past six months alone. The junta has lost significant territory to armed resistance groups across the country over the same period and is now believed to be in control of less than half of Myanmar.
Andrews said the junta’s weapons supplies would also be hit hard if Thailand were to follow Singapore’s lead and crack down on its own companies doing business with Myanmar’s military and known suppliers.
Unlike Singapore, though, Thailand’s government has not explicitly come out against trading arms with Myanmar.
Asked for comment, Thailand’s Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the government was looking into the report.
“Our banking and financial institutions follow banking protocols as any major financial hub. So we will have to first establish the facts before considering any further steps,” he said in a statement shared with VOA.
“This is a matter of policy which has to be carefully considered, particularly the impact of sanctions on the wider population,” he said. “Thailand has always taken the position not to support any action that impacts the wider population.”
In a separate statement, a group of past and present lawmakers from across Southeast Asia said it was “alarmed” by Myanmar’s shift from Singapore to Thailand to source weapons and urged all 10 governments of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to learn from Singapore.
The bloc agreed to a five-point peace plan for Myanmar in April 2021 but has failed to make any headway besides providing some humanitarian aid.
In the statement, Philippines lawmaker Raoul Manuel said the role of Southeast Asian companies in helping to arm the junta only undermines the bloc’s peace efforts.
“ASEAN’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Myanmar cannot be taken seriously if ASEAN member states are helping to arm and fund the murderous Myanmar junta, which has already killed thousands of its own people and continues to indiscriminately attack the civilian population,” he said..."
Source/publisher:
"Voice of America" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2024-06-27
[field_licence]
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Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"The Arakan Army’s capture of Rakhine State’s Thandwe Airport on Sunday puts the ethnic army just steps away from Myanmar’s most valuable beach – seven kilometers of fine white sand stretching between turquoise sea and palm-fringed forest – and puts many of the country’s most brazen cronies in an unenviable position.
Will the tycoons who turned their military ties into riches, including the son of junta boss Ming Aung Hlaing, try to negotiate with a rebel army to save their assets?
Ngapali Beach is where Myanmar’s cronies built their most lavish resorts. Its gateway is Thandwe Airport, just 30 minutes away.
The fall of the airport means the loss of the prized beach, which is also famous for watching the sun set over the Bay of Bengal.
The airport was used by the regime to reinforce troops, and send in weapons and supplies from Ayeyarwady Region and southern Shan State. That’s no longer possible. Without the airport’s runway, Thandwe Township is only accessible by two roads that weave through the Arakan Mountains: Gwa-Ngathaingchaung and Taungup-Padaung. Both roads leave convoys prone to ambush. Moreover, the arrival of the monsoon season makes it treacherous to send more troops and supplies by sea to protect the crony beach.
There are 64 hotels and resorts on Ngapali Beach and most of the grandest ones are owned by tycoons with close ties to the leaders of successive military regimes, from the State Law and Order Restoration Council, which ruled from 1988 to 2011, to the current State Administration Council.
Amazing Ngapali Hotel was built on land leased from the military by Aung Myo Min Din, who has personal ties to junta boss Min Aung Hlaing and his wife Kyu Kyu Hla. Aung Myo Min Din was Kyu Kyu Hla’s pupil when he was a high school student and reportedly has an open invitation to Min Aung Hlaing’s home.
Hoteliers say Aung Myo Min Din also bought Max Hotel from crony Zaw Zaw for Min Aung Hlaing’s son Aung Pyae Sone. Max Hotel, now rebranded as Ananda Hotel, is adjacent to Amazing Ngapali Hotel. Local residents also say Aung Pyae Sone is its owner.
The Pristine Mermaid Ngapali is owned by Nandar Aye, a daughter of the deputy junta chief of the previous junta, Maung Aye. The Htoo Group of Companies, owned by crony and arms broker Tay Za, reportedly built the hotel for her for free.
Tun Naing Shwe, son of former junta chief Than Shwe, owns the Thande Ngapali Hotel.
Arch crony Aung Ko Win owns the Jasmine Ngapali Resort through his Kanbawza (KBZ) Group of Companies, which includes KBZ Bank. The resort’s guests include Min Aung Hlaing. In January of last year, it hosted the 8th High-Level Committee Meeting between the Myanmar and Thai armed forces. Participants included General Chalermphon Srisawasdi, Chief of the Defence Forces of the Royal Thai Armed Forces.
Ngapali’s Aureum Palace is owned by Tay Za’s Htoo Group of Companies Za, while its Jade Marina Hotel is owned by crony Ne Win Tun, the leader of a Pa-O militia with ties to the junta’s military, through his Ruby Dragon Co.
Other, less flamboyant cronies, also bought or built resorts on Ngapali Beach.
This may be why the regime tried so hard to hang on to the seven-kilometer strip of white sand. It even sent reinforcements from the Aung Zeya Column to Thandwe in early June. The column is advancing towards Myawaddy along the Thai border in Karen State with the goal of retaking the vital border town.
The Arakan Army defeated the junta soldiers and police protecting the airport and the beach. Reports say more than 100 junta soldiers and police surrendered. Others fled to the bases of nearby battalions in Thandwe Township. Both Light Infantry Battalion 566 and Infantry Battalion 55 have bases there.
The Arakan Army told both battalions to surrender after it seized Thandwe Airport.
The 5th Military Operations Command in Taungup is the nearest battalion to Thandwe, but Taungup is surrounded by Arkan Army troops. The regime is not in a position to regroup its soldiers in Rakhine to send reinforcements to Thandwe.
If the Arakan Army takes Ngapali Beach, Myanmar’s cronies will face a stark choice: abandon their assets or negotiate with a rebel army to save them..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2024-06-25
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"Toshikazu Tajima
Board Director and CEO
TASAKI & Co., Ltd.
7-3-1, Minatojima Nakamachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0046, Japan
Re: Inquiry regarding TASAKI’s business partnership with sanctioned entity Myanmar Pearl Enterprise.
We are civil society organizations from Japan and Myanmar that make policy proposals urging Japanese companies to consider the environment, society, and human rights in their overseas business operations.
We are writing to you to express our concern regarding your company’s continued partnership with Myanmar Pearl Enterprise (MPE), a US, UK, and Canadian[i] sanctioned state-owned enterprise under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation that is illegally controlled by the Myanmar military junta.
Since February 1, 2021 when the Myanmar military attempted a coup, it has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity as it tries to take control of Myanmar. These grave international crimes include deliberate killings, arbitrary arrests, torture, indiscriminate airstrikes, and destruction of civilian property, which have led to the displacement of more than 3 million people across the country.[ii] There are grave concerns that the military is committing these crimes relying on revenue from MPE and other junta-controlled entities.
We are aware that MYANMAR TASAKI Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of TASAKI & Co., Ltd, has been in a business partnership with MPE since 1997 under a production sharing contract under a license granted by the now junta-controlled Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC). The military junta benefits from revenues generated through the pearl industry, including through a production sharing agreement under which MPE reportedly receives 20-25% of the pearls harvested.[iii] The junta also benefits from customs duties, other taxes and the transfer of technology that can support further production.
Of the companies that have been granted permission for pearl farming, MYANMAR TASAKI was the largest producer at over ten billion MMK (over US$8 million at the time) worth of pearls in 2017-2018, the year with the most recently published data available.[iv] We understand that your company has sold Myanmar pearls around the world, with TASAKI’s website listing stores in Australia, China, France, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, UK and USA among others and that the junta has continued to earn revenue from pearls. According to a Myanmar junta run newspaper, 400 pearl lots were up for sale this year during the 59th Myanmar Gems Emporium, which was attended by the junta leader and commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military, Min Aung Hlaing.[v]
In April 2021, over three years ago, TASAKI’s business partner MPE was sanctioned by the US. In adding MPE on the Specially Designated Nationals list, the US stated that “pearl industries are key economic resources for the Burmese military regime that is violently repressing pro-democracy protests in the country and that is responsible for the ongoing violent and lethal attacks against the people of Burma, including the killing of children.[vi]” The UK also sanctioned MPE and a state-owned timber enterprise to “target the junta’s ability to profit from pearl and timber, 2 high-value natural commodities that generate millions in revenue for the military regime.[vii]”
While TASAKI’s website states that pearls produced by the company’s own pearl farms “are ethically and sustainably sourced”, we are concerned that TASAKI’s continuing partnership with MPE contravenes human rights responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.[viii] Under the OECD Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles, all businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights and are therefore required to exercise human rights due diligence to identify and prevent, mitigate and account for adverse human rights impacts.
We would like to reiterate our concern that by continuing its partnership with MPE, TASAKI is providing the junta with a source of revenue that it can use to procure the very weapons and jet fuel that it needs to continue to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. We also believe that TASAKI’s continued business with MPE undermines the effects of the sanctions imposed by the US, UK and Canada against MPE, which are intended to block the junta’s access to revenue from the pearl sector. Justice For Myanmar, together with another Japanese organization, Human Rights Now, has previously issued a press release expressing concerns regarding TASAKI’s continuing business with MPE.[ix]
While we understand that an objective of TASAKI’s philosophy on sustainability is “harmonious co-existence with local communities'' inspired by a “spirit of sustainability,[x]” we are further concerned by several Myanmar civil society reports on the situation of the indigenous Moken people of Myanmar, which were submitted to the UN in 2020.[xi]According to these reports,[xii] TASAKI’s pearl farms in Myanmar, which are located in the Tanintharyi Region of southern Myanmar, could lead to further forced displacement of Moken people from their ancestral lands due to loss of water and land access.
In light of these concerns, we would like to know what human rights due diligence has been performed since the military’s coup attempt, the results of that due diligence and what measures TASAKI has taken in response.
We believe that by remaining in business with MPE, TASAKI may be in contravention of human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles and the OECD Guidelines and risks complicity in the military junta’s international crimes. Therefore, we call on you to responsibly end all business with the military junta controlled MPE and fulfill your responsibilities to respect human rights. In addition, TASAKI should publicly disclose its transactions with MPE and other junta-controlled entities since February 1, 2021.
We would appreciate your timely reply to the contact address listed below by July 5, 2024 to share the requested data and to outline your course of action for addressing the issues raised. Furthermore, your response will be published on our organization's website among other platforms (including the fact of no response at the time of deadline). We look forward to receiving your response.
Sincerely,
Yuka Kiguchi
Executive Director, Mekong Watch
Yadanar Maung
Spokesperson, Justice For Myanmar
Contact address:
Mekong Watch
3F Aoki Bldg., Taito 1-12-11,
Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0016,
Japan
TEL: +81-3-3832-5034
EMAIL: [email protected]
[i] Office of Foreign Assets Control, “Burma-related Designations; Kingpin Act Designations Removals”, April 21, 2021https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20210421; Government of Canada, “Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations: SOR/2021-106”, May 14, 2021 https://gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2021/2021-05-26/html/sor-dors106-eng.html; Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, “Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK”, June 2, 2021https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/65bb618927fccf000d4bd1b3/Myanmar.pdf.
[ii] UN Resident Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar, “Statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Myanmar”, May 3, 2024 https://myanmar.un.org/en/267754-statement-resident-and-humanitarian-coordinator-ai-myanmar.
[iii] Frontier Myanmar, “Moken Fear a Sea Grab in the Myeik Archipelago”, December 29, 2019 https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/moken-fear-a-sea-grab-in-the-myeik-archipelago/.
[iv] Myanmar Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, “Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Myanmar, EITI Report 2017-2018”, January 2019 https://eiti.org/sites/default/files/attachments/meiti_reconciliation_report_2017-2018_final_signed_31st_march_2020.pdf.
[v] The Global New Light of Myanmar, “400 Pearl, 160 Gem, and 4,550 Jade Lots Up for Sale”, May 2, 2024 https://cdn.myanmarseo.com/file/client-cdn/gnlm/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/4-5-2024.pdf.
[vi] U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Treasury Sanctions Key Timber and Pearl Enterprises in Burma”, April 21, 2021 https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy0138.
[vii] Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP, “Foreign Secretary Announces Further Sanctions on Companies Linked to Myanmar’s Military Regime”, June 21, 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/news/foreign-secretary-announces-further-sanctions-on-companies-linked-to-myanmars-military-regime.
[viii] Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), “OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct”, June 8, 2023 https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/finance-and-investment/oecd-guidelines-for-multinational-enterprises-on-responsible-business-conduct_81f92357-en; United nations Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights : Implementing the United Nations ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework”, January 1, 2012https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf.
[ix] Human Rights Now and Justice For Myanmar “Human Rights Now and Justice For Myanmar call on TASAKI to end business with the Myanmar military junta, following US designation of Myanmar Pearl Enterprise for sanctions”, April 21, 2021 https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/press-releases/human-rights-now-and-justice-for-myanmar-call-on-tasaki-to-end-business-with-the-myanmar-military-junta-following-us-designation-of-myanmar-pearl-enterprise-for-sanctions.
[x] TASAKI Website, “Our Sustainability”, accessed June 10, 2024. https://www.tasaki-global.com/corporate/sustainability/about/.
[xi] Burma Human Rights Network, “The Coming Extinction: The Moken People of Burma’s Mergui Archipelago”, December 12, 2020https://www.bhrn.org.uk/en/component/edocman/bhrn-report/the-coming-extinction-the-moken-people-of-burma-s-mergui-archipelago.html; FIDH – International Federation for Human Rights and Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, “Universal Periodic Review (UPR) 37thSession Myanmar: Joint Submission by FIDH and MATA”, July 2020, https://www.fidh.org/IMG/pdf/fidh-mata_joint_upr_submission_july_2020.pdf; Coalition of Indigenous Peoples in Burma/Myanmar, “Joint submission to the UN Universal Periodic Review of Myanmar July 2020: 37th Session of the UPR Working Group of the human Rights Council January/February 2021”, https://uprdoc.ohchr.org/uprweb/downloadfile.aspx?filename=8278&file=EnglishTranslation.
[xii] United Nations Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review, “Summary of Stakeholders’ submissions on Myanmar: Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights”, 12 November 2020, https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3893981?ln=en&v=pdf. ..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-06-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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Sub-title:
Tokyo Should Suspend Payments, Impose Targeted Sanctions
Description:
"Despite Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s pledge last February to “appropriately handle” the flow of government aid to Myanmar’s abusive military, a Japanese Foreign Ministry official told the Diet this week that Japan’s construction giant, Yokogawa Bridge Corp., will make further payments to the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) for an aid project.
In March 2021, Myanmar Now reported that a steel mill owned by the MEC was supplying steel for Japan’s Bago River Bridge Construction Project and “profiting enormously.” Financial transactions analyzed by Human Rights Watch show that from July 2022 to January 2023, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. transferred around US$2 million to MEC for the project, with United States government approval.
During a House of Councilors session, Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said that the MEC’s participation ended in December and that Yokogawa Bridge Corp.’s “progress payments” to the MEC had finished. However, Hideki Kusakabe of the Foreign Ministry’s International Cooperation Bureau responded to a question by opposition lawmaker Michihiro Ishibashi by saying that Yokogawa Bridge Corp. still had certain payments to make for the project. Kusakabe did not disclose a sum or a timeline.
The MEC generates vast revenue through businesses in sectors including manufacturing, mining, and telecommunications, according to a 2019 report by the United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The US, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia have sanctioned the MEC and Myanmar’s other military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, for their role in generating significant revenues that help fund military abuses.
Since the February 2021 military coup, Myanmar’s military has been responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Prior to the coup, Myanmar’s security forces committed crimes against humanity and acts of genocide against the Rohingya in Rakhine State, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee to Bangladesh in 2017. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine State, where in recent months they have been caught in fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army armed group and subjected to forced recruitment by the junta.
Prime Minister Kishida needs to take responsibility for his pledge to “appropriately handle” the issue and should suspend further payments to the MEC, stop all non-humanitarian aid to Myanmar’s junta, and impose targeted sanctions on its military leaders and military-owned conglomerates..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-05-21
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"The American fossil fuel company Chevron has exited from the controversial Yadana gas project in Myanmar after more than 30 years, during which it financed a brutal military dictatorship, an ongoing military coup attempt that began in 2021, and serious human rights abuses against the Myanmar people.
Kirk Herbertson, Senior Policy Advisor at EarthRights, released the following statement:
“Throughout the coup, Chevron has remained in business with the Myanmar military through its partnership with the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which remains under the control of the illegal junta. Even now, Chevron appears to have exited Myanmar in an irresponsible manner, ensuring that the junta will continue misappropriating tens of millions of dollars in gas revenues each month.
“The chief executive officer of the Thai state-owned fossil fuel company PTT Exploration and Production Company (PTTEP), announced Chevron’s exit in a letter to the Thai stock exchange. Justice for Myanmar, an investigative research group, reported on Facebook that ‘Chevron’s interest in the Yadana gas project has been redistributed to the remaining shareholders: Thailand’s PTTEP and MOGE, a government department within the Ministry of Electricity and Energy and a revenue-collecting office for the Government of Myanmar. MOGE’s accounts were unlawfully seized by the junta during its 2021 attempted coup.’
“Since the coup began, the military’s junta has misappropriated billions of dollars in MOGE revenues that are owed to the legitimate Government of Myanmar. United Nations experts have determined that the junta is not the country’s legitimate government, meaning that it is not allowed to stand in for the government in commercial contracts. Nevertheless, the Yadana project shareholders, including Chevron, decided to treat the military junta as their counterpart and have facilitated payments to the junta throughout the coup.
“Chevron announced its intention to exit the project two years ago. The company’s initial plan was to sell its interest to MTI Energy, prompting civil society organizations to file a complaint with the OECD National Contact Point against the Canadian company. Ultimately, Chevron decided to transfer its ownership to the remaining partners in the joint venture.
“Since the military coup began in February 2021, civil society has repeatedly asked Chevron to stop allowing the junta to misappropriate gas revenues before exiting the project, in line with international human rights standards for responsible disengagement. All evidence suggests, however, that Chevron’s exit arrangements will ensure that revenues continue to reach the junta.
“Chevron has a responsibility to disclose what, if any, safeguards it put in place to prevent the military junta from continuing to misappropriate revenues from the Yadana gas project after its exit. So far, all signs suggest that they did not put any safeguards in place.
“Chevron’s responsibilities do not end even though it has exited from the Yadana partnership. According to international human rights standards, the company still has a responsibility to take steps to remediate human rights harms associated with its investment. Where a company has contributed to adverse impacts, disengagement does not absolve it from its responsibility to provide for or cooperate in remediation of such adverse impacts.
“According to international human rights standards, responsible disengagement involves meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including civil society and the National Unity Government. Responsible disengagement also involves transparency – companies are expected to disclose the details of their human rights due diligence process and their plans for remediation. EarthRights has found no evidence that Chevron conducted any meaningful consultation with stakeholders from Myanmar during the disengagement process or shared details of any human rights due diligence or planned remediation.
“In October 2023, the United States announced partial sanctions on MOGE, prohibiting certain types of transactions with the entity but falling short of cutting it off from the U.S. financial system, as the EU had done with the euro in early 2022. However, the Yadana shareholders – in a decision that required approval from Chevron – agreed to redirect payments to new bank accounts and approved a currency change from U.S. dollars to Thai baht, allowing the continued flow of revenues to MOGE despite these sanctions.
“Now that Chevron has exited, we call on the U.S. Government to immediately place full sanctions on MOGE. The United States has the ability to cut off the military junta’s access to lucrative gas revenues, but has delayed action for years in part due to Chevron’s lobbying and misinformation campaigns.”
“Each month that the United States delays further action, the military junta is able to access significant amounts of revenue that can be used to purchase the weapons, aviation fuel, and other resources it needs to continue committing atrocities against the Myanmar people.
“Chevron has been involved in the Yadana project since the 1990s. Since its earliest days, the project has been mired in controversy, as the pipeline’s construction became linked to serious human rights abuses for which they settled lawsuits brought against them by ethnic Karen villagers from the pipeline area. Almost three decades later, the project is nearing the end of its life and about to wind down, but even now continues to bankroll the military’s violence against the Myanmar people.”..."
Source/publisher:
EarthRights International
Date of entry/update:
2024-04-09
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Sub-title:
Press ASEAN Members to Adopt Similar Measures
Description:
"Australia was among a host of countries that imposed fresh sanctions on Myanmar on February 1, the third anniversary of the military coup. The government added five businesses to its list of 16 individuals sanctioned since 2021.
Australia has targeted two banks that help fund Myanmar’s junta and its arms purchases, the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank. The sanctions also target three other entities, Asia Sun Group, Asia Sun Trading Co Ltd, and Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Co Ltd, for their role in supplying jet fuel to the security forces: the same fuel that the military has used to carry out unlawfully indiscriminate airstrikes against civilians.
Other governments had already taken action to limit the junta’s access to funding and jet fuel for the military. In June 2023, the United States sanctioned the two banks that Australia is now targeting. Canada has imposed comprehensive sanctions on jet fuel, while the European Union, United Kingdom and United States took steps to target Myanmar entities helping to purchase and supply jet fuel.
Until now, Australia has hesitated to impose more sanctions out of concern for its relations with member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). No ASEAN countries have unilaterally sanctioned the junta, and Australia joined with other governments to back the bloc’s ineffectual efforts to get the military to end its abuses.
Although Australia may have been slow to realize that targeted sanctions are crucial and need not compromise relations with ASEAN, they can still be effective.
The US action against Myanmar’s banks prompted Singapore to cut ties between its Singapore-based United Overseas Bank and corresponding banks in Myanmar. In December, the Myanmar central bank announced it would stop setting foreign exchange rates, suggesting the junta’s inability to access outside currencies. The sanctions are having an impact.
When it hosts a special summit with ASEAN members in Melbourne in March, Australia should press bloc members to enforce these sanctions in their own jurisdictions.
Stronger measures are still possible: Australia should consider imposing sanctions against companies and individuals in the extractives industries. The Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise and other military-owned mining entities still collect the lion’s share of revenue for the junta.
By taking a necessary step to help stop Myanmar military abuses, Australia shouldn’t stop now..."
Source/publisher:
"Human Rights Watch" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-02-05
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"Australian companies, executives and investors are continuing to operate in Myanmar’s junta-dominated mining sector three years after the military launched a brutal and illegal attempted coup.
A new Justice For Myanmar report, Mines Against Humanity, reveals the Australian owned and led companies that are engaged in extraction, exploration and services that provide the junta with revenue, or support the maintenance of a sector that bankrolls junta atrocities.
Companies are wrongly treating the illegal junta as if it were the government of Myanmar. The junta is not the legitimate government of Myanmar and has failed to take effective control of Myanmar’s territory because of the sustained and courageous mass resistance of the Myanmar people.
The junta has responded with a war of terror through indiscriminate air strikes and shelling, the killing of more than 4,400 people, rape, torture, the arbitrary arrest of more than 25,800, the destruction of whole communities and the displacement of more than 2.3 million.
The continued Australian presence in Myanmar’s mining sector is a result of Australia’s failure to impose sanctions on the junta’s sources of funds, and a lack of guidance on Australia’s expectations for responsible business in Myanmar.
This report documents 10 company networks that have remained active in Myanmar following the coup attempt and highlights six company networks that are not currently active in the mining sector but remain registered in Myanmar and require monitoring should they resume operations under the junta. These include:
Valentis, a sprawling network of companies backed by Australian investors set up by brothers closely connected to the military. Among Valentis’s activities, Justice For Myanmar’s investigation uncovered an apparent visit to a MEC coal project since the coup attempt, the provision of services to a Myanmar arms broker and business links to a militia under junta control.
Cornerstone Resources – a company thought to be owned by prominent Australian prospector Mark Creasy, and that has an Australian address, has continued to mine and refine zinc in Shan state following the military’s coup attempt. Justice For Myanmar uncovered transactions with military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which may breach UK sanctions given its previous registration in the British Virgin Islands at the time of the transactions.
The Australian branch of the global consulting firm Knight Piésold is providing environmental services to the China owned Wanbao Mining for copper mines that operate in partnership with military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL). Services were provided as recently as 2023 and it is uncertain whether Knight Piésold is interpreting their contractual obligations consistently with the due diligence exception in the Australian Autonomous Sanctions Act 2011 to avoid breaching the sanctions against MEHL.
The Australia-based miner PanAust has maintained its large-scale exploration licences in Sagaing, a region ravaged in the junta’s campaign of terror. By paying fees to the junta, it helps fund its atrocities.
Asia Pacific Mining Limited, a company with Australian executives, has been communicating with senior members of the junta to continue and expand its exploration activities under cover of the military’s coup attempt.
Even after the coup attempt and amid local opposition, Australian-led company Access Resources Asia has been pushing ahead with gold exploration in eastern Shan state.
Australian Laboratory Services (ALS), listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, has maintained its business in Myanmar following the military’s coup attempt and has done mineral testing for Access Resources Asia and junta-controlled universities.
Justice For Myanmar calls on Australia to immediately impose sanctions on mining enterprises controlled by the junta; to widen sanctions against the junta’s sources of funds, arms and jet fuel, in coordination with its allies; and to investigate sanctions-busting activity and penalise or prosecute companies and individuals as appropriate.
Justice For Myanmar calls on companies operating in Myanmar to follow the laws, policies and guidance of the legitimate federal bodies, including the National Unity Government (NUG), National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), applicable state councils, and relevant Ethnic Resistance Organisations, and to fulfil their responsibilities under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Business Conduct, the OECD Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and High-Risk Areas, and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Under the NUG’s Three-Pillar Framework Guiding Responsible Investment and Continued Operations, companies should avoid all business with the junta and fulfil contractual obligations to the state by paying funds into an escrow account for the lawful and legitimate government of Myanmar.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unacceptable that three years after the military’s illegal coup attempt, Australia is still failing to take necessary action to block the junta’s sources of funds from mining and other lucrative sectors.
“The Myanmar military operates as a cartel that is stealing the wealth of the people of Myanmar on a massive scale to fund its war of terror and enrich war criminals.
“Yet, there are Australian companies, executives and investors in the mining sector that are continuing business as usual, financing the illegitimate junta and helping to keep a corrupt and destructive mining sector open for business.
“Australia needs to act now to impose sanctions on the junta, its businesses, and cronies, and stop Australians from directly and indirectly providing funds and other forms of support to the junta.
“Australian owned and led businesses in Myanmar should follow the laws, policies and guidance of the legitimate federal bodies, including the NUG, NUCC, applicable state councils, and relevant EROs, and fulfil their international human rights responsibilities.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-01-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Human Rights and international relations
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"The United States announced updates to the first business advisory for Myanmar. The supplemental advisory, jointly issued by the Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, Labor, and Homeland Security, and the Office of the US Trade Representative, includes the identification of additional sectors and activities of concern, notably mining, timber and jet fuel. Businesses, including financial institutions and individuals, are advised to adopt heightened compliance and due diligence measures to reduce risks of exposure to the junta and its enablers.
Denisse Rudich, Senior Policy Advisor at The Sentry, said: “Following the publication of the supplemental business advisory by the US Government, banks in the US and abroad, particularly in countries such as in Singapore, Thailand, and the UAE should monitor transactions to stop the flow of funds suspected of being linked to the military junta and carry out enhanced due diligence. They should engage with their correspondent banking networks, taking measures to prevent de-risking and ensure that humanitarian aid organizations, civilians, and essential sectors of the economy maintain unhindered access to the international financial system.”
Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “We welcome the supplemental advisory on Burma by the US Government. It complements the continued targeted sanctions policy adopted by the US to constrain and contain the Myanmar junta by restricting access to funds that finance its brutal war on the people of Myanmar. Targeted sanctions will not solve the crisis in the country on their own, but as essential financial tools of pressure, they must be wielded by the US and its like-minded partners in a coordinated manner and against networks of enablers to enhance their effectiveness. In addition to sanctions, the advisory identifies high-risk business sectors that companies will want to stay clear of to prevent their potential complicity in the atrocities of the Myanmar junta. It nevertheless encourages legitimate and responsible trade and investment flows that benefit the Myanmar population.”
Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, said: “It is positive that the US is continuing to advise companies in Myanmar to act responsibly and avoid key sectors that provide the junta with funds and resources that it needs to commit atrocities. However, this advice needs to be urgently backed up with more targeted sanctions by the US in coordination with its allies, including Australia, which remains exposed to Myanmar’s mining sector. There still are too many gaps in the sanctions that have been imposed and a large number of businesses and individuals that remain unsanctioned, despite evidence of complicity in the junta’s international crimes.”
The first US business advisory on Myanmar, published in January 2022, was issued “to inform individuals, businesses, financial institutions, and other persons — including investors, consultants, and research service providers — of the heightened risks associated with doing business in Burma, and particularly business activity that could benefit the Burmese military regime.”
For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]
About Justice For Myanmar
Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering.
About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts. For more information: www.TheSentry.org..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2024-01-29
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Title: The Myanmar military’s air superiority is slipping away amid sanctions and opposition attacks
Sub-title:
Like everything else in the nearly three years since the coup, the junta’s air superiority is fading.
Description:
"One of the most important setbacks for Myanmar’s military since an opposition alliance launched Operation 1027 last October has been the loss of three different aircraft: two jet trainers and an Mi-17 heavy-lift helicopter. An Mi-35 attack helicopter was also lost in 2023.
The Myanmar military should have total air superiority.
For the first two years of the conflict, the opposition National Unity Government’s (NUG) best air defense was doxing Air Force pilots – publishing their addresses, as part of an assassination campaign.
Gradually, the NUG’s People’s Defense Force militias began to erode the junta’s air superiority by effectively deploying armed drones.
Significantly, we’re now seeing Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs) begin to deploy air defenses, at a time when the junta has become even more dependent on air attacks. That increased tempo of operations requires more maintenance on overworked airframes.
These military junta losses matter for three reasons.
First, while not small by regional standards, the Myanmar Air Force (MAF) certainly does not have excess capacity. At the top end, it has some 31 SU-29s and four recently delivered SU-30s from Russia.
The recently delivered seven JF-17s multi-role fighters, jointly produced by China and Pakistan, are reportedly already grounded due to cracks in their airframes and other maintenance issues.
Airworthiness questions
On paper, Myanmar has approximately 40 other jet fighters, but these are old, Chinese-produced knock-off Russian jets from the 1990s. They are well beyond their service life.
The MAF is thought to have 20 Nanchang Q-5s, the Chinese version of the MiG-19, down from the 36 it imported from 1994-2001. It also has some 21 Chengdu J-7s, a Chinese produced MiG-21. That’s down from some 60 that it had purchased from 1990-1999.
It’s unclear how many of these fighters are still airworthy.
Myanmar’s military has relied on its 18 Russian-built Yak-130 trainers for much of its combat operations. Since the February 2021 coup, Myanmar has taken delivery of some six Guizhou JL-9 jet trainers, referred to as FTC-2000G, which have a spotty performance and safety record.
The MAF also flies an unknown number of Chinese K-8 trainers that can be used for ground support.
Second, we should also assume that given sanctions on the Singapore-based companies that have been the key importers of spare parts, the overall lack of foreign exchange available to the junta, and other supply chain issues, including those caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, that around 20% of the aircraft are probably not operational.
In December 2023, the sanctioned director of Sky Aviator and two others were caught trying to smuggle 508,925 Singapore dollars (US $382,380) in cash out of that city-state. Sky Aviator, which has an office in Singapore, had a large contract to purchase spare parts for the air force. Another sanctioned firm, Sky Royal Hero Company Limited, has the contract for the maintenance and spare parts for servicing the Russian jet fighters.
For nearly three years, the MAF has been flying at increased tempos without the scheduled maintenance they require.
Airstrikes ramping up
The military’s promised counter offensive has not materialized. Over 4,000 troops have surrendered since Operation 1027 began, and well-documented recruitment issues mean the military does not have a sufficient number of troops to launch ground offensives across the multiple battle zones, which has forced them to rely on long range artillery and air strikes.
An independent research firm documented 336 airstrikes in December 2023, alone, with nearly half against the Three Brotherhood Alliance, the group of ethnic armies behind Operation 1027..
The loss of one of their 12 already over-taxed heavy lift helicopters is another important setback for the military’s counter-offensive. One of their tactical advantages has been air mobility and resupply, especially given their loss of key roads.
Although the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) claims to have shot down the Guizhou JL-9/FTC-2000G on Jan. 17, there is little evidence to support this, Video footage that shows the plane falling from the sky, without smoke or any other sign of hostile fire, indicates likely engine failure.
That leads to the third implication: The MAF is losing aircraft to hostile fire.
While the military claims that it was a technical malfunction that brought down a K-8 trainer, Karenni forces claim to have shot it down.
The KIA claims to have shot down an Mi-17 transport helicopter, killing all six crew members on Jan. 3.
Both helicopters and the trainers, especially when they are being used for ground attacks, are vulnerable to small arms fire.
Eyes on Beijing
But these developments also beg the question: What weapons are being used to down the aircraft?
The only ethnic armed group that is known to have shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles (known as MANPADs) is the United Wa State Army (UWSA).
Until very recently, the UWSA has sat out the conflict, neither supporting the junta nor joining the NUG. It recently declared its neutrality in the Three Brotherhood Alliance’s Operation 1027, though it did receive two townships from them.
Though the UWSA has quietly sold weapons to other ethnic armies and the NUG, it has, to date, refrained from selling MANPADs.
Has that changed? And if so, why now? It was long believed that they would not sell the weapons for fear of angering China. So did China approve the transfer, or are the groups now willing to incur Beijing’s wrath?
The KIA claims that they shot down the Mi-17 helicopter with a Chinese made FN-6 MANPAD. The transfer of these weapons to the KIA has never been acknowledged, and may indicate a substantial shift in Chinese policy.
Even if the Jan. 17 crash was caused by a mechanical failure, the KIA is smart to claim credit for downing the aircraft – if for no other reason than to sow fear amongst the pilots.
But what is clear, is that at the same time Myanmar’s military has become even more dependent on air strikes, it’s confronted by international sanctions and cash shortages that have hurt the servicing of their planes. At the same time, opposition forces are now fielding a limited number of surface-to-air missiles.
Like everything else in the nearly three years since the coup, the junta’s air superiority is slipping away..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-01-20
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Sub-title:
UN Security Council Should Impose Sanctions on Military Junta
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"(Bangkok) – Myanmar’s military junta in 2023 increasingly carried out unlawful airstrikes against villages with ethnic minorities and anti-coup residents, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2024. The security forces committed mass killings, enforced disappearances, torture, rape and other sexual violence, and arbitrary arrests and detention.
“The junta’s increased unlawful airstrikes exemplify the deteriorating human rights situation in Myanmar since the 2021 coup,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments should tighten sanctions on the military, and urge the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.”
In the 740-page World Report 2024, its 34th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In her introductory essay, Executive Director Tirana Hassan says that 2023 was a consequential year not only for human rights suppression and wartime atrocities but also for selective government outrage and transactional diplomacy that carried profound costs for the rights of those not in on the deal. But she says there were also signs of hope, showing the possibility of a different path, and calls on governments to consistently uphold their human rights obligations.
In April, Myanmar’s military used a thermobaric weapon – a fuel-air explosive – in Sagaing Region that killed more than 160 civilians. In October, the military attacked a village hosting hundreds of displaced civilians in Kachin State, killing 28 civilians, including 11 children. And since the February 2021 coup, the military has used domestically produced cluster munitions, which are inherently indiscriminate, in populated areas.
The junta blocked desperately needed aid from reaching millions of people in conflict areas, in violation of international humanitarian law. More than two million people have been internally displaced, with many fleeing air and ground attacks multiple times. In October, tens of thousands of people fled clashes between the military and an alliance of ethnic armed groups and anti-junta People’s Defense Forces in northern Shan State.
In May, Cyclone Mocha, one of two strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded in the North Indian Ocean, left a trail of destruction affecting nearly eight million people across Chin, Kachin, and Rakhine States, and Sagaing and Magway Regions. Junta authorities refused to authorize travel and visas for aid workers, release urgent supplies from customs and warehouses, or relax onerous and unnecessary restrictions on lifesaving assistance.
UN Security Council measures against Myanmar authorities have long been stymied by Russia and China, both of which have veto power. Other governments should find ways to expand their own national sanctions to press the junta to change course, Human Rights Watch said. UN member countries should comply with a UN General Assembly 2021 resolution, which urged governments “to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.”
Key governments such as the United States expanded sanctions, including on two Myanmar banks used by the junta to purchase weapons and military equipment. In August, the US issued a directive prohibiting financial transactions involving the military-owned Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). But the European Union, US, Canada, and the United Kingdom should better coordinate and enforce their actions while seeking compliance by Singapore, Thailand and other neighbors of Myanmar.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) currently has an investigation into crimes related to the 2017 ethnic cleansing campaign against the Rohingya, but it is limited in scope. An ICC referral remains critical to address the full range of atrocity crimes in Myanmar. Separately, the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar continued gathering evidence for future prosecutions.
The International Court of Justice is hearing the case on Myanmar’s alleged state responsibility under the Genocide Convention. On November 15, six countries joined the case initiated by Gambia in 2019..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2024-01-11
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"
Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest sanctions on the Myanmar military junta and its associates, as it intensifies its war of terror against the people, and calls on governments to urgently step up and better coordinate sanctions.
The latest sanctions come as the junta continues to lose territory and control, almost three years after launching an illegal coup attempt.
On December 11, the EU sanctioned the entities Star Sapphire Group of Companies and Royal Shune Lei Company Limited, which are both suppliers of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military, aiding and abetting its international crimes.
Star Sapphire Group of Companies is a crony conglomerate closely associated with the family of Min Aung Hlaing, whose children’s assets were caught in a Thai drug raid against Star Sapphire Group’s founder, Tun Min Latt. Tun Min Latt is currently in custody in Thailand on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
Royal Shune Lei Company Limited is an arms broker for the Myanmar military that has been sanctioned for the first time. Justice For Myanmar previously highlighted its links to the sale of arms and dual use goods from Russia and Serbia. The company may have also brokered the sale of arms from North Korea to the Myanmar military in 2022, according to reports.
The EU also sanctioned members of the junta’s State Administration Council, Nyo Saw, Wunna Maung Lwin and Hmu Htan, as well as the commander of the military’s Eastern Command, Hla Moe.
Nyo Saw is a major player in the junta’s cartel, having been chairperson of Myanmar Economic Corporation and a member of the junta’s Foreign Exchange Supervision Committee.
On December 8, the UK sanctioned Colonel Chit Thu, whose legal name is San Myint, and his associates Saw Min Min Oo and She Zhijiang (also written as She Zhi Jiang). San Myint leads the Karen Border Guard Force, a militia under Myanmar military command in Karen State. Min Min Oo is a colonel in the same militia and plays a key role in the militia’s corrupt business dealings, which include illegal casinos and cyber slavery compounds. She Zhijiang, a Chinese fugitive who obtained Cambodian citizenship, is their business associate and led the Yatai project in Shwe Kokko with the Karen Border Guard Force up until his arrest in Thailand in 2022 after an extradition request by Chinese authorities. All three have been sanctioned for the first time.
Also on December 8, Canada for the second time sanctioned the war criminal, Min Aung Hlaing, who is responsible for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and is leading the military’s coup attempt. He was designated under the country’s Magnitsky Law, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act. Canada also sanctioned Min Aung Hlaing on February 18, 2021 under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “These latest sanctions are welcome as a further step in blocking the Myanmar military junta’s sources of funds and arms, which it needs to continue its war of terror against the people.
“It is also welcome that the UK has sanctioned key individuals in the Karen Border Guard Force network, who, under Myanmar military command, are responsible for grave human rights violations and crimes that include human trafficking, the enslavement of victims in cyber scam compounds, the operation of illegal casinos and money laundering.
“The Myanmar military junta is at the apex of these criminal networks, and the threat they pose to the ASEAN region and beyond cannot be eradicated until the Myanmar military cartel is dismantled and there is federal democracy.
“However, the pace of sanctions has so far been too slow compared to the unprecedented crisis on the ground. Far more needs to be done urgently to cut the junta’s sources of arms and funds. We call on governments to step up and better coordinate for further sanctions and for justice and accountability.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-12-12
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"Greenway Mining Group Limited, a mining company based in Kunming, China and operating through British Overseas Territories, is expanding its business in Myanmar following the military’s illegal coup attempt, providing revenue to the junta as it widens its campaign of terror.
The revelations published by Justice For Myanmar based on the company’s disclosures to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange before its recent delisting, come as the UK lags behind its allies in sanctioning No. 1 Mining Enterprise (ME 1) and No. 1 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), which are under illegal control of the junta.
ME 1 and ME 2 have already been sanctioned by the US, EU and Canada.
The junta’s minister for natural resources and environmental conservation, Colonel Khin Maung Yi, has also been sanctioned by the US, EU and Canada, while he has yet to be designated in the UK.
Greenway Mining Group operates two mines in Shan State, Myanmar. Since the coup attempt, it has been seeking approval from the junta to expand one of its mines and has organised the shipment of minerals to China, in partnership with ME 1.
The company, which is incorporated in the Cayman Islands and also operates in the British Virgin Islands, has earned millions of dollars in revenue during the past decade from its lead and silver mines in Myanmar, according to its financial statements.
Justice For Myanmar calls on UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron to immediately sanction all key junta entities and individuals in the mining sector, including ME 1, ME 2 and Khin Maung Yi.
Justice For Myanmar calls on Greenway to immediately end all business with the junta, in line with its human rights responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on business and human rights.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Greenway Mining is using British Overseas Territories for its business with the illegal Myanmar military junta, supporting ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity committed with total impunity.
“Greenway’s business with the junta, conducted via the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands, has been enabled by the UK’s slow pace of sanctions on the mining sector, which is a key source of funds for the junta.
“As the junta continues to lose ground, it is increasingly relying on indiscriminate air strikes and is desperate for revenue to sustain its war of terror.
“The UK and its allies must urgently coordinate to block all of the junta’s sources of arms and revenue, including from the mining sector, and support the people of Myanmar’s struggle for federal democracy.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-12-11
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"The illegal Myanmar military junta is set to host the 26th Ministerial Conference of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) program, on December 15 in Naypyidaw, according to Justice For Myanmar sources.
In a welcome move, the Asian Development Bank, which acts as the GMS Secretariat, has told Justice For Myanmar that it will not attend the Ministerial Conference and will not provide any support. In response to an email, an ADB spokesperson told Justice For Myanmar, “The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will not attend the 26th GMS Ministerial Conference. In addition, ADB will not provide any funding for the event, nor provide logistical or advisory support. ADB also will not finance the costs of any developing member countries’ attendees.”
Justice For Myanmar calls on GMS countries to cancel the conference and ban the junta from the GMS program. The ADB should reconsider its support for the GMS program while it continues to engage with the junta.
The conference is planned to take place as the junta continues to lose control of Myanmar, is rapidly losing territory and is waging a campaign of terror against the people, committing mass killings, carrying out indiscriminate air strikes and shelling, arbitrary arrests, torture and mass displacement that has surged to more than 2.5 million.
The conference host is Kan Zaw, the junta’s minister for investment and foreign economic relations, who is sanctioned by the US and EU. The EU noted that Kan Zaw “takes an active role in supporting the military’s efforts to attract foreign investment, thereby contributing to securing the financial needs of the military regime. Therefore, he is responsible for undermining democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma as well as for engaging in actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of Myanmar.”
According to Justice For Myanmar sources, Kan Zaw has invited China’s finance minister, Lan Fo’an, Cambodia’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Sok Chenda Sophea, Lao’s planning and investment minister, Khamjane Vongphosy, Vietnam’s planning and investment minister, Nguyen Chi Dung, and Thailand’s deputy finance minister, Julapun Amornvivat to the conference.
The conference is being organised by a steering committee headed by the junta’s deputy minister for investment and foreign economic relations. The committee also includes a member of the military conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) as the sole private sector representative, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. MEC is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia.
The junta-controlled Myanmar Police Force is providing security for the conference, overseen by the deputy police chief who is also a member of the steering committee. The junta’s police force is directly responsible for killings, torture and arbitrary arrest, which amount to crimes against humanity. The junta is preparing to maximise propaganda from the conference, having formed a committee to manage the release of information to control journalists.
The conference is being held at the Grand Amara Hotel, which is part of the junta-linked crony conglomerate International Group of Entrepreneur (IGE) owned by Ne Aung, the brother of the junta’s navy chief. The junta is covering the accommodation of delegates, their flights between Yangon and Naypyidaw and hosting a gala lunch.
The upcoming conference comes after Min Aung Hlaing participated in the 7th GMS Leaders’ Summit hosted by Cambodia in 2021. The ADB told Justice For Myanmar that they had provided Cambodia with advisory support to prepare documentation for the summit, which was held virtually.
The Leaders’ Summit, which is the program’s highest body, was featured prominently in junta propaganda. In a speech at the summit, Min Aung Hlaing defended his illegal coup attempt and falsely stated that the 2020 election was rigged and that the coup attempt was constitutional.
At the 2021 Leader’s Summit, Min Aung Hlaing illegitimately endorsed the GMS Strategic Framework 2030, which aims to promote investment and tourism that would help generate revenue for the junta, which it needs to finance its terror campaign.
In 2022, Laos hosted the 25th GMS Ministerial Conference, in which the junta was also wrongly allowed to participate. In the conference, the junta illegitimately endorsed the GMS Regional Investment Framework for 2023-2025, in which the junta has proposed US$208.3 million in projects in sectors that include energy, information and communications technology, tourism and agriculture, mostly to be funded by unspecified “development partners”.
The GMS program was established in 1992 under Myanmar’s previous dictatorship, and has focussed on promoting trade and the development of economic corridors and infrastructure, including in ethnic areas of Myanmar.
As part of the Myanmar junta’s chairing of the GMS, the junta linked Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI) is leading the GMS Business Council, a grouping of chambers of commerce from GMS countries. The GMS Business Council is currently chaired by Zaw Min Win, a former UMFCCI president and the chair of the Myanmar Industries Alliance, which invests in the mobile operator Mytel with the military conglomerate MEC.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “It is unfathomable that the GMS program and its members are not only inviting the illegal junta to participate but are even appointing it as host of a ministerial conference.
“The junta is a terrorist organisation that is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity. The military's coup attempt is failing and the GMS program and its members are making a serious moral and strategic error in legitimising it and attempting to facilitate investment that will help it generate revenue and further fuel atrocities.
“GMS members should immediately cancel the planned conference or, failing that, refuse to attend. The junta must be barred from the GMS program, which should instead recognise and support the National Unity Government, which is the legitimate government of Myanmar.
“We welcome the decision of the ADB to withdraw support for the Ministerial Conference and to refuse to attend. The ADB should now reconsider its institutional support for the GMS program as long as its members continue to legitimise the illegal junta.
“The involvement of UMFCCI and the junta-linked crony Zaw Min Win in the GMS Business Council is alarming and is a further sign that the junta and its cronies are using the program to promote investment that can strengthen the junta and worsen the crisis in Myanmar caused by the military’s illegal coup attempt.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-12-05
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"Myanmar Campaign Network (MCN), Justice For Myanmar (JFM), the Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma (ACDB), and Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (GMSR) commend the decision by the Australian Government to deny visas to the Myanmar football club Shan United. The decision comes after a strong push from the organisations, which cited grave concerns over the club’s associations with individuals and entities connected to the Myanmar military and human rights violations.
This action prompted Australia to bar Shan United's entry for their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup match against Sydney team the Macarthur Bulls, initially slated for November 30 in Australia, leading to the match's relocation to a venue in Bangkok.
MCN, JFM, ACDB, and GMSR urged Australian ministers to deny visas to Shan United players and officials, raising concerns about the club's owner, Wa Minn Group of Companies, and its sponsor, Kanbawza Group of Companies (KBZ Group).
Myanmar Investment Commission data released by Distributed Denial of Secrets shows Wa Minn Group of Companies and its owner, Kun Naung Myint Wai, hold permits for two property development projects in partnership with the Myanmar military: one with Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), a military conglomerate sanctioned by Australia, and one with the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Myanmar Army, which has been sanctioned by the US, UK, EU, and Canada.
KBZ Group is a crony conglomerate that donated a total of US$4.7 million to the Myanmar military and the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine State (UEHRD) during the Rohingya genocide, according to the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The Fact-Finding Mission recommended a criminal investigation against officials of KBZ Group as a result of the donations, stating that they made ‘a substantial and direct contribution to the commission of the crime against humanity of “other inhumane acts”’.
MCN and JFM have pressed for sanctions against these companies and related individuals.
Myanmar Campaign Network Campaign Manager Tasneem Roc, said, “Australia's denial of visas sends a powerful message that those implicated in human rights violations will not be granted a platform or support. Further sanctions action is needed to show support for the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar.”
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said, “Australia’s denial of visas to Shan United is welcome but more needs to be done. Australia should urgently impose more targeted sanctions against the illegal junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel, and catch up with the sanctions already imposed by its allies.”
Australian Coalition for Democracy in Burma spokesperson Peter Murphy said, “While we welcome Australia’s decision to ban visas for Shan United players and officials, Football Australia and ultimately FIFA bear a crucial responsibility to uphold human rights within international football. States, entities or individuals found guilty of human rights abuses should be banned.”
Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Spokesperson Mon Zin said, “This visa ban marks progress towards justice, but it stirs mixed emotions for us, the youth. We long for a Myanmar free from the junta's oppression, with opportunities for all. We imagined celebrating our soccer stars in Sydney, a moment of pride. However until the world opposes the junta's cruelty, our hopes remain unfulfilled. Let this ban resound as a call for justice, fuelling our unwavering struggle for a liberated Myanmar!”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-12-01
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"H.E. Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister
H.E. Yoko Kamikawa, Minister for Foreign Affairs
H.E. Shunichi Suzuki, Minister of Finance
H.E. Tetsuo Saito, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Statement calling on the Japanese government to stop ODA and publicly-funded projects benefiting the Myanmar military
ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation
Friends of the Earth Japan
Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT)
Mekong Watch
Progressive Voice
More than two years and ten months have passed since the failed coup by the Myanmar military. The military continues to commit serious human rights abuses amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity. At least 4,192 people including pro-democracy activists and civilians have been confirmed killed by the military as of November 21, 2023. Among those protesting the attempted seizure of power by force by the military, a total of 25,425 people have been arrested. Across Myanmar, 2 million people are estimated to be internally displaced as of November 10, including 1.7 million currently displaced by clashes and insecurity since the coup.
By 2020, the Japanese government provided JPY 356.518 billion in total in grant aid as well as JPY 109.94 billion in total in technical assistance to Myanmar, and promised JPY 1,378.47 billion in loan aid (figure based on loan agreements). After the failed coup, then Foreign Minister Motegi made the following statement regarding these Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Myanmar on May 21, 2021: “If the situation continues in this way, it is possible that we will be compelled to review ODA and that companies may become unable to provide investment even if they want to.” However, since then, despite the worsening human rights crisis in Myanmar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have simply repeated that it would “comprehensively consider what measures may be effective while viewing the situation of the efforts made by Japan and the international community”. No contract has been signed on new ODA, but no official announcement has been made as to whether any review or assessment has been conducted regarding the existing ODA.
A large part of ODA to Myanmar is loan aid (yen loans) for development of a special economic zone and surrounding infrastructure, construction of roads, and repairing railroads. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated in the Diet that 34 loan aid projects totaling JPY 739.6 billion based on figures in loan agreements are being implemented currently, making it clear that these projects have continued even after the failed coup.
Besides ODA, the Japanese government provides public funds for private projects in Myanmar. Redevelopment of the Defense Services Museum Project (commonly known as the “Y Complex Project”) involves building and operating a large-scale real estate complex at the army-owned site of the former military museum in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), a government-funded infrastructure investment corporation under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which is Japan’s public export credit agency, invests or lends to the Y Complex Project. Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita Corporation (a subsidiary of Daiwa House Industry), and JOIN set up a Joint Special Purpose Company (J-SPC) in Singapore. JBIC along with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank co-financed a loan to this J-SPC, and the J-SPC in turn is co-investing in Y Complex Company Ltd., a Myanmar corporation set up jointly by the J-SPC and Yangon Technical and Trading Company Limited (YTT), a Myanmar crony company. The land lease agreement is between YTT and "Colonel Aung Min Thein (Officer No. Army 17642), Vice Quarter Master General, Office of the Quarter Master General, Commander-in-Chief (Army).” Land lease payments are to be made to "Defence Account no. MD 010424,” an account likely to be under control of the Office of the Quartermaster General.
The US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General on December 10, 2021. Further, on June 21, 2023, the US designated Myanmar's Ministry of Defence as a “Specially Designated National” subject to financial sanctions, noting that the Ministry was “responsible for the command and control of the armed forces, which has conducted decades of repressive military rule that was violently resumed following the coup in 2021.”
Following are some of the issues that that the continuation of the provision of public funds and ODA could entail:
First, by continuing ODA which requires bilateral agreements even though one of the parties to those agreements has ceased to exist due to the coup in February 2021, and by providing public funds to the Y Complex Project, a venture that allows funds to flow to the Office of the Quartermaster General, it appears that the Japanese government is giving implicit support to the military junta. We share the concern of Myanmar citizens regarding this point.
Second, ODA projects and projects receiving public funds in fact benefit the Myanmar military. It has been made clear by the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar that in Myanmar, revenues from business operations conducted by companies owned or controlled by the military are a source of funds for the military, supporting their atrocities. The UK government has pointed out that the Office of the Quartermaster General which is involved in the Y Complex Project "plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel.” It has been revealed that the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), one of the military enterprises that the Fact-Finding Mission recommended to the international community not to "enter into or remain in a business relationship” with, is involved in the construction of Bago Bridge, a yen loan project. It has been pointed out that Yokogawa Bridge Corporation made payments to MEC from July to November 2022. Further, in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Development Project, the Japanese government along with major trade companies and banks is investing in the Myanmar Japan Thilawa Development Ltd. (MJTD) which operates the industrial area using “Private Sector Investment Finance,” a type of ODA. Myanmar established the Thilawa SEZ Management Committee and holds 10% of MJTD. Soon after the coup, the military detained the chairperson of the Management Committee and appointed a new chairperson. Dividend payments are to be made if MJTD makes a profit, but under these circumstances, the possibility cannot be denied that such dividend payments will benefit the military.
Third, in the type of ODA called “Two-Step Loans” under which ODA funds lent by the Japanese government are held and managed by financial institutions in Myanmar, there is concern that the funds may come to be managed by the military through its control over the financial institutions. Projects in question include the Housing Finance Development Project, Project for the Development of Finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, and the Agriculture and Rural Development Two Step Loan Project.
Fourth, funds provided through yen loans are money lent at interest that Myanmar needs to repay, which will increase the debt owed by the people of Myanmar. Japan had already lent a cumulative total of USD 2761.8 million to Myanmar by 2020,but Myanmar will owe an additional JPY 739.6 billion (USD 4.93 billion as of November 10, 2023). This means that the people of Myanmar who are suffering from serious human rights abuses and atrocities by the Myanmar military will be made to bear the burden of repaying ODA for the next decades that is or may well be a source of funds for the military.
As we expressed in our statement in December 2022, we believe that the Japanese government should respect the National Unity Government (NUG), Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs) and civil society organizations in Myanmar and effectively support the will of the people of Myanmar. We express deep concern that Japan may be complicit in the atrocity crimes by the military by providing ODA and public funds to the benefit of the military. We strongly demand that the Japanese government suspend all yen loan projects currently being implemented. Regarding the Y Complex Project, we strongly demand that the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism immediately withdraw the investment made by JOIN, and that the Ministry of Finance immediately cancel the loan made by JBIC.
Statement has been endorsed by the following organizations:
1 Action Committee for Democracy Development (Coalition of 14 Grassroots Networks)
2 Active Youths Kalaymyo
3 Africa Japan Forum
4 Ah Nah Podcast - Conversations with Myanmar
5 All Arakan Students' & Youths' Congress – AASYC
6 All Burma Indigenous People Alliance (ABIPA)
7 Alternative People's Linkage in Asia
8 ALTSEAN-Burma
9 ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
10 Asian Community Center 21
11 Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
12 Asian Health Institute, AHI
13 Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
14 Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
15 Association Suisse-Birmanie (ASB)
16 Associazione per l'Amicizia Italia Birmania "Giuseppe Malpeli"
17 Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
18 Burma Action Ireland
19 Burma Campaign UK
20 Burma Human Rights Network
21 Burmese Relief Center Japan
22 Burmese Women’s Union
23 CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
24 CRPH Funding Ireland
25 CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany-Deutschland
26 Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization
27 Earth Tree
28 Educational Initiatives Prague
29 Equality Myanmar
30 Federation of Workers’ Union of the Burmese Citizen in Japan (FWUBC)
31 Freedom and Labor Action Group (FLAG)
32 Fukuoka NGO forum on ADB
33 Future Light Center
34 Future Thanlwin
35 General Incorporation Association WORKSPACE ASIA
36 Generation Wave
37 Grass-root People
38 HANDS（Health and Development Service)
39 Human Rights Educators Network
40 Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
41 Human Rights Now
42 Info Birmanie
43 Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
44 International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
45 International Karen Organisation
46 Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL)
47 Japan Catholic Council for Justice and Peace
48 Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES)
49 Japan Overseas Christian Medical Cooperative Service
50 Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN)
51 Justice For Myanmar
52 Karen Human Rights Group
53 Karen Peace Support Network
54 Karen Swedish Community (KSC)
55 Karenni Human Rights Group
56 Karenni National Women's Organization
57 Keng Tung Youth
58 Mandalay Regional Youth Association Revolution Core Group
59 Metta Campaign
60 Myanmar Campaign Network
61 Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
62 Myanmar International Assistance Organization
63 Myanmar News Now
64 Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
65 Myanmar Refugee Policy Group
66 Network for Human Rights Documentation - Burma (ND-Burma)
67 Nway Oo Guru Lay Myar
68 Padauk Finland-Myanmar Association
69 Pakokku Youth Development Council
70 Peace Boat
71 Peace Village United
72 Political Prisoners Network
73 Progressive Voice
74 Save and Care Organization for Women at Border Areas
75 Services for the Health in Asian and African Regions
76 Shan MATA
77 Southern Youth Development Organization
78 Ta'ang Legal Aid
79 Ta’ang Women’s Organization
80 Tanintharyi MATA
81 The Ladies
82 U.S. Campaign for Burma
83 Women's Democratic Club, Femin
84 Yokohama NGO Network
and one other organization..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-12-01
[field_licence]
Type:
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Description:
"29 November 2023: The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) congratulates the Australian Government for its decision to deny entry visas to the players and officials of Shan United football team, owned by Kun Naung Myint Wai – a crony with deep ties to the illegal Myanmar military junta.
Kun Naung Myint Wai is also the chairman of Wa Minn Corporation, which has business links with the Myanmar military’s “ministry of defence.” Kun Naung Myint Wai has alleged connections with Myanmar military-controlled conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which generates vast revenues for the Myanmar military that it uses to fund grave human rights violations against civilians. In February, Australia imposed financial sanctions on MEC.
The decision to bar entry to Shan United football club, which came ahead of its scheduled football match against Sydney-based Macarthur FC in Australia, is a modest but welcome step by the Australian Government to hold accountable those who benefit from their association with Myanmar’s criminal military.
SAC-M urges the Australian Government to build on this positive step by taking more meaningful action to hold the Myanmar military accountable. Australia must now follow like-minded democracies, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and the European Union, by imposing further targeted financial sanctions on the Myanmar military, its generals, affiliated entities and cronies..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-11-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Human Rights and international relations
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Description:
"REDRESS, Justice For Myanmar and the Australian Centre for International Justice have submitted a dossier of evidence to the Governor of the British Virgin Islands and the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, requesting that they open investigations into the formerly British Virgin Islands-incorporated entity Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited alleged violations of UK sanctions.
The dossier contains research and evidence from Justice For Myanmar into Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited’s business, including leaked financial statements that show transactions with the military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
The transactions, which consist of the sale of zinc to MEC and the purchase of coal from MEC, total 1,971,236,483 Myanmar kyat (more than £770,000 or AU$1.33m) between October 2021 and August 2022, and follow the UK’s sanctioning of MEC on April 1, 2021, under the UK’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, which are in force in the British Virgin Islands.
The dossier urges that, should penalties be imposed through enforcement action, the funds are re-directed to victims as reparations for the abuses they suffered from the Myanmar military. Such financial compensation could serve to provide interim relief to victims, allowing them to rebuild their lives and gain access to healthcare and other social services.
Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar) Limited’s main business is zinc mining and processing in Myanmar’s Shan State. It began operating in Myanmar in 1999, under the previous military junta, and has a production sharing contract with Mining Enterprise No. 1 (ME 1), a state-owned enterprise that is illegally under junta control.
ME 1 has not been sanctioned by the UK or Australia, despite calls in Australia and the UK for sanctions.
The company’s Myanmar business was owned by its British Virgin Islands’ parent company until it was struck off its Register of Companies in November 2022. Due to restrictions on accessing information on this and Myanmar corporate registries, it has not been possible to confirm the identity of the current directors and shareholders of Cornerstone Resources (Myanmar). The company has had an Australian director, Australian shareholders and used an Australian address for its business.
Rupert Skilbeck, Director of REDRESS, said: "The UK’s enforcement agencies can impose significant financial penalties for violations of UK sanctions, which could be used to provide reparations to victims of the crimes sanctions seek to prevent. Yet, to date, the UK has been extremely slow at enforcing sanctions and any fines imposed have been directed to the Treasury for other uses.
“It is crucial that the UK government rigorously enforces its sanctions, both in the UK and in its overseas territories, to ensure they effectively deter serious human rights violations, and are used to make funds available to victims."
Yadanar Maung, Justice for Myanmar’s spokesperson, said: “Cornerstone Resources’ substantial business with Myanmar Economic Corporation, in apparent breach of UK sanctions, supports a corrupt conglomerate that enriches a murderous military and its war criminal leadership. Cornerstone’s ongoing business in Myanmar have been enabled by Australia’s failure to sanction mining enterprises that are illegally controlled by the junta, and which help finance its ongoing atrocities against the people. Australia needs to stop making excuses and sanction the junta’s sources of funds and arms, including state-owned enterprises.
“The UK should urgently sanction junta-controlled mining enterprises to prevent companies registered in the UK and its overseas territories from financing the junta’s international crimes.”
Melissa Chen, Senior Lawyer, Australian Centre for International Justice, said: "The imposition of sanctions against individuals and entities who support Myanmar’s illegal military junta is only one step towards accountability.
“To have real impact, these sanctions must be effectively enforced in order to cut off the junta’s financing and deter those responsible for the devastating human rights violations and atrocity crimes that continue to be perpetrated in Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-11-20
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"Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of targeted sanctions imposed against the illegal Myanmar military junta, its cronies and arms brokers, coordinated between Canada, the UK and USA.
The sanctions, announced on October 31, 2023, were significant in targeting the junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment, and jet fuel, but more sanctions and better coordination are needed to disrupt the junta’s ability to continue its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar.
Priorities include full sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), sanctions on junta-controlled mining enterprises, a ban on the sale of jet fuel to Myanmar, action against banks that the junta uses to channel funds and purchase arms, and coordinated sanctions against whole networks of junta cronies and arms dealers. Details of sanctions targets are on the Justice For Myanmar website.
We remain dismayed at the lack of action by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea to impose sanctions in response to the military’s coup attempt and ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, and urge these countries to act now. Many of the latest sanctions targets maintain business links to Singapore. We call on the Singaporean government to do more to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel.
Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, more than 4,100 people have been killed by the junta and over 25,000 arrested. In the face of mass, nationwide resistance to its coup attempt by the people of Myanmar, the junta has intensified indiscriminate aerial attacks, shelling, mass arbitrary arrests, torture, rape, the destruction of whole communities and forced displacement.
International action needs to be ramped up urgently to stop the junta’s atrocities and support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy.
Sanctions imposed this week that target the junta’s sources of funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel, along with previous designations that remain in force, include:
Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE): A state-owned enterprise illegally controlled by the junta and targeted by the USA for the first time with a directive against the direct and indirect provision of financial services, which will go into force on December 15. This follows a sustained campaign by Myanmar people, civil society and allies.
The financial services directive is an important step to disrupt the flow of funds to the junta but falls short of full sanctions that would freeze MOGE’s assets and block all trade with the junta-controlled state-owned enterprise.
MOGE was previously sanctioned by the EU.
Mining Enterprise No. 1 (ME1) and Mining Enterprise No. 2 (ME2): State-owned enterprises illegally controlled by the junta and sanctioned by Canada. ME1 and ME2 monopolise the mining sector, receive a share of revenue from private mining companies, and funnel large amounts of revenue to the junta.
ME1 and ME2 were previously sanctioned by the USA and EU.
International Group of Entrepreneur Services Company Limited (IGE): A crony company sanctioned by the UK for its business with the Myanmar military, which is a subsidiary of International Group of Entrepreneur Company Limited. IGE Group is a crony conglomerate led by Ne Aung, the son of former junta minister Aung Thaung and brother of junta navy chief Moe Aung. IGE has deep business links with the military, including through the Lotte Hotel, developed on land leased from the Office of the Quartermaster General of the Myanmar Army, as reported by Justice For Myanmar.
IGE Group has at least three companies that remain registered in Singapore: IGE Pte Ltd, UNOG Pte Ltd and IPL Pte Ltd.
International Group of Entrepreneur Company Limited was previously sanctioned by the EU.
Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw: Shwe Byain Phyu Group is a crony conglomerate founded by Thein Win Zaw, who is the group’s chairperson. Both were sanctioned by Canada. Shwe Byain Phyu bought Telenor Myanmar, renamed ATOM Myanmar, providing the junta with enhanced surveillance capabilities and access to personal data. Justice For Myanmar has exposed the business interests of Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw.
Shwe Byain Phyu has a company in Singapore, Investcom Pte Ltd, which remains registered.
Shwe Byain Phyu Group and Thein Win Zaw have been sanctioned for the first time.
Star Sapphire Group of Companies, Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited, Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe: All sanctioned by Canada, the group has multiple businesses that generate funds for the Myanmar military, including a casino, a hotel and mining. Star Sapphire Group of Companies and its subsidiary, Star Sapphire Trading, has been a key supplier of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military from Israel and China in particular. The group is owned by Tun Min Latt and Win Min Soe, who are a married couple and are close associates of junta head Min Aung Hlaing and his children. Tun Min Latt is in custody in Thailand on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. Star Sapphire Group’s business with the Myanmar military and links with Min Aung Hlaing’s family have been exposed by Justice For Myanmar.
Star Sapphire group has a company in Singapore, Star Sapphire Group Pte Ltd, which remains registered.
Star Sapphire Group of Companies and Tun Min Latt were previously sanctioned by the UK and USA. The USA also previously sanctioned Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited and Win Min Soe.
Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Company Limited and Khin Phyu Win: Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics (formerly Cargo Link Pongrawe Logistics Company Limited), sanctioned by Canada, is part of the Shoon group of companies (formerly Asia Sun). Shoon group is the junta’s main partner in the import, storage and distribution of jet fuel. The group is led by Khin Phyu Win, also sanctioned by Canada. Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics is the junta’s main transporter of jet fuel to military bases and airports across Myanmar. The role of Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics and Khin Phyu Win in supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military has been exposed by Amnesty International and Justice For Myanmar.
Shoon group has three companies that remain registered in Singapore: Shoon Energy Pte Ltd, P.E.I. Energy Pte Ltd and PEIA Pte Ltd.
Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics was previously sanctioned by the US, and its parent company, Cargo Link Company Limited, was previously sanctioned by the UK. Khin Phyu Win was previously sanctioned by the USA and UK.
Canada continues to lead in measures to stop the junta’s access to jet fuel, which it needs to continue to carry out indiscriminate airstrikes. On October 31, Canada expanded its ban on the sale of jet fuel to include a prohibition on shipping insurance for the transport of jet fuel to Myanmar.
Sky Aviator Company Limited, Heli Eagle Company Limited, Sky Royal Hero Limited, Kyaw Min Oo and Myo Min Oo: Major suppliers of aviation equipment to the Myanmar military and all sanctioned by Canada, Sky Aviator is owned by Kyaw Min Oo and the linked company, Heli Eagle, is owned by Myo Min Oo, who is his brother, according to Justice For Myanmar sources. Kyaw Min Oo was also sanctioned by the UK. Since the illegal coup attempt, Sky Aviator has procured equipment from Russia and Ukraine, including YAK-130 support equipment, engines and parts. The Yak-130 is increasingly deployed by the military within populated areas, including in the catastrophic indiscriminate bombing of Pazigyi village, Kantabulu township, Sagaing Region, killing at least 168 people, including children, in the deadliest airstrike since the military’s attempted coup. Sky Aviator’s business with the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
Heli Eagle and Sky Royal Hero have supplied equipment to the Myanmar military following the coup attempt, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Sky Aviator and Heli Eagle are both registered suppliers of the Myanmar military’s Directorate of Procurement and share phone numbers and an email address. According to the UN Special Rapporteur, Sky Royal Hero has a trading relationship with Sky Aviator.
Sky Aviator was previously sanctioned by the EU, UK and USA. Kyaw Min Oo was previously sanctioned by the USA and EU. Heli Eagle, Sky Royal Hero and Myo Min Oo have been sanctioned for the first time.
Myanmar New Era Trading Company Limited and Naing Htut Aung: Myanmar New Era Trading is a significant supplier of aircraft parts for the Myanmar military from Russia that was sanctioned by Canada. Import data confirms the company’s procurement for the military of parts for Mi-17 (Mi-8M) helicopters from Russia between 2017 and 2020. The Mi- 17 helicopter is frequently used by the junta in its commission of war crimes, including in the 16 September 2022 attack on Let Yet Kone village when the junta indiscriminately bombed a school and a monastery. Myanmar New Era Trading Company Limited is part of the network of International Gateways Group, a major arms broker led by Naing Htut Aung, who was also sanctioned by Canada. Myanmar New Era Trading and the International Gateways Group network has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.
There are at least two companies in Naing Htut Aung’s network that remain registered in Singapore: Global Polytech Resources Pte Ltd and Xinshidai Company Pte. Ltd.
Myanmar New Era Trading was previously sanctioned by the UK. Naing Htut Aung was previously sanctioned by the USA and EU.
Miya Win International: A private arms broker and sanctioned by Canada, Miya Win International has procured unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and parts from Austria’s Schiebel Corporation, including after the military’s coup attempt. In addition, Miya Win International has played a key role in the military’s deal with the Austrian company Diamond Aircraft Industries, a Chinese-owned company with a facility in Canada, to set up local assembly and production of DART-450 aerial reconnaissance aircraft in Myanmar. Evidence of Miya Win International’s business with Schiebel Corporation and Diamond Aircraft Industries has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar.
Miya Win International was previously sanctioned by the UK.
Creative Exploration Limited: An arms broker sanctioned by Canada that has imported fuses from India to the Myanmar military, including since the attempted coup, which has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar. Creative Exploration was formerly known as My Space or mySpace. The company has also imported digital forensics technology from the USA.
Creative Exploration Limited has been sanctioned for the first time.
Life and Challenge Company Limited: A supplier of technology, equipment and training to the Myanmar military and its police that was sanctioned by Canada. In 2018, Life and Challenge was awarded a contract to design and deliver a radar capability development program for the Myanmar military. Life and Challenge’s business with the military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar.
Life and Challenge has a company in Singapore, LANC Pte Ltd, which remains registered.
Life and Challenge has been sanctioned for the first time.
Synpex Shwe Company Limited: An arms broker sanctioned by Canada, the company has procured material from Russia for the Myanmar Air Force following the military’s coup attempt, and is also a supplier of raw materials for the military’s domestic arms manufacturing industry. Synpex Shwe’s involvement in the supply of arms to the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar.
Synpex Shwe has a company in Singapore, Synergy Tripexin Pte Lte, which remains registered.
Synpex Shwe was previously sanctioned by the UK.
Suntac Group of Companies, Suntac Technologies Company Limited, Suntac International Trading Company Limited and Sit Taing Aung: Suntac Group of Companies was sanctioned by Canada, while Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited were sanctioned by the USA for supplying equipment to the Myanmar military. Suntac Group of Companies is owned by Sit Taing Aung, who was also sanctioned by the UK. Sit Taing Aung is Mexico’s Honorary Consul to Myanmar. Sit Taing Aung and Suntac’s involvement in the procurement of aircraft parts has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, and Suntac’s involvement in the military’s arms manufacturing industry has been exposed by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar.
Sit Taing Aung was previously sanctioned by the USA, Canada and EU.
Mottama Holdings Limited and Min Dhama Steel Structures Limited: Mottama Holdings is a crony conglomerate and, together with its subsidiary, Min Dhama Steel Structures, was sanctioned by Canada. The companies supply the Myanmar military’s domestic arms industry with raw materials and machinery, as exposed by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar and the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Evidence received by Justice For Myanmar reveals the involvement of Min Dhama Steel Structures in importing steel for the construction of the so-called Honorary Hall of the Residence of the State Administration Council.
Mottama Holdings and Min Dhama Steel Structures have been sanctioned for the first time.
Bhone Min Myat Company Limited and Ever Meter Company Limited: The two companies sanctioned by Canada are used by the military conglomerate Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) to evade international sanctions, according to reporting by Myanmar Now. Bhone Min Myat was established after the military’s coup attempt, reportedly as a front for the MEHL subsidiary, Myawaddy Trading, and has been used to import fuel and palm oil. Ever Meter Company Limited, part of Same Sky Group of Companies, is an MEHL partner that it has used as a front for payments, according to the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar. Ever Meter has been a long-time supplier of electricity meters for MEHL.
Bhone Min Myat and Ever Meter have been sanctioned for the first time.
Pye Phyo Tay Za and Htoo Htet Tay Za: The two sons of Tay Za were sanctioned by the UK for their involvement in Htoo Group of Companies, which has multiple businesses with the Myanmar military and its conglomerates. Htoo Htet Tay Za was also sanctioned by Canada, which had previously sanctioned Pye Phyo Tay Za. Htoo Group’s business with the Myanmar military and the role of Pye Phyo Tay Za and Htoo Htet Tay Za have been detailed by Justice For Myanmar.
The two brothers were also previously sanctioned by the USA.
Myo Thitsar: A director of the Myanmar military arms broker, Dynasty International Company Limited, who has been sanctioned by the UK. Dynasty International is a major arms broker of the Myanmar military from Belarus in particular. Among other dirty deals, the company has imported spare parts for Mi-17 helicopters. The company is led by Aung Moe Myint, who is the Honorary Consul of Belarus to Myanmar. Dynasty International’s business with the Myanmar military has been exposed by Justice For Myanmar.
Dynasty International has a company in Singapore, Dynasty Excellency Pte Ltd, which remains registered.
Myo Thitsar was previously sanctioned by the USA and Canada..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-11-03
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
Stronger Enforcement Needed to Stem Funding of Abusive Military
Description:
"The United States government has imposed a ban on financial transactions involving the Myanmar state-owned oil company, the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), in a long overdue move aimed at stanching the junta’s atrocities.
MOGE’s natural gas projects generate over US$1 billion annually for the Myanmar junta, its single largest source of foreign revenue. Since the February 2021 coup, that flow of funding has underwritten crimes against humanity and war crimes carried out by the junta across the country.
Unlike other junta-controlled entities that the US has sanctioned since the coup, MOGE wasn’t added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, which blocks trade, assets, and access to the US banking system. Instead, the US Treasury Department issued a directive prohibiting persons and companies under the jurisdiction of the US from directly or indirectly providing financial services to MOGE, including deposits, transfers, loans, insurance, investments, foreign exchange, and other services. The ban goes into effect on December 15.
“Through the issuance of a financial services directive against MOGE, the United States seeks to disrupt the regime’s access to the US financial system and curtail its ability to perpetrate atrocities,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an October 31 statement.
This sanctions action belatedly follows the European Union’s sanctioning of MOGE in February 2022, which led the Bank of China to advise operators of the Shwe gas field in the Bay of Bengal that it would no longer handle payments in euros to MOGE, reportedly moving the funds to escrow accounts.
Chevron, MOGE’s only US partner, announced in February it was selling its 41.1 percent stake in the country’s Yadana gas project to the Canadian firm MTI Energy.
Lax enforcement of the existing sanctions regime has sustained the junta’s flow of weapons and funds, enabling its escalating brutality against Myanmar’s civilian population. Airstrikes in some regions have increased more than 300 percent in the past year.
The US also announced additional sanctions on five individuals and three entities involved in the junta’s abuses, in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom, a positive step. Broad coordination and rigorous enforcement of sanctions are crucial for raising economic costs that the junta can’t ignore..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-11-01
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"In a coordinated action yesterday, the United States, UK, and Canada each announced an array of new Myanmar sanctions. The sanctions include restrictions by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on transactions with the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), as well as designations on entities and individuals connected to Myanmar’s military junta.
Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “We welcome the adoption by the US Treasury Department of additional sanctions that restrict the Myanmar military's access to funds and equipment it uses to conduct a brutal war against its people. The MOGE Financial Services Directive is especially significant as it will hinder substantial flows of foreign exchange earnings from reaching the military's coffers. Coordinated sanctions on networks of arms dealers that enable the military's war effort are also a positive development. We call on the US to continue its efforts in coordination with like-minded partners to use financial tools of pressure to weaken the military and ensure that the Myanmar people prevail."
Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson, said: "The US Financial Services directive against MOGE is a welcome step to disrupt the single biggest source of foreign revenue to the junta. This comes after a sustained campaign from Myanmar people and allies for action against MOGE. The US should continue to target the junta’s sources of funds through full sanctions on MOGE that would freeze its assets and block all trade with it, including from the international oilfield service companies that are supporting the maintenance and expansion of gas fields which finance atrocities. Moreover, it is positive to see increased coordination between Canada, the UK and US targeting the junta, its cronies and arms brokers. As the junta continues to wage a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, it is crucial that governments ratchet up sanctions to block the junta’s access to funds, arms, and jet fuel.”
For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]
About Justice For Myanmar
Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel’s global network.
About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-11-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Oil and gas
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Description:
"News release
October 31, 2023 - Ottawa, Canada - Global Affairs Canada
The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced that Canada, in coordination with the United Kingdom and the United States, is imposing sanctions against 39 individuals and 22 entities under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations in response to the February 1, 2021, military coup d’état that saw Myanmar’s democratically elected government overthrown by a military regime.
These additional measures come as part of a broader strategy seeking to exert coordinated, sequenced and targeted pressure on the Myanmar military regime while mitigating adverse impacts on civilians. Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States unequivocally condemn the military coup d’état against the democratically elected government of Myanmar and support the aspirations of the Myanmar people to a peaceful, inclusive and democratic future.
Today’s announcement builds on previous sanctions and diplomatic efforts to end the sale and transfer of arms to the military regime. It comes in response to the regime’s ongoing and worsening aerial attacks, including against civilians and civilian infrastructure, as well as mass arson, the razing of villages, arbitrary detentions, executions, torture, mutilations, and mass killings of civilians, all of which have deepened the interlinked humanitarian, political and economic crises in Myanmar. The collective actions taken by Canada and its allies aim to maximize concerted pressure on the regime to reverse course and limit its access to key resources and revenue to fuel its violence. The sanctioned individuals and entities have been identified as performing key functions on behalf of the military regime, supplying weapons, resources and revenue, and those that are responsible for democratic reversals. Canada is also expanding its prohibition on the sale of aviation fuel to include a ban on the provision of shipping insurance for the transportation of aviation fuel to Myanmar.
Canada remains committed to ending impunity and to holding the Myanmar regime accountable for serious violations of international law, including against the Rohingya people.
Canada reiterates its support for the people of Myanmar and their aspirations to an inclusive and democratic society and continues to call for the immediate end of violence, the release of detainees and immediate and unrestricted humanitarian access to the region. Collectively, the international community must continue to employ all diplomatic tools at its disposal to address the worsening situation in Myanmar, as well as its regional implications..."
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Government of Canada
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2023-10-31
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"U.S. Takes Coordinated Action with Canada and the United Kingdom
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a new directive that prohibits certain financial services by U.S. persons to or for the benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). This sanctions action against MOGE seeks to degrade the regime’s ability to purchase weapons to carry out atrocities against the people of Burma. Additionally, OFAC designated three entities and five individuals connected to Burma’s military regime pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014. These actions are occurring in alignment with designations by both the United Kingdom and Canada.
Since the military coup in 2021, Burma’s military regime has repeatedly harmed civilians in air strikes, suppressed pro-democracy movements, destroyed homes and infrastructure, and displaced millions of people, among other appalling acts. The sanctions announced today target companies and individuals, including government officials and military cronies, who perpetuate or facilitate the brutal violence in Burma. The military regime officials and supporters that Treasury is designating today have also been, designated by at least the United Kingdom, Canada, or the European Union. These actions are a part of the ongoing, unified strategy of the United States and our partners to combat the Burma military regime’s atrocities.
“Today’s action, taken in coordination with Canada and the United Kingdom, maintains our collective pressure on Burma’s military and denies the regime access to arms and supplies necessary to commit its violent acts,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Collectively, we remain committed to degrading the regime’s evasion tactics and continuing to hold the regime accountable for its violence.”
FINANCIAL SERVICES DIRECTIVE
Today, OFAC is issuing Directive 1 under E.O. 14014, “Prohibitions Related to Financial Services to or for the Benefit of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise” (the “MOGE Financial Services Directive”), which prohibits U.S. persons from the provision, exportation, or re-exportation, directly or indirectly, of financial services to or for the benefit of MOGE or its property or interests in property. These prohibitions will take effect on December 15, 2023.
MOGE is a Burmese state-owned enterprise involved in the extraction, production, and distribution of oil and gas in Burma and administers large offshore oil and gas fields through lucrative joint ventures with foreign entities. MOGE was previously designated by the European Union on February 21, 2022, and remains the largest single source of foreign revenue for Burma’s military regime, providing hundreds of millions of dollars each year. OFAC’s action today builds on previous designation actions against MOGE leadership and seeks to further restrict the regime’s access to U.S. dollars, which it uses to procure weapons and other equipment from abroad. This action will limit the regime’s ability to carry out violent attacks against its own citizens.
For more information about the MOGE Financial Services Directive, click here.
SUPPORTERS OF BURMA’S MILITARY REGIME
Today’s action targets three entities who have assisted the military regime in its continued importation of arms, dual-use goods, and other materials, including from sanctioned entities in Russia and other countries. Since the coup, the total value of imports by the Burmese military is estimated to exceed $1 billion. These imports have facilitated the military regime’s ongoing brutality against on the people of Burma. OFAC’s actions today further align our measures with partners and allies to disrupt the regime’s military supply chain, complicate its ability to maintain and repair its weapons, and reduce the regime’s access to imported arms and materiel.
Sky Royal Hero Company Limited is a Burmese entity which contracted repair work from sanctioned Russian entities and has a known relationship with the Burmese defense procurement company, Sky Aviator Company Limited. Sky Aviator Company Limited was designated by OFAC on November 8, 2022 for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy.
Sky Royal Hero Company Limited is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy.
Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited are both part of Sit Taing Aung’s Suntac Group of Companies. Sit Taing Aung, who has close ties to the Burmese military, uses his companies to supply equipment and material to the army, and was designated by OFAC on March 25, 2022, for operating in the defense sector of the Burmese economy.
Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limitedare being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being owned or controlled by, or acting for or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Sit Taing Aung.
Sky Royal Hero Company Limited, Suntac Technologies Company Limited and Suntac International Trading Company Limited are also concurrently being designated by Canada today.
BURMA REGIME OFFICIALS
Following the February 2021 coup, the Burma military regime appointed new officials and officers throughout the government. In their roles, these individuals and others constitute part of the military regime that seized power and overthrew democratically elected leaders in Burma. Today’s action targets five such military regime appointed officials and officers.
Charlie Than was appointed as the Union Minister of the Ministry of Industry in May 2021. Kan Zaw has been the Union Minister of the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations since August 2022. Swe Swe Aung was appointed as the Director General of the Prosecution of Department, Ministry of Legal affairs on March 31, 2022. Zaw Min was appointed as the Director General of the Prison Department, Ministry of Home affairs on February 4, 2021. Under his leadership, detainees in Burma’s prisons have been subject to torture, beating, and other inhumane treatment. All four of these individuals were appointed directly by Min Aung Hlaing’s State Administration Council and have been sanctioned by the European Union.
Charlie Than, Kan Zaw, Swe Swe Aung, and Zaw Min are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021.
Additionally, Maung Maung Aye has been the Chief of General Staff for the Burmese Army, Navy, and Air Force since February 2021. In this role, he holds the third most senior position in the Burmese military. Maung Maung Aye is being sanctioned by Canada today and has been sanctioned by the European Union.
Maung Maung Aye is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a leader or official of the military or security forces of Burma, or successor entity to any of the foregoing.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s designations pursuant to E.O. 14014, all property and interests in property of the three entities and five individuals named above that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Separately, on or after December 15, U.S. persons are prohibited from providing, exporting, or reexporting, directly or indirectly, financial services to or for the benefit of MOGE or its property or interests in property.
Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior..."
Source/publisher:
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-31
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The UK, US and Canada have coordinated new sanctions on Myanmar military financiers and arms dealers.
Description:
"UK, US and Canada announce further round of sanctions to maximise pressure on the Myanmar military regime
sanctions target arms dealers responsible for the supply of restricted goods to the security forces, as well as financiers of the military
UK reiterates calls for accountability and a return to democracy and freedom in Myanmar
The UK, US and Canada are today (31 October) announcing further sanctions on arms dealers and financiers of the Myanmar military responsible for the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar. The latest round of UK sanctions are against 5 individuals and one entity involved either in providing financial services to the regime or the supply of restricted goods including aircraft parts.
Today’s sanctions package comes as part of the UK’s concerted efforts with international partners to restrict the sale and transfer of arms and finance in response to ongoing and worsening aerial attacks, including against civilians in Myanmar. In 2022, alone there were over 600 reported airstrikes perpetrated by the Myanmar military.
Since the coup in February 2021, at least 3,857 have been killed by the military, and at least 1.2 million have had to flee their homes due to violence, according to the United Nations Human Rights Office.
The announcement follows a report from UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, which called for further coordinated sanctions to prevent arms dealers bypassing restrictions.
Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said:
The UK unequivocally condemns the regime’s brutal campaign against the Myanmar people.
Together with our international partners, we are closing the net on Myanmar arms dealers and the Myanmar military’s financiers with new sanctions that will aim to limit their access to key resources and revenue to prevent further such attacks.
The UK will continue to call for accountability, justice and an end to the violence. We remain steadfast in our support for the Myanmar people and their aspirations for a peaceful and democratic future.
On 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and installed a military regime. Since then, they have used violence and atrocities to maintain power and suppress any opposition voices.
The UK, US and Canada have taken coordinated and targeted action to hold the military regime to account for their brutal suppression of opposition voices. The sanctions designations announced today will maximise concerted pressure on the Myanmar military regime to engage with calls for a return to democracy and aim to limit regime access to key resources while minimising consequences for the civilian population.
Since the coup, the UK has designated 25 individuals and 29 entities under the Myanmar Sanctions Regime and designated the military’s 2 key conglomerates and their 111 subsidiaries under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The UK continues to lead international efforts to undermine the regime’s credibility and constrain their access to revenue and arms.
Background
Those sanctioned today are:
Myo Thitsar: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods. Namely, through her role as having been Head of Department, Procurement & Supply of Dynasty International
Htoo Htet Tay Za: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology, and through making available funds or economic resources to the Myanmar security forces. Namely, through his role as having been a director of Htoo Group of Companies
Pye Phyo Tay Za: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology, and through making available funds or other economic resources to the Myanmar security forces. Namely, through his role in Myanmar Avia Services, Yangon Aircraft Engineering Company Limited and Htoo Group of Companies
Kyaw Min Oo: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology. Namely, through his role as director of Sky Aviator Company Limited
Sit Taing Aung: has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through the supply to Myanmar of restricted goods and/or restricted technology, and/or of material related to such goods or technology. Namely, through his role as having been director of Yatanarpon Aviation Services and work with Mottama Holdings
International Group of Entrepreneur Services Company Limited (IGE): has been involved in the repression of the civilian population in Myanmar through making available funds or other economic resources to the Myanmar security forces
Asset freeze
An asset freeze prevents any UK citizen, or any business in the UK, from dealing with any funds or economic resources which are owned, held or controlled by the designated person. It also prevents funds or economic resources being provided to or for the benefit of the designated person. UK financial sanctions apply to all persons within the territory and territorial sea of the UK and to all UK persons, wherever they are in the world.
Travel ban
A travel ban means that the designated person must be refused leave to enter or to remain in the United Kingdom, providing the individual is an excluded person under section 8B of the Immigration Act 1971..."
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Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-31
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"Dear Government of Singapore,
The signatories of people of Myanmar[1], signed by over 27,700 (included from ground 1,314) individuals and endorsed by (430) local and international organizations from across the world, are writing to the government of Singapore.
The brutal and illegal Myanmar military junta has been relying on Singapore for funds and the supply of arms, equipment, technology, and jet fuel, enabling its ongoing attacks against the people.
Since February 1, 2021, the junta has been waging a campaign of terror with indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, murder, torture, arbitrary detention, rape and the destruction of homes and food supplies.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar recently revealed[2] that Singapore is the third biggest supplier of arms and equipment[3] to the Myanmar military since its coup attempt, in a trade valued at $254 million from at least 138 Singaporean companies.
Singapore also remains a major business center for the military’s cronies. Some, like Tay Za[4] and Naing Htut Aung[5], enjoy lavish lifestyles in the city state while profiting from the destruction of Myanmar lives.
Despite UK and US sanctions, Shoon Group of Companies are continuing to operate in Singapore, supplying the junta with jet fuel[6] that it needs to wage aerial warfare against the people.
It is clear that from Singapore, businesses are transacting with the Myanmar military and conglomerates, enriching war criminals and supporting their international crimes[7]. But this can and must be stopped.
Singapore has committed to investigate companies supplying arms and dual use goods, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) has recently imposed restrictions[8] on transactions involving Myanmar. Singapore needs to now do more to help stop the junta’s campaign of terror.
We call on Singapore to:
1) Introduce sanctions to stop the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods, technology, jet fuel, and related transactions, to the Myanmar military,
2) Utilise money laundering provisions and impose sanctions to ensure the illegal junta cannot access the Singapore financial system, including the USD 4.6 billion of funds that belong to the Government of Myanmar,
3) Expedite and make public ongoing investigations into Singaporean companies that have supplied arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military.
#DoMoreSingapore
Respectfully,
Signed by the people of Myanmar, (430 orgs) local and international organizations, including (10) local organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names because the junta continues violence in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
430 local and international organizations via Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-29
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Oil and gas, Human Rights and international relations
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With sanctions on the rise, Myanmar’s military is increasingly under pressure and is turning to its few partners for additional support
Description:
"Myanmar’s military may finally be starting to feel the strain of international sanctions, with foreign banks freezing the accounts of Myanmar’s state-owned banks, limiting the junta’s ability to access critical foreign currency reserves. More than two and a half years on from the 2021 coup, the junta continues to rely on the political, military, and diplomatic support of authoritarian partners in Beijing and Moscow who have remained loyal to the generals despite ongoing international outcry and recent gains by Myanmar’s resistance. However, their patronage may not be sufficient for the generals to hold onto power as momentum on the battlefield shifts and overseas banks restrict the regime’s access to critical funds.
Sanctions Start to Bite
At a press conference in late August, the Myanmar military junta’s deputy finance minister Maung Maung Win blamed recent financial instability on U.S. sanctions, which he said were “hurting our government’s programs such as education, health, and infrastructure building…importers and exporters, any person or organizations using foreign banking services.”
The sanctions, announced by the U.S. in June, targeted Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB), state-owned entities which essentially “function as foreign currency exchanges” for the military junta, allowing it to import arms and other military equipment. Analysts say that the sanctions are aimed at blocking the junta’s ability to conduct purchases in foreign currencies as well as receive incoming foreign currency transactions.
Two recent developments signal that the sanctions are beginning to have their desired effect of constraining the junta’s ability to generate and use cash. Firstly, Myanmar military-linked cronies are blatantly creating new entities to get around existing sanctions. A recently leaked letter from Myanmar’s energy ministry instructed the Central Bank of Myanmar to open new accounts to handle foreign currencies in place of Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is under European sanctions and whose top leaders are sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department. On August 10, Shwe Byain Phyu Oil and Gas Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Shwe Byain Phyu (SBP) conglomerate and a top supplier of fuel to Myanmar’s military, dissolved, presumably to evade sanctions. Its owner Thein Win Zaw holds shares in a number of companies already impacted by targeted sanctions imposed by the European Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
Secondly, foreign banks have begun to cut Myanmar state-owned banks’ access, depriving the junta of much-needed foreign currency reserves. In early August, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) notified Myanmar banks that it would limit their access to funds and would only allow transactions between UOB accounts. The following week, a state-owned bank in Bangladesh announced it was freezing MFTB and MICB accounts comprising more than US $1 billion in assets. These moves have triggered further financial instability in Myanmar as the kyat continues to depreciate, with the Central Bank of Myanmar trading it well below the market value. Restricting the generals’ ability to use reserves in foreign bank accounts to acquire weapons will hurt their capacity to wage endless war and could give resistance forces the upper hand.
The Junta’s Strategy
The junta, or State Administration Council (SAC), has failed to restore investor confidence, and has been unable to quell resistance to its rule. It is now spread thin on the battlefield, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the junta is heavily reliant on aging Russian fighter jets to sustain its asymmetric advantage over resistance forces to mask its lack of control over territory on the ground.
Recent moves by Singapore and Bangladesh to cut the junta’s access to reserves may test its ability to outlast the nationwide grassroots uprising which seeks to oust the generals once and for all. Forced onto the defensive, the junta now relies on a limited network of supporters, most notably China, Russia, and India (as well as several authoritarian Southeast Asian states such as Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam), to prevent international consensus from forming which could threaten its hold on power.
This overarching strategy, born of a pragmatic acceptance of isolation, was captured in Deputy Senior General Soe Win’s response to a warning from UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener the month after the coup: “We have to learn to walk with only a few friends.”
The sit-tat, as Myanmar’s military is known, likes to signal its cool-headed preparedness and project its confidence to weather international condemnation and relative isolation. This strategy helps sustain the pretense in international diplomatic circles that the military will win in the long run and foreign governments will have to re-engage eventually. It simultaneously erodes resistance morale and undercuts the likelihood of further defections.
However, the regime’s confidence is in part based on a bluff which downplays the reality of its vulnerability. Concerted efforts by the international community to deprive the junta of access to financial assets have alarmed the military and underscore the extent to which it depends on a few authoritarian friends to avert regime collapse.
China’s Central Role in the Conflict
Beijing appears to have come around to fully backing Myanmar’s armed forces in the civil war, unable to envision a future scenario without them. China continues to provide the junta with the arms it requires to prolong the war. Despite a non-binding UN Resolution prohibiting the flow of weapons to the Myanmar military, a recent UN report found that Beijing in fact sold US $267 million worth of military equipment to Myanmar’s armed forces in 2022–2023.
China remains the country’s largest trading partner and second largest source of foreign investment after Singapore. Bilateral trade exceeded US $2 billion between April 2022 and January 2023. More than half of China’s investments in Myanmar are in the power sector, while it also has major interests in oil and gas (18 percent of China’s overall investment in Myanmar) as well as the mining sector (17 percent).
Beijing’s political support is also essential to deflect pressure at the United Nations. While China abstained from a UN resolution in December 2022 that expressed “deep concern” with the situation in Myanmar and called for an “immediate end to” violence, Chinese diplomats have stepped up public engagement with the junta since the end of last year.
Beginning with special envoy Deng Xijun’s meeting with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw in December 2022, there have been monthly high-level meetings between the two sides. Deng also hosted a delegation of ethnic armed groups in Yunnan in December. Beijing has applied pressure on several armed groups with whom it has influence not to support the National Unity Government (NUG), thus prolonging the junta’s ability to wage war on armed groups in other parts of the country. In May 2023, then Foreign Minister Qin Gang met Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, becoming the most senior Chinese official to meet the junta leader since the coup. During the visit, the two sides pledged to “further promote comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.”
How Russia Helps the Junta to Hedge Against China
As part of its strategy of pragmatic isolation, Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has also relied on Russia as an important partner. In particular, the junta leader looks to Moscow as a trusted friend and important source of leverage to offset overreliance on Beijing. Deepening the Russia-Myanmar partnership is part of Min Aung Hlaing’s hedging policy to avoid falling too much into China’s orbit. The Myanmar military has traditionally feared and distrusted China’s intentions dating back to many of the senior generals’ experience as young combatants fighting against ethnic armed groups with ties to the Communist Party of Burma in the country’s north who had Beijing’s support during the Cold War.
Therefore, Min Aung Hlaing has gone to great personal lengths to cultivate the relationship with Moscow, visiting nine times since becoming commander-in-chief in 2011. He has met Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu roughly half a dozen times, and in September 2022, Min Aung Hlaing met with Putin for the first time at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. During a visit by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Naypyidaw in February 2023, the two sides signed an agreement on nuclear energy cooperation involving Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM.
Russia has also been a major source of defense technology for Myanmar, providing more arms than China from 2018–2022 (42 percent of total imports compared to 29 percent from China). According to the UN report mentioned above, Russia sold US $406 million worth of military equipment to the Myanmar military in 2022–2023.
Other players: Thailand and India
Unlike Russia and China, whose direct military assistance sustains the junta’s grip on power, Thailand and India play more indirect roles in propping up the SAC. Bangkok’s recent Track 1.5 diplomacy has threatened to overtake Indonesia’s “quiet diplomacy” via ASEAN. In March, Thailand hosted talks with the junta and several autocratic regional partners, including Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, as well as China, India, Bangladesh, and Japan. The following month, India hosted a second Track 1.5 dialogue that included Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and China.
Thailand and India’s rogue initiatives threaten to derail progress under Indonesia’s chairmanship of ASEAN by normalizing SAC participation in international diplomacy. Jakarta has been holding regular closed-door talks with all stakeholders (including representatives of the junta as well as the NUG) in hopes of bringing about inclusive diplomatic negotiations between the military and ousted civilian leaders.
India has also maintained high-level engagement with the Myanmar military since the coup and continues to cooperate in joint counterinsurgency operations along its shared border. Furthermore, the two sides recently heralded the opening of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project, a decades-long shipping route to increase commerce between the two neighboring countries. Beyond shared border concerns and interest in eradicating ethnic armed insurgents, Indian policymakers also fear that Myanmar is gravitating deeper into China’s orbit. Therefore, New Delhi has refrained from condemning the military’s brutal crackdown on civilians, instead limiting itself to expressions of concern about the spiraling conflict. Given close security cooperation and senior-level military engagement, India offers the SAC another pole in its hedging strategy vis-à-vis China.
However, there are important developments in Myanmar’s regional environs. Recent elections in Thailand and Cambodia have significant implications for the junta’s foreign relations. While carefully managed elections in both authoritarian countries are unlikely to bring about significant change to either’s foreign policy, the junta will no doubt be anxious to shore up its standing with new leaders in both Bangkok and Phnom Penh lest they adopt a new approach to Myanmar’s conflict.
In Thailand, the recent brokered election of Pheu Thai candidate Srettha Thavisin as Prime Minister could introduce modest change to Thai foreign policy, though the Thai military still retains control through the 2017 constitution. The outcome represented a compromise between the military-dominated senate and a coalition of opposition parties, including Pheu Thai and the Move Forward Party, the latter of which won the majority of the vote but whose candidate for Prime Minister, Pita Limjaroenrat, was prevented from forming a government. Therefore, Srettha’s leadership is unlikely to radically alter Thailand’s generally supportive relations with the Myanmar military junta.
Nevertheless, Bangkok’s delicate balancing act as a U.S. ally and friend of the junta suggest that the SAC will want to retain channels of communication with the new government to avoid becoming a pawn in larger powers’ diplomatic games. The junta relies on lucrative cashflows from Thailand’s gas imports (US $2.4 billion in 2022, roughly 20 percent of Myanmar’s exports), giving Bangkok—and U.S. sanctions—inordinate leverage over the military regime’s economic survival.
Cambodia’s August elections, which paved the way for Hun Sen to transfer political power to his son Hun Manet, also added to the mix of uncertainty within ASEAN. The 45-year-old leader is a relatively unknown entity for the region and external powers. While he was recently invited to meet top leaders in Tokyo, there are few clues as to whether his leadership might bring about real change in Phnom Penh’s foreign policy. As he received his education in the United States at West Point and New York University and holds a PhD in economics from Bristol University in the United Kingdom, there are some hopes that the young Hun may be more progressive than his authoritarian father and even introduce a diplomatic realignment away from Beijing’s orbit.
Looking Ahead
Regardless of how these regional chess pieces move on the board, the junta has made clear it will not be deterred by international condemnation and that its foreign policy remains an afterthought to its core mission: regime survival. Therefore, internal battlefield dynamics are the most likely variables to determine the senior generals’ calculations of whether and when to seek off-ramps. The regime is prepared to weather international isolation. Yet as long as the international community remains divided, the junta’s few close friends ensure it is not totally alone.
Cutting off the junta’s economic lifelines and its ability to access reserves held in overseas banks will be vital to restricting its ability to wage endless war against the people of Myanmar. There are finally indications that the military may be beginning to feel the pinch of targeted sanctions making life more difficult, but there is still a long way to go in terms of bringing the junta down or forcing it to negotiate with the resistance. For now, the NUG and People’s Defense Forces are settling into a protracted, years-long conflict to wipe out the military once and for all. If that eventuality materializes, the junta’s external patrons—namely China, Russia, and India—might come to regret their no-strings-attached support for the ruthless dictatorship..."
Source/publisher:
Stimson Center
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-11
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"On October 11, 2023, on the sidelines of Russian Energy Week, the State Atomic Energy Corporation “Rosatom” and the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of nuclear infrastructure assessment and enhancement.
The document was signed by Alexey Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, and Dr. Myo Thein Kyaw, Union Minister for Science and Technology of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
The parties plan to determine the current needs for the development of the nuclear infrastructure of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and draw up a work plan for priority areas important for implementation of the small nuclear power plant construction project in the country. The document determines that the development of nuclear infrastructure will be carried out in accordance with the IAEA approaches and recommendations as well as Rosatom’s best practices.
The memorandum also provides for building up further Russian-Myanmar cooperation in the field of training and human resources development, enhancement of safety culture in the organizations, participating in the nuclear energy development program of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Communications Department of ROSATOM
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-11
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Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"A Myanmar regime military court has handed life imprisonment terms to the junta’s former trade chief, ex-Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun, and his assistant, ex-Brigadier General Yan Naung Soe, for corruption, according to junta media. The life imprisonment terms are equivalent to 20 years behind bars.
The two were also removed from their military positions.
The court martial verdicts follow the regime’s investigations into the activities of the duo, other high-ranking officials and hundreds of businesspeople last month.
Moe Myint Tun, who has also been purged from the junta’s top administrative body, the State Administration Council, abused his position for personal benefit in violation of economic policies, and committed high treason by going against the roadmap and objectives of the regime, junta media said Tuesday, adding that he took bribes from companies and illegally held foreign currencies. He was the chairman of the Myanmar Investment Commission, the Foreign Exchange Supervisory Committee, and the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods.
The regime announcement said he was found guilty of failing to take action against persons who raised the price of palm oil rather than selling it at the reference price set by the government. The Central Bank of Myanmar sold US dollars in order to import palm oil to be sold at the reference price, it said.
“Moreover he … [took] bribes from companies, applying his rank and authority, illegally keeping foreign exchange currencies in hand, and participating in civilian businesses by breaking directives related to military discipline,” the statement reads.
Prior to the investigation, The Irrawaddy reported that Moe Myint Tun had squirreled away millions of US dollars in bribes from businessmen over the past two years. Some of the businessmen told The Irrawaddy they had to pay him at least US$20,000 or the equivalent in gold and gifts—Louis XIII cognac, with a list price of more than $4,000 for a 750ml bottle, was highly preferred—just to meet him.
Yan Naung Soe, joint secretary of the Central Committee for Ensuring Smooth Flow of Trade and Goods, personally benefited from violating the economic policies of the state and committed betrayal of the state and treason together with Moe Myint Tun, the regime said.
“He also exchanged foreign currency for Myanmar kyats for businesspersons by applying his rank and authority, accepted foreign currency and Myanmar kyats from businesspersons, created connections between businesspersons with ex-Lt-Gen Moe Myint Tun, illegally kept foreign currencies in hand, and participated in civilian businesses in violation of directives related to the military discipline,” the regime said.
The corruption scandal involving Moe Myint Tun and Yan Naung Soe embarrassed regime chief Min Aung Hlaing. He issued a warning late last month that senior military officers and ministers caught abusing their power for personal benefit would face heavy penalties in addition to dismissal.
However, despite Min Aung Hlaing’s highly publicized anti-graft campaign against his subordinates, it is common knowledge that he leads the regime in terms of corruption and that his son Aung Pyae Sone and daughter Khin Thiri Thet Mon have abused their father’s power to amass great wealth..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-10-11
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Title: ‘It’s a Catastrophe’: Ex-Junta Prisoner, NLD Aide Sean Turnell on Myanmar’s Post-Coup Economy
Description:
"Australian economist Sean Turnell served as a policy adviser to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government during its first term. He was detained by the military shortly after the February 2021 coup and later imprisoned on charges—widely dismissed as trumped up—of violating state secrets and immigration laws. After nearly two years behind bars he was released in November 2022 as part of a general amnesty and has continued to speak out against the military junta from his home country, prompting the regime to revoke its pardon. In the following interview with The Irrawaddy’s Justin Higginbottom, Turnell discusses in detail the economic fallout of the military’s disastrous ‘mismanagement’ of the economy—and whether or not that is in fact the correct term to describe its actions—the post-COVID economic recovery plans the NLD was preparing to implement in its stolen second term, as well as the regime’s access to foreign reserves and what actions foreign governments can take to limit it. He also discusses his forthcoming book describing his experiences as a political prisoner in Myanmar.
THE IRRAWADDY: Can you talk about the general economic situation in Myanmar? What’s going on since the coup? What’s the general situation? Where do they find themselves right now?
TURNELL: I mean it’s just awful.… “Catastrophe” is the word that I generally like to employ. And I don’t think that’s even hyperbole. No matter what you look at, it’s negative essentially. I mean if you begin with growth, economic growth in Myanmar took a bit of a knock with COVID, so we’d been expecting for 2020 a growth rate of about 7 percent, and similar for 2021, but then COVID arrived and growth went down to about 1.8 percent for [2020], and no one was clear about 2021. And it went [to] negative 18 percent [-18 percent] in 2021 [and has] recovered a bit since, but.. If you’d said, OK, where can you reasonably apply the trend line? So in other words you get the knock from COVID but then good policy sort of gets you back on track—which is exactly what’s happened all around the world and all around the region—so it’s not an unreasonable expectation [that] we’d have been back to those sort of growth levels – 6, 7, 8 percent—hopefully, because there actually had been a very aggressive reform program to come into place with that second term of the government; you know, many of the things that weren’t done in the first term were geared up and ready to go in the second term.
So, anyway, just to say that growth rates of 6, 7 percent—we’d have been disappointed if we weren’t hitting those. But irrespective of that, even on the worst assumption of where we’d be at, the economy is now 30 percent below any sort of modest trend; the economy’s about 30 percent down. It’s about 20-odd percent down anyway, but by trend it’s nearly a third. Which is just catastrophic for a country like Myanmar, that is poor to begin with, one of the poorest countries in the world, and people are now one-third poorer than where they should have been. There’s no fat in the system; people are desperately poor now, and they can’t take a knock of one third of their income.
But anyway that’s just growth numbers. No matter what the metric is: the budget deficit is now dramatically blown out. Taxation revenue has now shrunk dramatically along with it. The bond sales are not really proceeding as they could be. The banks are not really in a position to take up the bonds on offer; so all of that means the government is just printing money hand over fist. As a consequence of that we’ve got monetary instability, whether it be measured in terms of high inflation rates, particularly relative to peers in Southeast Asia. [And] a collapsing exchange rate, so the exchange rate is less than half of what it was before the coup. The trade situation’s dire: There’s a bit of holding up in terms of gas revenues, because hydrocarbon prices were quite high, but other than that even other energy prices and income are down; agriculture is down. There’s been a bit of a recovery from the really deep lows immediately after the coup in terms of textiles, but overall the trade situation is terrible. Debt levels have more than doubled. Unemployment, to the extent that it’s measured properly, a lot of the measures are not really there anyway, but we do know that there’s been a wholesale shift from the formal economy to the informal economy—and you don’t get a growing, transforming economy out of one that is based in informality. Informality is really just a coping mechanism and that is where most people are.
On top of that, just the opportunities lost. Back in 2020, young educated Myanmar people had real prospects and had choices about where to get employment, and now people are scattered to the winds outside the country, within the country. People with expensive degrees that they thought would yield them a good income in a growing economy are now on the front lines or in prison. It’s just a catastrophe. I get depressed over so many things in Myanmar; obviously the loss of life and the violence above all, but if you look at the economy, compared to the hopes that people reasonably had for it, it just makes you want to cry.
THE IRRAWADDY: So how much can we chalk this economic ruin up to mismanagement by the junta, or is a lot of it caused by sanctions, or just the general conflict, just the country being in a state of war right now?
TURNELL: I’m probably a little bit biased in this obviously, but to me it comes from… In fact [it’s an] interesting word “economic mismanagement”. I wonder if that is the expression? It’s an expression I’ve used, I hasten to add… The more I think about it, it isn’t really economic mismanagement because in terms of policy—and that’s where a lot of the damage is being done—there is the damage of course being done by violence and so on as well, of course, perpetrated by the regime and instigated by them—but I’m just wondering about that term “mismanagement”, because in some ways what they’re doing is gearing the economy to a war economy and neglecting or abusing everything else, so to some extent it’s management for a purpose. It’s just that that purpose is greatly destructive. But in some ways, if you think about it, what they’ve essentially done is created a war economy, [so] the management that has yielded terrible economic outcomes is in once sense quite deliberate in terms of transferring resources into the military state.
But anyway, it’s only “mismanagement” from an economist’s perspective, and what you’d think would be the objective of any sort of sovereign government. I think we’d have to locate it there, but I think it’s mainly because if we just go to the counterexamples around the world—you don’t have to go to the developed world or rich or even fast-growing economies. You just go to the region and you see the bounce-back [from COVID], and Myanmar is such an extraordinary outlier in terms of economies that just haven’t bounced back, so I think the blame for it is really there. COVID had damaged things but there were some very comprehensive plans to deal with that. Nothing too radical—it was more just the [same] playbook of just about anywhere else, about protecting incomes. And all of that was dismantled after the coup and of course the response to COVID itself was greatly mismanaged and the rest, and repression of medical workers, etc., so even though clearly there were external events, if we look at comparable countries around Myanmar you’d really have to slate most of the economic damage home to the regime and, again, it’s mismanagement, is the word we use for it.
THE IRRAWADDY: We had a story recently that reported that the regime-controlled Central Bank of Myanmar had about US$6.8 billion in foreign reserves as of March 2023. More than half of that’s in Singaporean banks. Do you know how much of that is actually accessible to the regime? If the international community wanted to block access to those reserves what might they want to do?
TURNELL: It’s an interesting one. In terms of “accessible”, it’s hard not to get technical here, because reserves by definition are financial assets that are either issued by other countries like US dollars, euros, Singapore dollars, Australian dollars or whatever, or commodities of some form—valuable commodities such as gold—so in a sense they’re accessible to the point that they still have value. By which I mean, if you have US dollars in a US bank account, those dollars only have value if you can access them at the US bank. So in some ways the question of accessibility is really the critical issue when we think of a country having assets because if they’re not accessible those assets in a sense don’t exist. That’s the first thing to say. That is nothing unusual in a way… It’s not like the regime could access them and bring them home. It could if it was gold. You could just store it at the central bank. But the only way for foreign currency-denominated assets to have value is to have them in foreign currency accounts and usually it’s the case that they’re going to be in foreign banks, so the question of accessibility is caught up with the value of those reserves. It’s a big thing to constrain access to foreign assets of governments. This is why you’ll notice that even with the suspension of access to funds at the [US] Federal Reserve, that that [suspension] is what we’re talking about, rather than the transfer of those assets to anywhere else. This gets into areas of untouchablity or…. a lack of precedent, I would say, for that. So measures to transfer those reserves to anyone else become quite problematic.
Which doesn’t mean you still can’t do things. For instance, the NUG [Myanmar’s shadow, civilian National Unity Government] could come up with some quite creative measures to use the value of reserves in ways that they could … essentially financially engineer other financial assets out of reserves that are not accessible to the regime. I know that’s getting complex because we’re getting into the area of financial engineering and the extent to which [denying the regime] access to reserves—does that create value for anyone else, like an alternative government such as the NUG? And there I think you get into some interesting gray areas. But denial of access is one thing and transferring those assets somewhere else is a different thing, so it’s hard to imagine other countries doing that, apart from the US. The US would be the only one to move in that sort of direction and obviously they have to a certain extent in terms of blocking the regime’s access to the funds at the Federal Reserve, but the others, it’s hard to imagine blocking that.
THE IRRAWADDY: So it’s not realistic to think that Singapore might just one day say, “All those assets you have with us – those aren’t accessible. You can’t take those out.”?
TURNELL: It would be a big leap. Where I was going before with this whole issue of access, this is where this becomes important as well, you would probably have degrees of freedom of movement. So for instance, it’s hard to imagine a country actually blocking another country accessing its reserves. On the other hand, if a country decided that it was going to transfer all of its reserves, it’s hard to imagine that being an easy process either. And in the case of Myanmar, a process that wouldn’t involve extraordinary complications. So the degree to which those reserves are fully accessible to the regime would have to be questionable I think.
THE IRRAWADDY: You’re writing a book about your experience in prison, I believe? Did you want to say anything about that?
TURNELL: Sure. We’ll probably go on a big publicity thing in a few weeks. It’s finished. Just a few technical things with the publisher, which is Penguin. It starts with my arrest back on Feb. 6, 2021. I’ve got a couple of chapters that deal with what we were trying to do in Myanmar, just a broad outline of the reform process, things like that. But for the most part it’s all about the prison experience—arrest, Insein [Prison in Yangon], up to Naypyitaw, the trial, the incredible support I got from my fellow political prisoners and then from the Burmese people more broadly. It doesn’t hold back from detailing the horrors all around me but it’s still a little bit of a “love letter” to the Burmese people, because even though there were these terrible people who were keeping me in the prison, it was the case that 99 percent of the people I dealt with even in the prisons and so on were incredibly compassionate, and incredibly courageous in demonstrating that compassion. I’m very, very blunt in saying how awful the prison was and saying how absurd the trial was and what a terrible injustice was meted out not just to me but more importantly to my Burmese colleagues and people who weren’t even connected with my case, but whose cases I got to know about. I met people who were being tortured and so on, and ill-treated. They even ill-treated me—you know, one would have surely thought that I would have told the story once I got out and of course I did so, which caused the SAC regime [the State Administration Council, as the junta calls itself] to get extremely upset anew. So I think they’re going to get upset again in a few weeks when the book’s out.
(Turnell concluded the interview by offering to add to his earlier reply to the question regarding the junta’s access to foreign reserves.)
If you hold US dollars in a bank, obviously they’re not physical, all they are is on the balance sheet of a bank, and they’re just a promise from the bank to pay US dollars. So you open an account, let’s say it’s 1 billion US dollars, and that account is really just a liability of that bank to pay you. So you give them a billion dollars and they then open up a liability, which is just a deposit account, which says that they will repay that billion at some point in time. But it’s only an asset that sits on the balance sheet of that bank. I guess what I was trying to get at is that access to reserves depends on that relationship between you and the financial institution. Again, it’s so different to gold, etc. It’s not a physical commodity that can just be moved about. It depends on the decision [of the bank] and so if a bank grants access then those assets have value. If that access is in any way compromised, those assets no longer have value, and I think that was the nuance I was trying to get at with respect to even places like Singapore—that the extent to which there’s any doubt of you being able to access quickly and in full your reserves puts a shadow over those reserves, even if there’s no sanctions and so on.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-09-11
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"As world leaders gather for the G20 summit in New Delhi this weekend, Burma Campaign UK is calling on G20 members to put pressure on Prime Minister Modi over India arming, financing, and providing diplomatic support for the Myanmar/Burmese military.
A report earlier this year by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar revealed that India-based entities have supplied $51 million worth of arms and related materials to the military since February 2021.
Indian companies have entered into business relationships with the military or are working for the Burmese military, helping to finance the military and providing it with technology enabling it to arrest human rights and democracy activists.
Diplomatically, India has been working regionally to undermine ASEAN’s five-point consensus and assist the military in gaining the international legitimacy it craves, while also attempting to protect the military at a global level, including at the UN Security Council, negotiating to weaken a resolution on Burma and then refusing to vote in favour of it.
The Burmese military were already facing charges of genocide and crimes against humanity even before their attempted coup began in 2021, and India continued to arm them despite this. Since the coup, United Nations investigators have said the military is committing an increasing number of human rights violations which could be classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Numerous Burmese civil society organisations have documented daily atrocities by the Burmese military.
More than 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes, thousands killed and almost 25,000 arrested. Airstrikes and long-range artillery are used to target schools, hospitals, homes and religious buildings.
India has been mistreating refugees from Burma, refusing to give them legal sanctuary and arresting, beating and detaining refugees, and threatening them with deportation.
“We have seen a succession of world leaders visiting India and failing to challenge Modi on his support for the Burmese military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The G20 is an opportunity for world leaders to come together and collectively pressure Modi to stop arming the Burmese military. Modi must not be allowed to use the summit to promote himself while at the same time arming a military which bombs schools and hospitals.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-09-04
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Sub-title:
Junta leaders are blaming saboteurs and speculators for inflation and devaluation caused by their mismanagement.
Description:
"Amid the news of escalating violence, it’s easy to lose sight of two events in August 2023 that exposed the Myanmar military regime’s vulnerability.
First, in a video message to the Moscow International Security Conference, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing complained about the weaponization of the dollar.
Second, the August appointment of Lt Gen Nyo Saw to two special commissions on trade and foreign exchange that report directly to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing. Saw is a close confidant, but as the chairman of military-owned conglomerate Myanma Economic Corporation (MEC) and a director of military’s other holding company, Myanma Economic Holdings Ltd (MEHL), he’s also the military’s most experienced economic and business expert.
It’s hard to overstate just how bad Myanmar’s economy is. Although the World Bank predicts GDP to grow at 2 to 3% this year, the economy has contracted by 12% since January 2021. A decade’s worth of economic growth was eviscerated.
Nearly 60% of the population is now living beneath the poverty line, and the World Bank is warning about food insecurity across the country. Between war, climate change, and currency controls that limited the amount of the imports of fertilizer and pesticides, agricultural production is down.
Although 2022-23 saw $1.6 billion in pledged foreign investment – almost all of which was from China or boomerang Myanmar investment via Singapore and Hong Kong – far less was actually realized. Other foreign investors are pulling out, citing poor market conditions, pressure from activists, and reputational costs. This has diminished the corporate tax base.
With the exception of gas and oil sales to Thailand and China, exports have been hard hit. According to the military government’s Ministry of Commerce, in the first eight months of 2022, total exports reached $6.57 billion, giving the country a $172 million trade surplus.
In the same period in 2023, total exports dropped by 9.8% to $5.93 billion, with a $500 million trade deficit. But if one disaggregates border trade, it’s even worse.
Currency control confusion
Exports to overseas markets fell by 21%. And it will worsen as key manufacturers, such as clothing makers H&M, Primark, and Inditex,- have left. Some retailers are now shunning Myanmar gemstones.
Trade has been hard hit by a series of hastily implemented currency controls that change regularly, upsetting businesses. Some of the more recent currency controls have forced any individual or business with more than $10,000, without a permit, to purchase the kyat currency at the official exchange rate of 2,100 to the U.S. dollar.
The black market rate for the greenback is 3,900 kyat , a 300% decline in the value of the currency since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup.
Myanmar’s banks are increasingly isolated. U.S. sanctions on Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which were responsible for the clearing of most U.S. dollar transactions, have forced costly workarounds, such as establishing new shell companies and bank accounts.
Singapore’s United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) announced that they would close the accounts of Myanmar, and had already stopped providing banking services for Myanmar Airways International. Other Singapore banks are expected to follow suit, following signaling from the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the additional reporting requirements due to the Financial Action Task Force blacklist. A Bangladesh bank froze the accounts of the two sanctioned banks.
Government revenue is flat or declining. While officially a secret, projections built into the annual Union Taxation Law paint a grim picture. The Internal Revenue Department has warned that revenue from lotteries, income tax, corporate taxes, natural resource rents, and customs duties have all stayed flat or contracted since the coup; only rents from oil and gas exports have gone up. Tax authorities are now specifically hitting medical professionals with preemptive taxes.
According to data compiled by the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), the Central Bank of Myanmar has compelled banks, state-owned enterprises and insurance companies to buy an estimated 26.5 trillion kyat in bonds, $3.1 billion at the black market rate, since the coup. With an inability to repay, and an NUG pledge that the bonds will not be honored, these are additional liabilities for banks that are already saddled with non-performing loans.
The regime is broke and may have turned on the printing presses. The NUG estimates that the military government has printed up to 20 trillion kyat, roughly $5.1 billion at black market rates, since the coup, partially explaining the high inflation.
Sanctions take a bite
In July 2023, the junta issued a K20,000 note, the highest denomination, creating an inflationary spike and a further decline in the currency’s value. It’s supposed to be a limited issue currency, but with 14% inflation, a higher denominated note may be required.
While international sanctions have not resulted in a massive seizure of funds, they’ve not been insignificant either. The U.S.immediately froze $1.1 billion of Central Bank of Myanmar assets following the coup. The European Union froze $503 million when it sanctioned the Ministry of Oil and Gas Enterprise. More importantly, the sanctions have made everything harder for the junta.
The NUG has identified 13 other banks around the world that are holding some $5.5 billion in Central Bank of Myanmar assets, 67% of which are in nine banks in Singapore. Should the NUG ever convince the Singapore government to freeze those assets, it would deliver the coup de grâce.
This degree of economic mismanagement is a crime in itself, right up there with the military’s daily war crimes. The economy is the regime’s Achilles heel and they don’t have the competence to fix it. Their penchant for control has brought banking to a standstill.
An August meeting of the central bank and other top ministries tapped an intelligence agency to lead an investigation into the high rates of inflation and depreciating kyat. Meanwhile, the regime has revoked the licenses of 30 foreign exchange traders.
This says so much about the junta’s way of thinking. They are oblivious to the fact that it’s their mismanagement that has caused both depreciation and inflation, yet the benighted and paranoid military is convinced that it’s the work of saboteurs and speculators.
All the while, the generals are doing everything they can to enrich themselves and move assets overseas, before it all comes crumbling down..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-09-02
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Description:
"Justice For Myanmar spoofs Forbes 30 Under 30 to profile tycoons funnelling funds, arms and related equipment from Singapore to illegitimate junta
Justice For Myanmar today launched a new effort to draw attention to tycoons supporting the illegal Myanmar military junta. The inaugural Dirty Over 30 list features nine tycoons who continue to funnel funds, arms and related equipment to the junta through the “business-friendly” haven of Singapore, which is currently the third-largest supplier of arms and equipment to the Myanmar military. Future editions will feature tycoons in other regions who are enabling and profiting from the crisis in Myanmar.
The campaign is launching ahead of the 2023 ASEAN Summit in Indonesia to pressure Singapore and other ASEAN member countries to more effectively block the movement of funds and arms to the Myanmar junta.
Meet nine paragons of dirty business
The Dirty Over 30 Singapore edition includes nine businesspeople who’ve amassed sizable fortunes funding brutality, mass-murder and war crimes in Myanmar and who continue to do business in Singapore. They include:
Tay Za, Founder and Chairperson, Htoo Group of Companies
Naing Htut Aung, Founder and Managing Director, International Gateways Group of Companies
Aung Hlaing Oo, Founder and Managing Director, Myanmar Chemical & Machinery Group
Aung Moe Myint, Founder and Director, Dynasty Group of Companies
Tun Min Latt, Founder and Managing Director, Star Sapphire Group of Companies
Khin Phyu Win, Founder and Director, Asia Sun Group of Companies
Jonathan Myo Kyaw Thaung, CEO, KT Group
Thein Win Zaw, Founder and Chairperson, Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies
George Yin Soon, Investor
The Dirty Over 30 list parodies the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. Portraits of the Dirty Over 30 “dishonourees” were created using real photos and sophisticated AI facial composites. The profiles include factual details about their lives and dirty business dealings. Notably, in what has been called the “30 Under 30 pipeline to prison,” the pattern of unethical and illegal behaviour amongst “honourees” of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list suggests that the profiteers on the Dirty Over 30 list may not be outliers in the business world.
Putting pressure on the Singaporean government
The Singaporean government has already committed publicly to stopping the movement of arms to Myanmar, but so far their efforts have fallen short. A recent report from the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation in Myanmar identifies 138 unique suppliers in Singapore doing $247 million worth of trade with the Myanmar military. The report concludes that if the Singaporean government successfully stopped all arms trading to the Myanmar military from its jurisdiction, it would “significantly disrupt” the junta’s ability to commit war crimes.
Since the coup attempt in 2021, the Myanmar military has killed at least 4,023 people, including children, committed widespread torture and has arbitrarily arrested over 24,000 people. Many have been killed through indiscriminate airstrikes that require a continued supply of aircraft parts, jet fuel and raw materials that the military needs to manufacture bombs and bullets. It has jailed and tortured countless others.
With the Dirty Over 30 project, Justice For Myanmar calls on Singapore to:
Introduce sanctions to stop the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military.
Block the junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions, including on junta banks.
Expedite and make public ongoing investigations into Singaporean companies that have supplied arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military.
Push for more sanctions from other ASEAN countries on the Myanmar military and entities that transact business with it..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-09-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Human Rights and international relations
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"Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome the recent adoption of sanctions by the United States on two Myanmar state-owned banks, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector, and sanctions targeting a supplier of jet fuel to the Myanmar military. These measures are designed to further weaken the Myanmar junta's ability to access the weapons that it uses in the brutal war it is waging against the country’s population, including through indiscriminate airstrikes.
As global leaders are about to meet in Myanmar’s region, first for meetings with ASEAN in Indonesia from September 2-7 and then for the G20 summit in India from September 9-10, The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar reiterate their call for the US and likeminded partners to take the gloves off and adopt much stronger sanctions on the Myanmar junta and its enablers. The US’s show of resolve would be significantly strengthened by joining the European Union in sanctioning the Myanma Oil & Gas Enterprise (MOGE), the junta’s single largest source of foreign currency earnings.
The US and its partners have already improved coordination to more effectively target military-owned businesses, state-owned enterprises, and networks of individuals and corporate entities that enable the junta’s access to international trade and finance. However, this coordination is far from comprehensive, creating loopholes for the junta and its networks of enablers.
For instance, while the US has sanctioned the Star Sapphire Group of Companies’ co-owners, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe, for their firms’ involvement with the import of military equipment, the United Kingdom has not sanctioned Win Min Soe to date, and other US partners including the EU, Canada, and Australia have yet to adopt sanctions on the Star Sapphire companies and their co-owners. At the time of his arrest by the Thai police in Bangkok in September 2022 on charges of drug trafficking and money laundering, Tun Min Latt held assets in the names of the two adult children of Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the Myanmar junta, according to Justice For Myanmar and Reuters. These assets included the property deed for a luxury condominium and bankbooks for Thai bank accounts.
The US should urge the newly elected leader of its longtime ally Thailand to effectively enforce sanctions targeting the junta’s sources of funds, equipment, and jet fuel, and to more broadly ramp up the fight against illicit financial flows, as the crisis in Myanmar and other regional trends lead to the rise of transnational crime in the Mekong region. Enhanced collaboration between regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, and banks—the latter acting as gatekeepers to the international financial system—is essential in that regard.
Singaporean banks have reportedly strengthened their compliance and risk management measures toward Myanmar since the coup. It was stated during parliamentary questions in July 2023 that, “as Myanmar is on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force [FATF], financial institutions in Singapore have also been applying enhanced due diligence for Myanmar-linked customers and transactions that present higher risks.” A media report in August 2023 revealed that United Overseas Bank (UOB), a key offshore bank for “Myanmar’s generals, big corporations and wealthy individuals,” would be restricting transactions and correspondent banking relationships, partly to avoid falling foul of mounting US sanctions on the country. Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome these positive steps, and the US should continue to support Singapore, which currently chairs the FATF, in its efforts to prevent illicit financial flows, including as related to Myanmar. Other Singaporean banks, while avoiding de-risking that could potentially impact on humanitarian aid as well as on trade and business activities that do not benefit the junta, should follow UOB in restricting transactions and correspondent banking relationships, and Singapore authorities should adopt further restrictive measures to prevent the junta’s access to funds and equipment.
Finally, the US needs to encourage its partners in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to step up their responses to the crisis in Myanmar. Quad member Australia has only targeted a small number of entities and individuals in February 2023; in coordination with the US and other partners, it should do more to catch up. The US should encourage Japan, which chairs the G7 in 2023, to coordinate with ASEAN to ensure that no junta representatives are invited to the December 2023 summit in Tokyo that celebrates the 50-year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and the regional organization. As for India, the US must call for the sale of military equipment to the Myanmar junta to be fully suspended, as research by Justice For Myanmar has found that several Indian firms, including ones controlled by New Delhi, have supplied the junta after the coup. The Quad can and must do more to tackle the crisis in Myanmar.
Yadanar Maung, spokesperson, stated for Justice For Myanmar: “The international community is failing the people of Myanmar. Statements of concern and condemnation have had no impact on the illegitimate junta and the daily atrocities it is committing against the people of Myanmar. Instead, governments and international organizations need to take concrete steps to block the junta’s access to the resources it needs to continue its campaign of terror and ensure that there is international accountability for the military’s genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”
Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “The recent adoption of sanctions by the United States on two Myanmar state-owned banks, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector, and sanctions targeting a supplier of jet fuel supplier to the Myanmar military are positive steps forward, but more must be done. As global leaders meet in Myanmar’s region for meetings with ASEAN and then for the G20 summit, The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar reiterate their call for the US and likeminded partner to take the gloves off and adopt much stronger sanctions targeted at the Myanmar junta and its enablers.”
For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]
About Justice For Myanmar
Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel's global network.
About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and "other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-09-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) aims to bankrupt the junta through tougher sanctions and diplomatic pressure, foreign minister Daw Zin Mar Aung told the media on Tuesday.
“We aim to increase our efforts to lobby the international community to impose more economic sanctions and more diplomatic pressure upon the military council, which is oppressing the people and committing violence,” said Daw Zin Mar Aung.
She said the NUG will engage with any country that supports efforts to end military rule in Myanmar.
The US expanded its sanctions on August 23 to aviation fuel, adding two Burmese business owners and three companies that supply jet fuel to the regime to its Specially Designated Nationals List.
The US was the first country to impose sanctions after the February 1, 2021, coup with measures taken against Myanmar’s top 10 generals by February 11.
The UK and Canada also imposed sanctions on the generals by February 18.
Further sanctions against the regime’s leaders, advisers, the children of junta leader Min Aung Hlaing and military-owned conglomerates followed from the US, UK and European Union in March and April.
In May 2021, the US issued further sanctions on more junta members and its ruling body.
The EU sanctioned junta cabinet ministers and the attorney general in June 2021 and in July the US sanctioned more junta members, their relatives and Chinese firms.
In September 2021 the UK sanctioned Tay Za, a notorious junta crony, and his businesses for providing financial support and arms to the military.
To mark a year since the coup, the US, UK and Canada sanctioned three junta appointees while Washington also targeted four businessmen who were supporting the regime and two organizations providing arms and equipment.
The EU sanctioned more companies, including the junta-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise.
In June 2022 the UK sanctioned three firms from Russia and three from Myanmar for supplying aircraft parts to the junta. The UK expanded these measures a month later to other junta-linked companies.
In October the US placed arms dealers in Myanmar on its sanctions blacklist and in November the US and EU extended sanctions, targeting the Sky Aviator aviation company and its owner and 19 other individuals, including a minister and the chief justice.
To mark two years since the coup, the EU imposed further sanctions on junta members, its arms brokers and jet fuel suppliers.
In June this year, the US sanctioned the junta’s defense ministry and the regime-run Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank, which handle the junta’s foreign currency exchanges. Last month the EU sanctioned six more junta members.
The NUG’s foreign ministry thanked the countries imposing sanctions upon junta assets, individuals and allied businesses.
Daw Zin Mar Aung said the NUG is also working with regional neighbors, although only East Timor has officially recognized the civilian government.
“No neighboring countries have officially recognized us yet but they are communicating with us. We need to maintain these relations through engagement, proceeding silently,” she said.
Daw Zin Mar Aung praised Indonesia, the current Association of Southeast Asian Nations chair, for its active role in Myanmar’s crisis. She called for the progress to be continued next year when Laos is chair.
“The military council has not respected ASEAN’s five-point consensus and it does not listen to anyone or anybody,” she said. “We urge ASEAN to keep up its progress and maintain institutional relations with the NUG as well.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Human Rights and international relations
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"Justice For Myanmar welcomes the US determination authorising sanctions against any company or individual that operates in the jet fuel sector of the Myanmar economy, including through “activities related to the importation, exportation, reexportation, sale, supply, or transport, directly or indirectly, of jet fuel”. This follows the US determination ordering sanctions against companies and individuals operating in the defence sector of the Myanmar economy under Executive Order 14014 on February 10, 2021.
The new determination is an important step to dismantle the junta’s access to jet fuel, and sends a clear message that companies involved in all stages of the junta’s jet fuel supply chain can face US sanctions.
This comes after a campaign from Myanmar and international civil society calling for countries to block the junta’s access to jet fuel, and is a response to the junta’s reliance on air strikes to wage its campaign of terror against the people.
We urge the US to follow up its determination with sanctions against companies enabling the junta’s access to jet fuel, including those in the shipping and insurance industries.
We further welcome sanctions against Khin Phyu Win, Zaw Min Tun, and three Singapore companies: Shoon Energy Pte Ltd and two of its subsidiaries: PEIA Pte Ltd (formerly Puma Energy Irrawaddy Aviation) and P.E.I Energy Pte Ltd (formerly Puma Energy Irrawaddy).
Shoon group of companies, formerly Asia Sun, is a key local partner of the Myanmar military junta and is involved in importing, storing, selling and delivering jet fuel to the military.
Asia Sun’s role in the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain was detailed in the Amnesty International report, Deadly Cargo, with research contributed by Justice For Myanmar.
We note that the Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP is currently the listed auditor of two of the newly sanctioned Singapore businesses: PEIA Pte Ltd and P.E.I Energy Pte Ltd. We call on Ernst & Young to immediately cut ties with these businesses and any other companies involved in the supply of jet fuel to Myanmar.
The sanctioning of more companies in Singapore highlights the failure of the Singapore government to block the use of its territory to support the Myanmar military junta. This week, 200 civil society organisations including Justice For Myanmar sent an open letter to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore’s Foreign Minister, urging him to introduce sanctions to prevent the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military, and to block the junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions, which it has imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Singapore should listen to the voices of Myanmar civil society and the recent recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar by taking concrete action to help end the crisis in Myanmar.
We reiterate our call for coordinated sanctions on the junta controlled Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) and the complete Shoon network. MPE controls the jet fuel supply chain, operates the Mann Refinery which produces jet fuel, and jointly owns National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS) with Shoon. NEPAS imports, stores and distributes jet fuel. Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal Company Limited (formerly Puma Energy Asia Sun) operates a major fuel terminal and storage tanks. MPE, NEPAS and Shoon Energy Thilawa Terminal have not yet been sanctioned in any jurisdiction.
The illegal junta relies on its air force to wage a war of terror against the people of Myanmar. In the first two months of 2023 alone, Chin Human Rights Organization documented one airstrike per day in Chin State townships under martial law. A recent New York Times investigation details how the junta’s use of airstrikes against the people of Myanmar is worsening. The junta’s ability to carry out its indiscriminate airstrikes depends on its access to jet fuel.
By supporting the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, businesses are complicit in the junta’s airstrikes, which amount to atrocity crimes, and all those responsible should be held accountable under international law.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest significant steps the US has taken in issuing a sanctions determination against the jet fuel sector and in sanctioning key companies and individuals that supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military, and are complicit in its indiscriminate airstrikes.
“We urge the US to swiftly follow the determination by sanctioning international businesses in the junta’s jet fuel supply chain to help stop its ongoing airstrikes against the people of Myanmar.
“We urge the US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia to coordinate sanctions against companies and individuals in the junta’s jet fuel supply chain, along with arms brokers and entities that provide the junta with sources of revenue, including Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
“It is concerning that Shoon group has continued to operate in Singapore, along with many other companiessupporting the junta’s international crimes.
“Recent US and UK sanctions against Singapore companies should be a wake-up call to the Singaporen government to act in accordance with its international responsibilities and stop allowing Singaporean companies to provide the junta with access to arms, equipment, technology, jet fuel and funds.
“We note Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's recent statement committing to a prohibition on the transfer of arms and dual use goods to Myanmar, but comprehensive action needs to be seen.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
Sanctions this year cover 10 people and 15 entities, all tied to the forces that seized power from the elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.
Description:
"WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration expanded its sanctions Wednesday on Myanmar's military junta to include foreign companies or people helping the regime acquire jet fuel used in airstrikes on its own people.
Among those newly designated by the State and Treasury departments are two people and three entities accused of supplying the military.
“The United States will continue to seek to deprive the military regime of the resources that enable its oppression of the people of Burma,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement, adhering to a U.S. policy by which the country is still called by the name that it shed over 30 years ago after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
War crimes from on the ground in Myanmar are recounted in the statement, which highlights in particular fighter jet and helicopter attacks that killed up to 90 civilians in April and June.
“The United States remains committed to supporting the people of Burma in their pursuit of freedom and democracy,” Brian Nelson, under secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the press release.
Myanmar's military, called the Tatmadaw, has been in power since 1962. Though the country started a transition to democracy in 2011, military leaders tightened their grip in response to recent elections that brought overwhelming victories for the opposition party, National League for Democracy.
The influence of NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi brought improved relations with Washington. The Obama administration lifted longstanding sanctions in 2016, but Myanmar's worsening treatment of Rohingya Muslims led the Trump administration to reimpose sanctions a year later.
After the NLD made more gains in the November 2020 elections, the military disputed the results. It seized control of the government in February 2021, arresting Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and chief regional political leaders.
The coup kicked off a civil war, with opposition leaders who weren’t arrested forming a National Unity Government in exile and launching an armed resistance against the Tatmadaw.
Myanmar's military has claimed it will hold elections again in 2023, but the State Department is skeptical that any vote under the existing political landscape would hold legitimacy. The regime has also not set a firm date, originally floating August, but now saying it could be sometime in November.
The Biden administration appears to be ramping up sanctions, with 10 people and 15 entities designated so far this year, compared with 16 people and nine entities in all of 2022.
In the civil war that has broken out in response to Myanmar's 2021 coup, an estimated 6,000 civilians have been killed, with tens of thousands detained and more than 1.5 million displaced. Meanwhile, widespread food and fuel shortages have occurred as part of an economic collapse.
The White House has responded with sanctions on 85 people and 55 business entities tied to the military regime..."
Source/publisher:
"Courthouse News Service" (California)
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-23
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
The sanctions are in response to the military regime’s “violent airstrikes” against civilians.
Description:
"The U.S. Treasury Department has expanded sanctions aimed at Myanmar’s military junta so that any “foreign individual or entity” linked to procuring jet fuel for the military government can be targeted.
More than 3,900 civilians have been killed by the regime since it seized power in February 2021, the Treasury Department said, with the junta increasingly reliant on “violent airstrikes” against civilians, including “women and schoolchildren,” to maintain its hold on power.
A press release from the Treasury Department singled out two recent air strikes on civilians in the Sagaing region – one in April and one in June – as the impetus for the expansion of the sanctions.
The announcement Wednesday was accompanied by the designation of two Burmese individuals – Khin Phyu Win and Zaw Min Tun – and a company – Shoon Energy Pte. Ltd – that the Treasury Department said were involved in procuring jet fuel for use by Myanmar’s military.
The sanctions mean that American citizens and firms, including banks, cannot have any business relationship with those sanctioned.
“By expanding the use of our sanctions authority to target an additional sector critical to the military regime, we are able to further deprive the regime of the resources that enable it to oppress its citizens,” Brian Nelson, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, was quoted as saying in Wednesday’s statement.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement that the sanctions were intended to put pressure on the junta.
"The United States will continue to seek to deprive the military regime of the resources that enable its oppression of the people of Burma," he said.
Sagaing has been a hotbed of clashes between the military junta and the People’s Defense Forces since the February 2021 coup. Almost 800,000 residents of the region have been forced to flee due to the conflict since the junta seized power, the United Nations says..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-23
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Description:
"To: H.E. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Singapore
Open letter regarding Singapore’s response to business linked to Myanmar junta
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to take meaningful and concrete action to block the Myanmar military junta’s access to arms, dual-use goods, technology and funds, which are used in its ongoing campaign of terror against the people.
We specifically ask you:
to expedite and make public investigations into Singapore-based companies involved in and enabling the transfer of arms and dual-use goods and technology transferred, transited, shipped or brokered through Singapore to the Myanmar military;
introduce sanctions to prevent the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military;
block the Myanmar junta’s access to Singapore’s financial system through targeted sanctions.
Since its attempted coup on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military has killed more than 3,800 people, detained more than 23,000 and displaced more than 1.6 million. The Myanmar military has scorched at least 70,000 homes and razed villages to the ground. They have weaponized and blocked humanitarian aid, depriving the people of food, water and basic needs. They have even attacked schools and hospitals. Compared to last year, there is a 33 percent increase in indiscriminate airstrikes in the first half of 2023, according to the UN. The Myanmar military can continue to commit these atrocities because countries including Singapore continue to allow—or fail to prevent—the transfer of arms, dual-use goods and technology to the military junta and continued access to their banking systems.
In our view, the best way to hinder the Myanmar junta from continued access to funds, arms, dual-use goods and technology is through an autonomous sanctions regime on Myanmar by Singapore that goes beyond a principled oral expression of commitment in response to investigations by the UN and human rights organizations.
As Your Excellency is aware, in 2023, several reports have raised concerns over the fact that Singapore is a major jurisdiction for the transfer of various items—in particular dual-use goods and technology—intended for use by the Myanmar armed forces. A May 2023 report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar identified at least 138 Singapore-based firms that had acted as intermediaries for the Myanmar military, and highlighted how these firms had shipped arms and related goods worth $254 million USD to Myanmar between February 2021 and December 2022. This follows a report by the activist group Justice For Myanmar which named 38 Singapore companies and their directors and shareholders that have brokered arms and equipment to the Myanmar military and a report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), that highlighted how Singapore continues to function as a strategic transit point for potentially significant volumes of items—including certain raw materials—that feed the Myanmar military’s weapons production industry.
We understand that since the release of these reports, investigations into the conduct of the companies have been initiated by your Government. We welcome these investigations and ask you to expedite them and make public the results.
The May 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur also noted that arms dealers move hundreds of millions of dollars through Singaporean banks to supply the Myanmar military. Many Myanmar companies—including companies directly associated with the junta—have offices in Singapore. It is routine practice for companies with direct ties to the Myanmar military to place funds in Singaporean banks. Despite some Western sanctions imposed, most of these companies continue to operate freely, providing a conduit of weapons, munitions and spare parts as well as dual-use items and technology to the junta and through the banking system. We note, in particular, the serious allegations that substantial foreign reserves of Myanmar are suspected to be held in Singapore, providing a financial lifeline for the junta.
The long-standing and well-documented reliance by military-linked companies on the Singaporean banking sector gives Singapore more influence on Myanmar than most other ASEAN member states. It is our view that the degree of cooperation from Singaporean banks will have a major impact on the effectiveness of sanctions on the Myanmar junta.
A legal memorandum from international barristers Felicity Gerry KC and Daye Gang, published by Justice For Myanmar, also concluded that Singapore has an international legal obligation “to investigate, prevent and cease transactions that amount to wrongful acts”, which are applicable to business transactions with the Myanmar military and its business interests. While we appreciate the circular reportedly issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) calling for enhanced due diligence measures to detect and mitigate the risks associated with higher-risk customers and transactions related to Myanmar, and the June 2023 statement by MAS noting that financial institutions should continue to be alert to the heightened risks arising from the situation in Myanmar, much more needs to be done. This includes targeted sanctions against military businesses and an autonomous sanction regime that will stop Singapore-registered companies directly and indirectly procuring arms and dual-use goods and technology for the Myanmar military.
On 14 February 2023, during a parliamentary hearing addressing the report by SAC-M, your Excellency confirmed Singapore’s commitment to not authorize the transfer of dual-use items which have been assessed to have potential military application to Myanmar where there is a serious risk that they may be used to inflict violence against unarmed civilians, and that the government of Singapore would not hesitate to take action against those who contravene relevant laws, including Singapore’s Strategic Goods (Control) Act. This commitment is significant as Singapore is the third largest source of arms and dual-use goods for the Myanmar military after Russia and China. However, it is concerning that half a year later, your Excellency’s expressed commitment has only been communicated orally, and we have not yet seen a policy commitment that includes consequences for non-compliance.
During the parliamentary hearing, you noted that specifically on military sales, there had been no transfers of arms to Myanmar in recent years. While this is welcome, the problem, as we see it, is not a question of transfers of conventional arms to Myanmar, but the numerous times that dual-use goods and technology that originates from or transits Singapore—whether transferred directly or indirectly to the junta—has ended up in the hands of the Myanmar military.
Your Excellency, we therefore ask Singapore to adopt and implement export restrictions on Myanmar. This would follow the recent precedent of restrictive measures applied by your government to Russia, pursuant to which applications to export military items, controlled electronics, controlled computers, and certain telecommunications and encryption items to Myanmar would be rejected. In addition, financial measures targeted at designated military-controlled banks, entities and activities should be put in place to restrict the military’s ability to finance its acts of terror against the people. Recent sanctions imposed by the US on Myanmar’s main portals of foreign currency payments, the state-owned Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) should set the example in this regard. A failure by Singapore to act would sustain the current crisis whereby MFTB and MICB facilitate foreign-currency exchange within Myanmar and enable transactions between the military junta and foreign markets to buy arms, dual-use goods, technology and jet fuel, and to undermine the effectiveness of the US sanctions on these entities.
While Singapore continues to call for immediate cessation of violence under ASEAN, Singapore-based businesses and the financial system’s involvement in the transfer of weapons and dual-use goods to the Myanmar military directly undermines ASEAN’s credibility. We the undersigned CSOs strongly urge Your Excellency to set a precedent for the region by taking robust and tangible actions to stop Singapore businesses and financial institutions from enabling and being complicit in the Myanmar junta’s ongoing atrocities. As ASEAN is conducting a review of implementation of the failed Five-Point Consensus, these meaningful steps of Singapore will assist ASEAN in reforming the current ineffective approach and replacing the Consensus with concrete actions to address the crisis effectively.
Sincerely,
A total of 200 organizations, including 4 groups that can't be named because of security reasons, have signed this letter.
1 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
2 ၈၈ငြိမ်ချမ်းရေးနှင့်ပွင့်လင်းလူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းထားဝယ်ခရိုင်
3 Ah Nah Podcast - conversations with Myanmar
4 All Burma Democratic Face in New Zealand
5 Anti-Junta Mass Movement - AJMM
6 Associations of United Nationalities in Japan
7 Auckland Kachin Community NZ
8 Auckland Zomi Community
9 Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway
10 Basic Education Students & Youths Association (BESYA)
11 Boycott Military's Pocket
12 Burma Campaign UK
13 Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
14 Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
15 Burmese American Community Institute 9BACI)
16 Burmese Canadian Network
17 Campaign for a New Myanmar
18 CDM Support Team Mandalay (CSTM)
19 Chin Community of Auckland
20 Chin Community in Norway
21 Citizen of Burma Award - New Zealand
22 Citizens of Burma Award(Buffalo Chapter)
23 COBA UAE
24 CRPH and NUG Supporters Ireland
25 CRPH Funding Ireland
26 CRPH Support Group, Norway
27 CRPH Support Group, Norway and members organizations endorses
28 Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
29 Democratic Youth Council ( ဒီမိုကရက်တစ်လူငယ်ကောင်စီ )
30 Doh Atu - Ensemble pour le Myanmar
31 Dream Hope Goals Media Group
32 Dunedin Myanmar Community New Zealand
33 Enemy Air Route Channel
34 Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
35 Federal School
36 Federation of Workers’ Union of the Burmese Citizen in Japan ( FWUBC )
37 Free Rohingya Coalition
38 General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN)
39 General Strike Coordination Body - GSCB
40 Global Myanmar Spring Revolution ( GMSR )
41 Hero Behind Bars
42 HTY Scout Channel
43 Human Right Defenders and Promoters(Palaw)
44 Information & Scout News (Hlaing)
45 Insein Scout Channel
46 Integria, z.s.
47 International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
48 International Campaign for the Rohingya
49 Japan Myanmar Help Network - JMHN (comprising of over 40 youth groups in Japan)
50 Justice For Myanmar
51 K'cho Ethnic Association
52 Kachin Association Norway
53 Kachin State Civilian Movement- KSCM
54 Kamayut Scout Channel
55 Kanbauk Defense Force (KBDF)
56 Karenni Society New Zealand
57 Karenni Association - Norway
58 Karenni Wellington Community
59 Kyauktada Strike Committee
60 Kyimyindaing Scout Channel
61 La Communauté Birmane de France
62 LA2M
63 Lanmadaw,Latha & Pabedan Scout Channel
64 League for Democracy in Burma( Japan )
65 Legal Aid for Human Rights (Southern Shan State)
66 LGBTIQ (လိင်စိတ်ခံယူမှုကွဲပြားသူများ) သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
67 Mayangone News
68 MIIT ကျောင်းသားကျောင်းသူများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
69 Minority Affairs Institute (MAI Myanmar)
70 Muslim Youth Network
71 Myanmar Community Christchurch New Zealand
72 Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
73 Myanmar Action Group Denmark
74 Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway
75 Myanmar community in Italy
76 Myanmar Community in Norway
77 Myanmar Democratic Force in Denmark
78 Myanmar Engineers - New Zealand
79 Myanmar Global Support Foundation ( MGSF )
80 Myanmar Hindu Community - Norway
81 Myanmar Muslim Revolution Force
82 Myanmar Students' Union in New Zealand
83 Nelson Myanmar Community New Zealand
84 New Zealand Doctors for NUG
85 New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
86 New Zealand Karen Association
87 NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway
88 No Business With Genocide
89 NOK Information & Scout Echo
90 North Dagon & East Dagon News
91 Norway Falam Community
92 Norway Matu Community
93 Norway Rvwang Community
94 Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand
95 PDF Support ( Vancouver - Canada )
96 Peace for Burma ( Vancouver ) Canada
97 Progressive Muslim Youth Association-PMYA
98 Progressive Voice
99 Rangoon Scout Network
100 Rohingya Community in Norway
101 Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
102 Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
103 Save Myanmar Israel
104 Shan Community (New Zealand)
105 Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
106 South Dagon Scouting Infos (SDG)
107 Southern Dragon Myanmar
108 Support group for Democracy in Myanmar ( the Netherland )
109 Tamwe Nway Oo Channel
110 Tenasserim Students Unions Network - TSUN
111 Thaketa & Dawbon Scout Channel
112 Tourism Committee
113 U.S. Campaign for Burma
114 Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
115 United States Chin Coalition (USCC)
116 Universities Kachin Literature and Culture Association- Yangon (Yangon JLH)
117 Volunteers in Myanmar
118 We support NUG-NB
119 Wellington Chin Community ( New Zealand )
120 Wellington Myanmar community
121 Yangon Revolution Force - YRF (Soft Strike Community)
122 Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)
123 Youth Scout For Democracy (YSD)
124 YWTC(yangon)
125 Z Fighter News
126 Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway
127 Zomi Community Norway
128 ကျန်းမာရေးမိသားစု - မန္တလေး (Medical Family – Mandalay)
129 ကွန်ပျူတာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
130 ချမ်းမြသာစည်မြို့နယ် လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
131 စိန်ပန်း သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
132 ဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
133 ဆေးဘက်ဆိုင်ရာနည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ
134 ဆေးဝါးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
135 တမ္ပဝတီ လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
136 တိုက်ကွမ်ဒို အားကစားအသင်း
137 တိုင်းရင်းဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
138 တိုင်းရင်းသားလူငယ်များ အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
139 တောင်သာလူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုကော်မတီ
140 ဒေါင်းစစ်သည်
141 နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
142 နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(ရတနာပုံဆိုင်ဘာစီးတီး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ
143 နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးဘာသာပေါင်းစုံကွန်ရက်
144 နားထောင်ရင်းလှူပေးပါ။
145 ပညာရေးမိသားစု (စစ်အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ပညာရေးစစ်ကြောင်းများ ချိတ်ဆက်ညှိနှိုင်းရေးကော်မတီ)
146 ပြည်ကြီးတံခွန်သပိတ်
147 ပုဂ္ဂလိက မူကြိုဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများအဖွဲ့
148 ဘာသာပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
149 ဘုရားကြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
150 မကွေးလူထုတိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ / Magway People's Revolution Committee
151 မန္တလာတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသားကျောင်းသူများသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
152 မန္တလာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
153 မန္တလေး ကဗျာဆရာများသမဂ္ဂ (Mandalay Poets’ Union)
154 မန္တလေး ကုန်စည်ဒိုင်သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
155 မန္တလေး၊ တက္ကသိုလ် ဒီဂရီ၊ ကောလိပ် ဆရာ၊ ဆရာမများ၊ ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
156 မန္တလေးကွန်ပျူတာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
157 မန္တလေးတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသား ကျောင်းသူဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
158 မန္တလေးတိုင်းဒေသကြီးလွှတ်တော် ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီ (Committee Representing Mandalay Region Hluttaw)
159 မန္တလေးနည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
160 မန္တလေးနိုင်ငံခြားဘာသာတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
161 မန္တလေးပုဂ္ဂလိကတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (MPUSU)
162 မန္တလေးမြို့အခြေစိုက် လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
163 မန္တလေးမဟာမိတ် သပိတ်တပ်ပေါင်းစုစစ်ကြောင်း
164 မန္တလေးလူငယ် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
165 မန္တလေးသပိတ်အင်အားစု
166 မန္တလေးအင်ဂျင်နီယာ တပ်ပေါင်းစု
167 မန္တလေးအင်ဂျင်နီယာများအဖွဲ့ (Mandalay Engineer Group)
168 မန္တလေးအရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ
169 မြင်းခြံလူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှုကော်မတီ
170 မြတောင် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
171 မြန်မာနိုင်ငံဘဏ်အလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (Bank Trade Unions Federation of Myanmar – BTUFM)
172 မြန်မာ့မီးရထား တိုင်းအမှတ် (၃) CDM ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
173 မြန်မာသတင်းအချက်အလက်နည်းပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး) ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
174 မွတ်စ်လင်မ်လူငယ်များအဖွဲ့
175 မဟာအောင်မြေမြို့နယ် စုပေါင်းလူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
176 မေမြို့ ပင်မအထွေထွေသပိတ်အင်အားစု
177 ရတနာပုံတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (ရ.တ.က.သ)
178 ရန်ကုန်အခြေစိုက်တက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများ (တကသများ-ရန်ကုန်) | Alliance of Students’ Unions Yangon (ASU-Yangon)
179 ရေဘဝဲ (ပြည်သူ့အကျိုးပြု လူငယ်အဖွဲ့အစည်း)
180 လူငယ်ကဗျာဆရာများသမဂ္ဂ
181 သံဃသမဂ္ဂ (မန္တလေး)
182 သပြေညို သတင်းလွှာ
183 သမဝါယမတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသူ၊ ကျောင်းသားများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
184 သရက်ချောင်းမြို့နယ် ပြည်သူကာကွယ်ရေးပြောက်ကျားတပ်ဖွဲ့
185 သွားဘက်ဆိုင်ရာဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ
186 သားဖွားသင်တန်းကျောင်း(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
187 သူနာပြုတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
188 သူနာပြုသင်တန်းကျောင်း(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
189 အ.ထ.က (၇) ကျောင်းသူ၊ ကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
190 အ.လ.က (၁၂) ထခွဲ၊ အခြေခံပညာကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (အ.က.သ)
191 အဖမ်းဆီးခံပြည်သူများ ကိုယ်စားပြုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
192 အမျိုးသားဒီမိုကရေစီအဖွဲ့ချုပ် (မန္တလေးတိုင်း)
193 အမျိုးသားယဉ်ကျေးမှုနှင့် အနုပညာတက္ကသိုလ်(မန္တလေး)ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ
194 အလုပ်သမားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်
195 အောင်ပင်လယ် ပင်မသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
196 အောင်မြေသာစံ ပညာရေးကျောင်းပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း..."
Source/publisher:
200 civil society organizations via Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-22
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Experts say the move will do little to control illegal currency trading.
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"Myanmar’s junta is threatening legal action against anyone found to be in possession of foreign currency without authorization in what observers said was a bid to kneecap black market exchangers after the kyat has tumbled to one-third of its value against the U.S. dollar since the coup.
On Aug. 18, US$1 spiked to 3,900 kyats, the highest in history and up 300% from 1,300 in January 2021, a month before the military seized power.
The Central Bank responded Monday with an announcement in pro-junta media that those in possession of foreign currencies without permission will face charges under the Foreign Currency Management Law.
The threat will do little to rein in the illegal currency exchange market, said an authorized foreign currency exchange business owner, who declined to be named citing security concerns.
"Based on this announcement, it looks like they are going to [try to] enforce their set exchange rate of 2,920 or even 2,100 in any way possible,” he told RFA Burmese. “But no one is going to sell their foreign currencies ... If they have bought at a price of 3,000, they will never sell at 2,000, as they have invested millions of kyats."
Under the Foreign Exchange Management Law, domestic residents are allowed to keep a maximum of US$10,000 or its equivalent in foreign currency for as long as six months from the date of receipt. After six months, the holder must sell the currencies to authorized exchangers or deposit it in a bank.
The law also states that exchanging and selling foreign currency without a business license is punishable by up to three years in prison, a fine, and the confiscation of related assets.
A domestic banking expert, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said the only way the junta can control the rising dollar in Myanmar is to “regularly meet the demand for U.S. dollars and adjust the exchange rate according to external market conditions.”
“The U.S. dollar exchange rate is going to rise as its demand is much higher than its supply,” he said. “There is no way to stop it. You can't stop it by issuing orders, nor by threats of arrest.”
He noted that authorities have recently been buying U.S. dollars from people’s foreign currency accounts at the Central Bank’s exchange rate.
On Saturday, junta Chairman of the Central Bank Than Than Swe told a meeting between Central Bank officials and local business owners in the capital Naypyidaw that “action will be taken” against illegal money exchangers and “those who write on the internet to inflate the value of the U.S. dollar.”
U.S. dollar ‘only safe asset’
An economist monitoring gold and currency markets in Yangon told RFA that the Central Bank is using a “scare tactic” to control the value of the kyat, and warned that even if it works, it would only result in a “short-term solution.”
“The real problem is the financial crisis,” he said, referring to junta mismanagement that has sent the economy into a nosedive. “Those who have money buy US dollars, which they consider [one of the only] safe assets … It’s impossible to try to change the situation by issuing orders.”
Attempts by RFA to contact the Central Bank's Foreign Exchange Management Department by telephone rang unanswered on Monday.
The junta’s store of U.S. dollars has been hit by U.S. Treasury Department sanctions, as well as a decision by Bangladesh's Sonali Bank last week to freeze the accounts of two junta-controlled banks with more than US$1.1 million after the U.S. Embassy in Dhaka sent a letter to the government requesting that Bangladesh comply with such sanctions
The U.S. Treasury said the two banks – Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank – “facilitate much of the foreign currency exchange within Burma and enable transactions between the military regime and foreign markets, including for the purchase and import of arms and related material.”
Junta Chairman Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing accused “some countries” of “using the dollar as a weapon” during remarks he made on Aug. 15 at the 11th International Security Conference in Russia.
The junta’s Central Bank revoked 43 foreign currency exchange licenses this year on the pretext that they did not comply with the Foreign Exchange Management Law..."
Source/publisher:
"Radio Free Asia" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-21
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Burma's economic relations with the region
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"On June 21, 2023, the United States designated two of Burma’s military regime-controlled banks, Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB). MFTB and MICB have been instrumental in facilitating the regime’s use of foreign currency to procure arms and jet fuel abroad and to access international markets using offshore accounts.
Through these offshore accounts, MFTB and MICB have facilitated the regime’s profiteering from Burma’s extractive industries, including oil and gas, teak, gemstones, and other natural resources. The designations of MFTB and MICB impose a significant impact on the regime’s ability to fund the violence it inflicts on the people of Burma.
At the time of the designation of these two banks, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License 5 (GL 5) to allow entities engaging in transactions with MFTB and MICB to wind these down in an orderly fashion. Following the expiration of GL 5 on August 5 at 12:01 a.m. (EST), the United States will continue to carefully monitor compliance and scrutinize transactions with an MFTB or MICB nexus to counter evasion or other behavior that contravenes the intent of these designations and U.S. policy. We will pursue enforcement actions as appropriate.
The United States will not waver in its support for the people of Burma as they seek peace, justice, and an inclusive, democratic future for their country. We will continue to engage with our partners and allies in the broader international community to constrain the regime’s ability to exploit the international financial system..."
Source/publisher:
U.S. Department of State
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021, has made repeated promises about a return to civilian rule and limited democracy — so far unkept. The former leader, 78-year-old Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, could spend the rest of her life in jail, despite a partial pardon in August. The military, known as the Tatmadaw, has used increasingly brutal tactics to subdue its enemies, including the first executions in three decades. By its own admission, nearly half the country is facing instability due to armed conflict. Prospects for economic growth are “severely weakened,” according to the World Bank. The US and its allies this year imposed new sanctions aimed at military officials and “affiliated cronies.” But the junta retains control of vast interests, including lucrative natural gas exports, and has found backers outside the West.
1. What’s happened with Aung San Suu Kyi?
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She and Win Myint, who served as president in the last civilian government, were found guilty soon after the coup of inciting dissent against the military and flouting Covid restrictions while campaigning for the November 2020 elections. Since then she’s been convicted in a series of trials on charges including corruptions and violating the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, and sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison. Her legal defense team described all the allegations against her as groundless and politically motivated. On Aug. 1, the junta pardoned both on some charges, including breaking pandemic-era rules, illegal possession of walkie-talkies and incitement. But they remained in prison.
2. Why was there a coup?
Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) won 83% of the parliamentary seats at stake in the 2020 vote — an even better performance than its 2015 landslide. The election commission and international observers called the election fair. But the military alleged that there had been voter fraud. On the day of the coup, the military said it was necessary to act before the new parliament session began later that week. More broadly, the military operates almost as a state within a state in Myanmar, and its allies still control vast swaths of the economy. The scale of Suu Kyi’s victory may have prompted fears among the generals of new efforts to chip away at their privileges, especially after the exceptionally poor electoral performance of a military-backed party.
3. Are new elections planned?
Yes, but the NLD said in March it would boycott. The military government then dissolved the party after it failed to register in time under a new law. Back in 2021, the military set an August 2023 deadline for elections and said army chief Min Aung Hlaing would head a caretaker government in the meantime. That deadline was extended on July 31 for another six months, until Jan. 31, 2024, as fighting intensified with ethnic armed groups and supporters of Suu Kyi. The planned election has been dismissed as a “sham” by the United Nations and the US.
4. What is the fighting in Myanmar about?
Violence flared after the coup as Aung San Suu Kyi’s supporters demanded her release and the restoration of the elected government. Junta forces have killed 3,857 people as of July 31 and detained many more, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), a human rights group. According to the UN’s Human Rights Council, ill-treatment and torture have resulted in deaths in detention. Some Aung San Suu Kyi supporters have formed what they call the National Unity Government, with armed units known as the People’s Defence Force. They’ve allied with ethnic insurgent groups that have long battled the military over the right to manage their territories and resources. In extending the state of emergency, the junta leader said 40% of townships are facing instability, an admission of the intensity of the conflict. International experts have said the military has effective control over far less territory than it claims to.
5. What’s the fallout been?
The UN Security Council passed a resolution in December demanding an end to violence in Myanmar and the release of political prisoners. Its passage was a milestone, but China, Russia and India abstained, limiting the impact. The US, the UK, Canada and Australia reimposed economic sanctions in 2021, just five years after many had been lifted, although it’s unclear how much impact they will have. The US has since extended its sanctions, including in January. But China, Myanmar’s most important trading partner, has rejected calls at the UN for an arms embargo and has affirmed support for the regime. Japan and India worry that tough measures against the junta only risk increasing China’s influence there. The junta has drawn closer to Russia despite the war in Ukraine — Min Aung Hlaing has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin “as a leader of the world.” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, Myanmar’s biggest foreign investor, has said sanctions would only hurt Myanmar’s people. The World Bank this year said Myanmar’s potential for inclusive growth has been “severely weakened” and “there is little appetite to invest.”
6. What’s the history?
After World War II, Burma, as it was then known, emerged from British colonial rule and plunged directly into civil conflict. Ethnic minorities make up a third of the population of 55 million and occupy half the land, including areas where valuable resources such as jade, gold and teak are found. A deal providing them with greater autonomy fell apart after Aung San Suu Kyi’s father, Aung San, who was slated to become the country’s first leader, was gunned down in 1947. A coup led by army chief Ne Win in 1962 started a half-century of military rule, during which the country descended into desperate poverty. Troops viciously suppressed pro-democracy protests in 1988. Two years later the army annulled an election that Aung San Suu Kyi’s party had won by a landslide. Under house arrest for much of the next 20 years, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.
7. How did she get into government?
The junta began a transition to civilian rule with a new constitution in 2008 that reserved 25% of parliamentary seats for the military — enough to block any amendments to it. Still, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party took part in by-elections in 2012 after the government at the time agreed to the release of political prisoners, the freedom to assemble and an opening to foreign investors. Her party then swept to victory in the first full elections in 2015, defeating the ruling party by a margin of nearly 10-to-1. The constitution bars Aung San Suu Kyi from serving as president because her children are UK citizens. Thus, in 2016 she became state counselor, a newly created role akin to prime minister, as well as foreign minister.
8. How did she do?
Her administration liberalized banking, insurance and education and curbed inflation. But about a third of the population was living in poverty and businesses remained mired in red tape. The military continued to control the defense, home affairs and border affairs ministries. Its forces have been accused by UN investigators of practicing “ethnic cleansing” and “crimes against humanity” with “genocidal intent” in driving more than 700,000 Rohingya people over the border to Bangladesh since 2017. (Among Myanmar’s Buddhist majority, prejudice against the Rohingya — Muslims castigated as illegal immigrants and stripped of citizenship — remains fierce and widespread.) Amid the opprobrium, foreign direct investment fell to $2.3 billion in 2019 from $4.7 billion in 2017. The military turned on Aung San Suu Kyi even though she defended them in 2019 at the International Court of Justice against the genocide allegations — increasing her popularity at home at the expense of her international reputation.
Source/publisher:
"Bloomberg News" (New York) via "The Washington Post"
Date of entry/update:
2023-08-01
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"The German state prosecutor in Augsburg has launched a criminal investigation into MAN Energy Solutions, which supplied key components to the UMS Moattama warship, allegedly in violation of Germany’s Foreign Trade Law and European Union Dual Use Regulations. This follows a criminal complaint filed by Greenpeace Germany with the attorney Holger Rothbauer, using evidence and research provided by Justice For Myanmar. The opening of the investigation was first reported by Süddeutsche Zeitung.
The UMS Moattama is a landing platform dock/amphibious assault ship, boosting the Myanmar Navy’s capabilities to move troops, tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other arms and equipment to support its ongoing campaign of terror against the people.
Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the UMS Moattama has reportedly been used to transport troops, rocket systems and heavy artillery to Rakhine State, where the military continues to commit atrocities. The Moattama is also used in the junta’s Sea Shield military exercises.
The UMS Moattama was built in South Korea and transferred to the Myanmar military in 2019, in the aftermath of its genocide against the Rohingya which involved the Myanmar Navy.
MAN Energy Solutions SE, a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, supplied the ship’s main engine, power consumers, propellor and propellor control system, control and propellor equipment, and also gave training to Myanmar Navy personnel in South Korea, apparently involving its subsidiary in Denmark.
MAN Energy Solutions is just one of a number of German companies that supplied equipment and technology for the UMS Moattama. Other German companies include:
Raytheon Anschütz GmbH, which has recently restructured, supplied radar equipment, a gyro compass system, and the autopilot and steering control system,
Reintjes GmbH supplied the gearbox with parts from other German companies including Kracht GmbH,
Alfons Haar Maschinenbau GmbH & Co KG supplied the helicopter refuelling system,
Cassens & Plath GmbH supplied the magnetic compass system,
RHOTHETA Elektronik GmbH supplied the direction finder,
GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH provided separators with parts from other German companies including Boll & Kirch Filterbau GmbH,
DSB Deutsche Schlauchboot GmbH of Survitec Group provided rescue boats.
Justice For Myanmar calls on German authorities to also open criminal investigations into the remaining companies that supplied equipment and technology to the Myanmar Navy warship.
The action taken by German authorities was based on evidence from the Myanmar Navy Chief Petty Officer Myat Min Thu, a whistle-blower who is part of the Civil Disobedience Movement and who was a recipient of training by MAN in South Korea and served on the ship until 2021.
In 2021, South Korean police launched a police investigation into the illegal transfer of the Moattama to the Myanmar military, targeting Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, which built the ship; Posco International, which brokered the transfer; and Korea’s Ministry of Defence. The investigation remains ongoing.
In November 2020, Justice For Myanmar, Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Rohingya and Korean Transnational Corporation Watch filed complaints with the OECD National Contact Point in Korea and the National Human Rights Commission of Korea against Daesun Shipbuilding & Engineering, Posco International and other businesses supporting the Myanmar military.
The complaint led to scrutiny of the warship export and the police investigation. The police investigation was later supported through the cooperation of Myat Min Thu.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the action taken by the German public prosecutor in Augsburg in response to the criminal complaint by Greenpeace Germany.
“The Myanmar Navy is responsible for genocide against the Rohingya and continues to enforce the junta’s policy of apartheid, arbitrarily detaining Rohingya men, women and children who attempt to flee. The military and all those complicit in its international crimes are yet to be held accountable.
“The UMS Moattama, equipped with German technology, supports the Myanmar military’s capabilities to move troops and arms across coastal areas as it wages a campaign of terror against the people.
“Prosecution is an important step towards accountability for the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military, and to prevent future arms transfers from Germany and the European Union, but they need to be widened to all companies involved in the Moattama project.
“Both Germany and the EU have laws in place to prevent the transfer of arms and dual use goods to the genocidal Myanmar military, but governments have repeatedly failed to enforce them, enabling the military to gain access to equipment and technology that supports ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Germany must show that breaches of the law will not be tolerated, and we call on other EU member states whose companies have illegally transferred arms, equipment and technology to investigate and hold them accountable.
“We urge Danish authorities to swiftly investigate and take action against MAN’s Danish subsidiary for its role in the Myanmar Navy’s UMS Moattama project.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-31
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"Mr. HAYASHI Nobumitsu, Governor of Japan Bank for International Cooperation
Mr. TAKESADA Tatsuhiko, President & CEO of Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development
CC:
Mr. SUZUKI Shunichi, Minister of Finance
Mr. SAITO Tetsuo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism
Sent by:
Justice For Myanmar
Mekong Watch
FoE Japan
Human Rights Now
Human Rights Watch
Japan International Volunteer Center
On June 21, 2023, the US government announced that it was imposing financial sanctions on the Myanmar junta's Ministry of Defence as a “Specially Designated National,” noting that the Ministry was “responsible for the command and control of the armed forces, which has conducted decades of repressive military rule that was violently resumed following the coup in 2021.”[1] With this designation, the connection between the Redevelopment of the Defense Services Museum Project (commonly known as the “Y Complex Project”), one of the projects being implemented using Japanese public funds, and the ongoing abuses by the Myanmar military junta, has been made even more obvious.
Y Complex involves building and operating a large-scale real estate complex at the site of the former military museum in Yangon, the largest city in Myanmar. The project receives public and private funds from Japan through Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN), a government-funded infrastructure investment corporation under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) which is Japan’s public export credit agency. JOIN and JBIC invests or lends to the Y Complex project in which the Myanmar military-controlled Ministry of Defence participates,[2] and they have continued their involvement even after the attempted coup by the Myanmar military on February 1, 2021.
Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita Corporation (a subsidiary of Daiwa House Industry), and JOIN set up a Joint Special Purpose Company (J-SPC) in Singapore. JBIC along with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizuho Bank co-financed a loan to this J-SPC, and the J-SPC in turn is co-investing in Y Complex Company Ltd., a Myanmar corporation set up jointly by the J-SPC and Yangon Technical and Trading Company Limited (YTT), a Myanmar military crony-owned company.
The land lease agreement is between YTT and "Colonel Aung Min Thein (Officer No. Army 17642), Vice Quarter Master General, Office of the Quarter Master General, Commander-in-Chief (Army).” Land lease payments are to be made to "Defence Account no. MD 010424,” an account likely to be under control of the Office of the Quartermaster General[3]. On December 10, 2021, the US, UK and Canada imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quartermaster General.[4] The UK government has pointed out that the Office of the Quartermaster General "plays a crucial role in procuring equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces, including ammunition, bombs and jet fuel.”[5]More recently, the EU imposed sanctions on Kyaw Swar Lin, the Quartermaster General, on July 20, 2023, noting that he is a “person whose policies and activities undermine democracy and the rule of law in Myanmar/Burma, and who provides support for actions that threaten the peace, security and stability of Myanmar/Burma.”[6]
We understand that making land lease payments in the Y Complex project is equivalent to providing funds to the Myanmar military through the Office of the Quartermaster General, and have alluded to this problem since before the attempted coup.[7]
So far, JOIN and JBIC have explained that because the Office of the Quartermaster General is within the Ministry of Defence and therefore a part of the government of Myanmar, land lease payments would not benefit the Myanmar military (see below).
Response by Tatsuhiko Takesada, President & CEO of JOIN at the meeting of the Committee on Financial Affairs of the House of Representatives, April 20, 2021: "Regarding the contract for the project site, J-SPC is not directly involved, but under the contract, the local Myanmar company signed a land lease agreement with the Ministry of Defence which is a part of the government to obtain land use rights, and the said local [Myanmar] company subleases the land to the local project company. We have confirmed the current situation, but regarding the land lease payments, we understand that they were appropriately managed within the government."[8]
Statement by JBIC official in charge of the Y Complex Project at the "Ministry of Finance - NGO Regular Dialogue," March 5, 2021: “JBIC recognizes that in this project the rent is paid to the Office of the Quartermaster General in the Ministry of Defence. We understand that the rent payments are included as revenue in the general budget of the Myanmar government…. In Myanmar, based on a law called the Budget Law, so-called general accounts budget is publicly disclosed, and the Ministry of Defence is included as part of that."[9]
These statements show that both JOIN and JBIC recognized that the rent payments should not be benefiting the military and that they were attempting to maintain an appearance that the rent payments were not going to the military by publicly presenting their view that the ultimate destination of the rent payments was the Ministry of Defence and not the military. The recent imposition of sanctions by the US on the Ministry of Defence, has made these excuses even more untenable.[10]
Regardless of whether the ultimate destination of the land lease payments for the Y Complex Project is the Office of the Quartermaster General or the linked Ministry of Defence, these payments enable the Myanmar military to continue to commit atrocity crimes across the country. According to the UN, there are currently 1.9 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Myanmar. [11] The Japanese government and Japanese companies should fulfill their responsibilities under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by immediately stopping their involvement in the Y Complex Project. To do so, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism should withdraw the investment made by JOIN, and the Ministry of Finance should cancel the loan made by JBIC to stop the injection of public funds into the project and publicly announce that they have made the decision to do so..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-25
[field_licence]
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"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new EU sanctions on No2 Mining Enterprise and 6 individuals announced yesterday, but criticised the incredibly slow pace of the introduction of new sanctions.
The EU has the right policy of sanctioning on an ongoing basis sources of revenue and arms and individuals linked to human rights violations, but EU member states are not prioritising the implementation of their own policy.
“At this pace, it will be decades before the EU gets round to sanctioning those committing human rights violations and most sources of revenue and arms to the military,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Why has it taken two and a half years to sanction such an obvious source of revenue like a mining enterprise which receives revenue from rare earths?”
There is no ‘silver bullet’ sanction which will by itself have a major impact on reducing revenue to the Burmese military. It is, therefore, essential that the EU, UK USA, Canada and others maximise the breadth of targeted sanctions to chip away at sources of revenue and arms. It is the cumulative impact of such sanctions which will maximise their effectiveness.
“If you set out to try to minimise the impact of sanctions, this is the way you would do it, uncoordinated sanctions implemented at an incredibly slow speed with gaps of months in between, giving the military time to try to find workarounds before the next random sanction,” said Anna Roberts. “Since the USA organised a sanctions coordination meeting there has been less coordination and the UK is missing in action.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-21
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"Today, the Council imposed a seventh round of restrictive measures in view of the situation in Myanmar/Burma against six individuals and one entity in response to the continuing escalation of violence, grave human rights violations and threats to the peace, security and stability in Myanmar/Burma.
The listings include three Union Ministers for immigration and population, labour and health and sports, two members of the State Administration Council (SAC), the Quartermaster General, as well as No. 2 Mining Enterprise (ME 2), a state-owned enterprise that is controlled by and generates revenue for the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw).
Restrictive measures currently apply to a total of 99 individuals and 19 entities. Those designated are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory. In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed.
Other EU restrictive measure remain in place: the embargo on arms and equipment and export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications which might be used for internal repression, the export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, and the prohibition of military training and cooperation with the Tatmadaw.
The restrictive measures come in addition to the withholding of EU financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all EU assistance that may be seen as legitimising the junta.
The EU remains deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence and the evolution towards a protracted conflict with regional implications. The Union condemns the continuing grave human rights violations including torture, sexual and gender-based violence, the persecution of civil society, human rights defenders and journalists, indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population, including a deadly airstrike killing at least 171 persons on 10 April 2023, by the Myanmar armed forces. The dissolution of 40 political parties on 28 March 2023 was another demonstration of the blatant disrespect by the military regime for democracy and the rights and wishes of the Myanmar population.
All hostilities must stop immediately. The military authorities must fully respect international humanitarian law and put an end to the indiscriminate use of force.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Background
In February 2021, the Council adopted conclusions condemning in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar/Burma.
On 31 January 2023, the High Representative issued a declaration on behalf of the EU on the 2nd anniversary of the military take-over stating that, in the absence of any swift progress on the situation in Myanmar, the EU stood ready to adopt further restrictive measures against those directly responsible for and those abetting the undermining of democracy and the serious human rights violations in the country.
The Council has imposed restrictive measures against those responsible for the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators on 22 March, 19 April and 21 June 2021, 21 February and 8 November 2022, and 20 February 2023..."
Source/publisher:
Council of the European Union
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-20
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, European Union-Burma relations -- official links and documents
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"Monsieur Le Président de la République
Emmanuel Macron
Palais de l’Elysée
55 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris
July 10, 2023
Subject: Seeking French support to stop Indian arms sales to Myanmar junta
Dear President Macron,
We are writing this open letter to you from Justice For Myanmar, a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel the Myanmar military’s international crimes, brutality and corruption.
We request that you raise concerns regarding the sale of arms, dual use goods and technology from India to the Myanmar junta with Prime Minister Modi during his upcoming visit to France. We also request that you require India to ban further exports of arms, dual use goods and technology to the junta as a condition on the export of French arms and technology to India.
After Russia and China, India is the third biggest supplier of arms to the Myanmar military. The flow of arms and dual use goods and technology from India to Myanmar has continued following the military’s illegal coup attempt of February 1, 2021, notably including from Indian state-owned companies.
Since the military’s coup attempt, India’s majority state-owned Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), a joint venture partner of Thalès, transferred multiple items to the Myanmar military, including:
A coastal surveillance system;
A remote-controlled weapon station;
Slip rings that can be used in any electromechanical system that requires rotation while transmitting power or signals, such as for shipborne radar turntables, rotating turrets on military armoured vehicles, airborne radar turntables or guidance systems;
Mounting base plates (true north) with the harmonised system (HS) code 8529.90, confirming that the item is a part for use with radio transmission or radar equipment;
A sonar transducer and associated main equipment (specified to be wet end) for likely use in a junta submarine;
A directing gear system that would support transducer arrays of hull mounted ship sonar systems, such as those developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation;
An underwater telephony system, coupled with three sets of unspecified technical documents and test equipment;
An expendable bathy thermograph, which can be launched from a ship or submarine to measure the temperature as it falls through the water;
MHS-355 and 20W HF SSB manpack radios.
In the same period, items supplied by other Indian companies to the Myanmar military include:
3,000 fuzes supplied by Sandeep Metalcraft, a private arms manufacturer;
Spare parts and an alarm monitoring and control system supplied by Larsen & Toubro;
122mm gun barrels supplied by Yantra India Limited, a state-owned arms manufacturer;
Motors, timing belts and laboratory items from Jainkoch Corporation.
The Myanmar military junta is a terrorist organisation under Myanmar law and as defined in international law. Since the attempted coup, the junta has killed more than 3,700 people and arrested over 23,700 more. It has conducted deliberate armed attacks on people across Myanmar including children and launches regular indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling as part of a campaign of terror. These actions constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law, for which the military has yet to be held accountable. While the military junta is directly responsible for these attacks, they have been enabled by the continued supply of arms, equipment and technology from international suppliers such as India, and the insufficient level of action taken by the international community to prevent this support from continuing.
We note that in November 2022, H.E. Mr Sébastien Lecornu, Minister for the Armed Forces of France, paid his first official visit to India to hold the Indo-French Annual Defence Dialogue and to strengthen Indo-French strategic ties. The Armed Forces Minister’s visit to India reaffirms France’s engagement in the Indo-Pacific and India’s centrality in the French strategy for the region and came in a year that has seen an acceleration of the French and Indian armed forces’ endeavours towards greater interoperability through joint air, navy, and army exercises. Minister Lecornu also held wide-ranging talks with his counterpart, Rajnath Singh, covering industrial and technological partnerships in line with the Make in India policy, under which the Indian government has brought in reforms to encourage design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in India. Without adequate safeguards in place, France may find itself indirectly supporting the Indian government’s exports of arms and dual use goods and technology to Myanmar as a result of its defence cooperation with India, including through links to India’s domestic production of arms.
India, like France, is a member of the Wassenaar Arrangement. Under this arrangement, India is expected to apply export controls on transfers of arms and dual-use goods and technologies. India also has obligations under international humanitarian and human rights law to not transfer weapons when there is an expectation that these weapons could be used in violation of the Geneva Conventions, or to aid and abet atrocity crimes. The fact that that Indian companies have continued to supply weapons, dual use goods and technology after the attempted coup in Myanmar shows a serious disregard by the Indian government for its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, and its commitments under the Wassenaar Arrangement.
In a May 2023 report on the junta’s procurement of arms and equipment, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar found that India’s supply of materials used in surveillance technology and artillery, as well as likely for missiles, contravenes its obligations under international law. He noted,
“India has the requisite knowledge that the Myanmar military is committing probable war crimes given the substantial international reporting on this subject. India should therefore be aware that the arms it provides to the Myanmar military – though relatively limited – are likely to be used in the commission of international crimes.”
Our request for France to take action on Indian arms sales to Myanmar is consistent with the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar in his reports on arms, and UN General Assembly resolution A/75/L.85, which “calls upon all member States to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar.”
We further note that in your joint statement regarding the official visit of Prime Minister Modi, it is stated, “France and India have a shared vision on peace and security, especially in Europe and the Indo-Pacific and uphold the objectives and the principles of the Charter of the United Nations, which are also the basis of our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region”. The UN Charter states that the first purpose of the United Nations is “to maintain international peace and security, and to that end: to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace”.
Your action in support of the human rights and democratic aspirations of the people of Myanmar is in line with this commitment, as well as the French values of liberty, equality and fraternity.
We look forward to your response..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"More than two years after the attempted military coup in Myanmar, and two years after financial institutions’ investments in Myanmar’s military cartel were first exposed in a Justice For Myanmar and BankTrack briefing, five major French banks and a pension fund continue to invest in twenty-two companies linked to the Myanmar military junta, a report published today by Info Birmanie, BankTrack and Justice for Myanmar found. The junta is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report, which is endorsed by ALTSEAN-Burma, FIDH and Reporters without Borders, reveals that these investments by Crédit Agricole, La Banque Postale, the BPCE group, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and the Fonds de Réserve pour les Retraites (FRR) amount to over US$6 billion, 75% of which is in the fossil fuel sector. Investments were also made in companies that sell arms to the junta and in companies operating in the telecommunications sector that enables the junta’s surveillance. With US$4 billion, Crédit Agricole accounts for most of the investments.
The companies in which these six financial institutions are shareholders have been divided into two categories: those with a direct and long-standing relationship with the Myanmar military or with companies controlled by the Myanmar military before the coup (category 1), and those with a direct business relationship with state-owned companies under military control following the coup of February 1, 2021 (category 2).
The report highlights the connection of these investments to fueling widespread and systematic human rights violations in Myanmar, including the imprisonment of 70 journalists and other severe restrictions on press freedom.
It reveals that Crédit Agricole is investing in India’s state-owned company Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) that has been implicated in the sale of military equipment to the Myanmar junta since the 2021 coup attempt. BEL is also a leading partner of the Thalès Group.
The findings are published while France is preparing to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a guest of honour at the July 14th Bastille Day parade in Paris, as part of the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the France-India partnership.
French investments and the partnership between India and France in the field of defence should be rigorously scrutinised in the light of these findings, to prevent French institutions from helping to finance the flow of arms and technology to the junta.
Crédit Agricole also invests in Sinotruk Hong Kong Ltd, a company scrutinised in a recent report from Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, for transferring equipment to the Military junta since the coup attempt.
Crédit Agricole, Groupe BPCE, BNP Paribas, Banque Postale and Fonds de Réserve pour les retraites also hold shares in the Japanese company KDDI and its partner Sumitomo Corporation. These companies in the telecommunications sector continue to do business with the military junta through their joint operations with Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT), supporting the junta’s surveillance capabilities.
The report calls on the five banks and the pension fund to comply with their obligations under France’s 2017 Duty of Care Law and international standards on business and human rights. The report authors urge the financial institutions to divest immediately and responsibly from companies listed in category 1 and to sell their shares in category 2 companies if they do not cease their support for the junta. France must ensure that the Pension Reserve Fund does not invest in companies linked to the Myanmar military.
The data published in the report highlights the need for France to give the Duty of Care Law its full practical scope with regard to companies in the financial sector and the importance of the negotiations underway at European level to adopt a directive on corporate due diligence. Several countries, including France, have been reported to lobby for a restricted scope of application for the text under negotiation, excluding the financial sector. Continued vigilance and scrutiny of the ongoing negotiations is needed until the final text includes the financial sector.
Info Birmanie's coordinator highlights that "it is urgent to see Crédit Agricole divest from Indian arms manufacturer Bharat Electronics Limited, which Norges Bank Investment Management, a Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, in particular, divested from because of its arms sales to the Myanmar junta."
Yadanar Maung, Justice For Myanmar spokesperson says: “It is unacceptable that French banks and a pension fund continue to invest in companies with known ties to the Myanmar military junta that is committing atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar with impunity. These banks must act now to ensure they are in no way supporting the junta. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, we urge France to take a firm stance against the flow of arms to the junta, including from India, and push for a global arms embargo.”
Henrieke Butijn, Climate campaigner & researcher at BankTrack adds : “It is outrageous that these banks have still not taken adequate action to assess and cut ties with companies linked to the Myanmar junta, even after their investments were exposed two years ago. That is two years in which the junta has been able to use the revenues from fossil fuels and the products from companies like Bharat Electronics to terrorise the population. By failing to act on their investments, these five French financiers are not only in breach of the OECD Guidelines and UNGPs, they are also betraying the people of Myanmar."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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219.59 KB 330.75 KB 232.83 KB
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"Justice For Myanmar welcomes the latest round of US sanctions targeting Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) and the junta’s Ministry of Defence.
MFTB and MICB are state-owned banks that the Myanmar military illegally seized through its coup attempt.
The banks are key nodes in the military cartel’s economic networks, supporting the junta’s campaign of terror.
The junta’s Ministry of Defence plays a financial role for the Myanmar military as a whole and its procurement of arms and related materiel that are needed for the junta’s ongoing commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
While these sanctions are positive, Justice For Myanmar urges the US and its allies to urgently impose sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which is responsible for the junta’s largest source of foreign revenue, and to coordinate sanctions that target whole networks of crony companies and arms brokers, so as to systematically cut the junta’s access to funds and arms.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of US sanctions targeting junta-controlled banks that help sustain the junta’s campaign of terror.
“However, for sanctions to be effective, far more needs to be done to systematically target the junta’s financial and arms procurement networks by the US and its allies.
“Justice For Myanmar calls for urgent sanctions against Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, which continues to bankroll the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as well as the junta’s network of cronies and arms brokers.
“These sanctions are a result of the courageous resistance of the people of Myanmar to the military’s failing coup attempt, and the efforts of activists around the world supporting the Myanmar people’s struggle for democracy.
“The international community needs to hear to the voices of Myanmar and take decisive action to further cut the junta’s access to funds and arms. The cartel must be dismantled.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-06-21
[field_licence]
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"Justice For Myanmar calls on India’s Quad partners and other allies to use their leverage to pressure India to stop the supply of arms and dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar military junta.
A Justice For Myanmar investigation of Indian export records has revealed over US$5 million in new exports to the Myanmar military and its arms brokers from Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in the six months from November 2022 to April 2023.
The shipments consisted of military end-use goods, technology and technical documents to be used by the Myanmar military.
Items included metallic sonar domes, transducers and gaskets for the domes to be used on frigates, warships or submarines; directing gear systems; various items for radio transmission or radar equipment; and manpack radios for battlefield communications.
BEL, which maintains a branch office in Myanmar, transferred the equipment knowing that the Myanmar military is the end user, and that it is committing ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity.
Through its campaign of terror against the people, the Myanmar military junta has so far murdered over 3,600, arbitrarily arrested 23,300 more, committed indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, torture, sexual violence and displaced at least 1.5 million.
The shipments may aid and abet the junta’s international crimes and are a continuation of India’s flagrant disregard for its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law and its commitments under the Wassenaar Arrangement.
India and the Myanmar military have long-standing ties. In his speech on 25 December 2022, war criminal and junta head Min Aung Hlaing stated a need for large warships with high combat capabilities and the training of navy officers to operate them, noting that naval officers had been sent to other countries, including India, to enhance their individual capabilities.
The USA and France, which are honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi in state visits this year, have a particular responsibility to address India’s support for the junta, and to push for India to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.
BEL’s exports to Myanmar during the six-month period were spread across seven shipments, with three being sent to the Myanmar military directly, three sent to the arms brokers Mega Hill General Trading, and one sent to Alliance Engineering Services.
Alliance Engineering Services is connected to the family of the junta’s former air force chief Maung Maung Kyaw.
Mega Hill General Trading is a private Myanmar military contractor that has a history of procuring technology and providing services to the army’s Directorate of Procurement, including a remote-controlled weapon station supplied by BEL in 2021 and exposed by Justice For Myanmar.
Justice For Myanmar also exposed BEL’s supply of a coastal surveillance system to the Myanmar military before and after its illegal coup attempt.
Justice For Myanmar calls for urgent targeted sanctions against Mega Hill General Trading, Alliance Engineering Services, their associated business, directors and shareholders.
BEL is 51.14% owned by the Indian government and is publicly listed. Other shareholders include Nippon Life India Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Vanguard, BlackRock, Fidelity, Canada Pension Plan, California Public Employees' Retirement System, California State Teachers Retirement System, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec and the Swedish pension funds, AP-fonden (AP1), Andra AP-fonden (AP2) and Sjunde AP-fonden (AP7).
BEL’s institutional shareholders should divest from the company because of its continued supply of dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar military, in line with their international human rights responsibilities.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “The Indian government and its state-owned arms companies are continuing business as usual in Myanmar, equipping and profiting from the junta as it commits acts of terror against the people.
“These new and significant exports to Myanmar from Bharat Electronics Limited make India further complicit in the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“By selling arms and equipment to the junta, India is choosing to ignore the voices of the Myanmar people, the legitimate National Unity Government, civil society, UN resolutions and its responsibilities under international law.
“It is crucial that India’s Quad partners and other allies step up and start using their leverage to stop India’s abhorrent support for the junta.
“The Biden administration is this week honouring Prime Minister Narendra Modi with a state visit to the White House.
“We urge President Biden and his government to push Prime Minister Modi to immediately stop all shipments of arms and dual use goods and technology to the Myanmar junta.
“The US should impose conditions on military aid to India to help end Indian support for the junta.
“President Macron should raise India’s complicity in the junta’s international crimes when Modi makes a state visit to Paris in July, and push India to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-06-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc)
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"A Justice For Myanmar investigation has uncovered new details of Austria’s Diamond Aircraft Industries’ project with the Myanmar military to locally assemble and produce DART-450 aircraft, in an apparent breach of the EU arms embargo.
The DART-450 are training and reconnaissance planes that would provide the military with support to train Myanmar Air Force pilots, who are essential to the junta’s large-scale indiscriminate airstrikes, part of its campaign of terror against the people. The aircraft would also provide the military with aerial surveillance capabilities.
Through a transfer of technology deal, Diamond Aircraft Industries supplied the Myanmar military with composites and parts, as well as technical assistance in Myanmar and the training of military personnel in Austria to assemble aircraft and manufacture key parts.
Diamond Aircraft Industries is an Austrian based aircraft manufacturer owned by the Chinese corporation, Wanfeng Aviation Industry via a UK holding company. Wanfeng Aviation Industry’s ultimate owner is the Shenzhen-listed Zhejiang Wanfeng Auto Wheel Company Limited.
Diamond Aircraft Industries’ support for the Myanmar military took place after its campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and while it was committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in other ethnic areas with total impunity. The project was running between 2017 and 2020, when it was temporarily disrupted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under the EU’s arms embargo on Myanmar, in force during the project period, it is illegal to provide arms, dual use goods, and equipment used for internal repression to Myanmar, in addition to restrictions on military training and military cooperation.
Justice for Myanmar has obtained confidential records that confirm that the project would result in the Myanmar air force obtaining DART aircraft that would be locally assembled, with the military producing key composite components and parts in Myanmar over six apparent phases.
In the first phase of the DART-450 project in Myanmar, six DART-450 aircrafts were to be manufactured in Austria and shipped, bulk-packed and by airfreight, to Myanmar for final assembly from 2019. The assembly of one aircraft has been completed in Myanmar with the on-site support of Diamond Aircraft technicians from Austria and Germany.
Justice For Myanmar has identified companies from multiple countries implicated in the project that may also be in breach of sanctions. The companies whose key technical components have been used for the DART-450 project in Myanmar and are based in countries with arms embargoes on Myanmar include Garmin (Switzerland), SIRS Navigation (UK), Electronics International (USA) and Safran (France). Composite materials have been supplied to Myanmar by Engineered Cramer Composites (ECC) (Germany).
According to information obtained for Justice For Myanmar, negotiations between Diamond Aircraft Industries and Swedish company DST Control AB to equip the DART-450 aircrafts with OTUS-U250 sensors have also been initiated.
Justice For Myanmar identified companies whose computer numerical control machines have been used to manufacture and assemble the DART-450 aircrafts at the Shante air base in Myanmar, including Schuko (Germany), Styrotec (Germany) and Felder (Austria).
The Diamond Aircraft Industries deal with the Myanmar military was brokered by Miya Win International, a Myanmar company that has been sanctioned by the UK and has been involved in the procurement of other military end-use equipment from Austria for the Myanmar military, including unmanned aerial vehicles from Schiebel Corporation and a flight simulator from Axis Simulation.
Justice For Myanmar has submitted evidence of the Diamond Aircraft Industries business with the Myanmar military to the European Union’s sanctions whistleblower tool and calls for a swift investigation into Diamond and associated companies.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Diamond Aircraft Industries’ deep engagement with the Myanmar military is a shocking failure of the Austrian government to enforce the EU arms embargo on Myanmar.
“While the Myanmar military was carrying out indiscriminate airstrikes and committing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity, Diamond Aircraft Industries was equipping and training Myanmar military personnel to locally assemble aircrafts that would clearly be used to repress the Myanmar people.
“This is not a standalone case but part of a pattern of Austria’s failures to stop its companies from supplying the Myanmar military with equipment and technology, including after the military’s illegal coup attempt on February 1, 2021
“Austria needs to urgently investigate all those that have violated EU restrictive measures on Myanmar, hold them accountable, and take concrete steps to prevent the further complicity of Austrian companies and citizens in the Myanmar military’s international crimes.
“The UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden and the USA should also investigate companies in their jurisdictions that are implicated in the Myanmar military’s DART-450 project and take action against all breaches of sanctions.
“The EU and its allies should sanction Miya Win International and its owners to help prevent further European transfers of arms and equipment to the murderous junta.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-06-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Arms (Military Expenditure, Arms Transfers, Arms Production Etc), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
UK Sanctions Coordinator met with US, EU and Canadian counterparts to discuss continued cooperation on Myanmar sanctions efforts.
Description:
"On 24 May, the Sanctions Coordinators for the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and the services in charge of sanctions policy and implementation of the European Commission and the European External Action Service met to continue to assess and align ongoing efforts related to sanctions on Myanmar.
The partners discussed the significant scope of actions taken since the military coup in February 2021, ongoing coordination efforts, and the importance of continued information and target sharing to support sanctions packages. The UK announced further sanctions on 31 January and 27 March 2023, targeting suppliers to the Myanmar regime of military equipment and other material being used to attack its civilians. The partners identified the continued need for sustained direct cooperation in order to restrict the regime’s ability to carry out atrocities against the people of Myanmar and pressure the regime to change course to restore the country’s path toward genuine and inclusive democracy..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-05-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory
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"The Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), Justice For Myanmar and Stop Adani condemn Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Limited (Adani Ports) for its continued development of the Ahlone International Port Terminal 2, which provides a revenue stream and a lucrative future asset for the Australian, Canadian, EU, UK and US sanctioned military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
After announcing in October 2021 an intention to withdraw from the project, Adani Ports has pumped millions of dollars into developing the port and procuring valuable cranes that will ultimately benefit MEC.
Details of Adani Ports’ development of the Yangon port after the company announced its intention to withdraw has been revealed in a Justice For Myanmar investigation.
In addition, new evidence from leaked documents shows that following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt, Adani Power Limited submitted an expression of interest to a US-sanctioned junta minister for the import of coal into India from the Sagaing Region of Myanmar and to seek cooperation in the development of the coal mining industry in Myanmar. At the time, the junta was waging a campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar in the very region where Adani was seeking to purchase coal. The junta’s attacks on the people of Myanmar continue today in Sagaing and across the country, in what amounts to ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On April 11, the junta carried out a shocking aerial attack against a gathering of people in Pazigyi village, Sagaing, killing at least 168 people, including many children. The youngest was a six-month old child.
Leaked documents published by Justice For Myanmar also raise concerns over the propriety of the US$22 million “land clearance fee” that Adani Ports paid to MEC in 2019. Details of the payment was first reported by ACIJ and Justice For Myanmar in 2021, and now confirmed in new evidence leaked from the Myanmar Investment Commission. The payment is non-standard, grossly inflated, and may amount to a kickback. Adani Ports should be independently investigated over its payments to MEC, including for land clearance.
The Ahlone International Port Terminal 2 project is a partnership with MEC under a build-operate-transfer deal, which as the UN warned makes Adani Ports complicit in the Myanmar military’s ongoing atrocity crimes. Adani Ports’ deal with MEC came after the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya and was identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission in their report on the Myanmar’s military’s economic interests, which called for all businesses to cut ties with the Myanmar military and its conglomerates.
In March 2021, ACIJ and Justice For Myanmar published Port of Complicity, a report into Adani Ports’ business in Myanmar that included new evidence of payments to MEC and the company’s direct relationship with the war criminal Min Aung Hlaing, increasing pressure on investors. Adani Ports’ initial response was to deny the stark evidence of its business relationship with MEC.
In June 2021, Adani Ports disclosed that they had paid US$90 million to MEC.
In August 2021, ACIJ and JFM wrote to the US Treasury urging them to reject a request from Adani Ports for a general licence to exempt them from US sanctions on MEC.
In May 2022, Adani Ports announced that they had signed a binding share purchase agreement on a “completed project basis”, stating that the company would ensure full recovery of its investment. Adani Ports has refused to disclose the identity of its buyer.
Adani Ports’ business dealings in Myanmar and Australia have severely damaged the company’s reputation. In April 2021, Adani Ports was removed from the Dow Jones Sustainability Index after human rights and environmental groups submitted a case for review due to Adani Ports’ links to the Myanmar port project and the Adani Carmichael coal project in Australia. Adani Ports set up the Bowen Rail Company who will soon begin hauling coal from Adani’s mine to Adani’s coal port on the Great Barrier Reef, the North Queensland Export Terminal, which is operated by Adani Ports. Investors continue to exclude the company citing environmental and human rights concerns.
In March 2022, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) added Adani Ports to its watch list and in February 2023, it dumped it entirely by divesting from it and other Adani Group companies. Other investors should follow suit.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said:
“Adani Ports has been duplicitous in its dealings with the Myanmar military from the start, bankrolling a secretive and corrupt military conglomerate that is implicated in international crimes.
“Rather than exiting by the 2021-22 financial year as originally announced, Adani Ports has misled the people of Myanmar and its own shareholders, refusing to disclose the buyer and proceeding to develop a lucrative financial and logistical asset for the Myanmar military as it wages a campaign of terror against the people.
“Adani Power’s attempt to buy coal from the junta would, if successful, amount to misappropriation and help fund the junta's ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Adani’s complicity with the junta’s atrocity crimes and apparent payment of kickbacks has been enabled by the Indian government, which has pursued business and arms sales in a blatant disregard of its international responsibilities. India should change course, stand with the people of Myanmar and impose targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on the junta.”
Rawan Arraf, Executive Director at the Australian Centre for International Justice said:
“Adani Ports has misled the public, investors, creditors, the human rights community, but most importantly the people of Myanmar and their supporters who had welcomed the news of Adani’s announcement to exit Myanmar.
“Adani continued to build the Yangon port to sell an asset which will remain in the hands of the MEC and the criminal junta.
“This dishonest behaviour must be condemned, and we urge investors to take responsible steps and divest from Adani Ports once and for all.
“Governments in Australia have emboldened Adani Group companies through lucrative climate-wrecking licenses, and have failed to take account of Adani’s shady deals with the junta. Sovereign wealth funds like the Future Fund have shown a complete disregard for their human rights responsibilities, and should follow the lead of Norges Bank and dump Adani entirely.
“Those complicit with human rights abuses and international crimes must be held to account.”
Fahimah Badrulhisham, campaigner with #StopAdani said:
“US short seller Hindenburg recently exposed Adani Group’s accounting fraud, stock manipulation and money laundering.
“Hindenburg has highlighted how Adani Group moves money around its vast corporate empire so that any investment in any Adani company could end up financing Adani’s dirty coal projects and their business with the Myanmar military.
“Adani’s investors like Blackrock and Barclays must do their due diligence on Adani and its immoral business practices that are funding the Myanmar junta’s massacres of peaceful protestors, indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, torture and the forced displacement of over 1.6 million since February 2021.
“Blackrock and Barclays should stand with the people of Myanmar and for human rights and immediately withdraw their money from Adani Group.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-05-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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200.69 KB 170.55 KB
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"Justice For Myanmar welcomes sanctions imposed by the UK and US on subsidiaries and one individual from Asia Sun Group of Companies, to coincide with the illegal Myanmar junta’s “Armed Forces Day”.
Asia Sun Group of Companies is a key local partner of the Myanmar military junta and is involved in importing, storing and delivering jet fuel to the military.
Asia Sun’s role in the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain was detailed in the Amnesty International report, Deadly Cargo, with research contributed by Justice For Myanmar.
On March 24, 2023, the US sanctioned three Myanmar-registered companies in the Asia Sun network: Asia Sun Group Company Limited, Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Company Limited.
On March 27, 2023, the UK sanctioned the Singapore-registered Shoon Energy Pte Ltd, which was formerly named Asia Sun Aviation, along with its director and sole owner, Khin Phyu Win.
Amnesty International has revealed that in December 2022, the Swiss and Singapore based Puma Energy transferred its share of National Energy Puma Asia Sun (NEPAS) to Shoon Energy. NEPAS is a joint venture with the junta controlled Myanma Petrochemical Enterprise (MPE) and is responsible for the import, storage and sale of jet fuel.
Shoon Energy is the second Singapore registered company to be sanctioned following the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt, and further highlights the role Singapore continues to play as a base for businesses providing funds, arms and jet fuel to the Myanmar military.
The first Singapore business sanctioned since the coup attempt was Star Sapphire Group Pte Ltd, designated by the US on Friday.
In January, the UK sanctioned Asia Sun Trading, its sole director and shareholder Zaw Min Tun, former director and shareholder Win Kyaw Kyaw Aung, and Cargo Link Company Limited.
However, more action is urgently needed to stop the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar junta, including through a total ban on jet fuel sales to Myanmar, sanctions on MPE and the extension of sanctions to all Asia Sun companies, directors and shareholders, including the key individuals May Thwe Aung and Moe Myint Aung, who remain unsanctioned.
Justice For Myanmar has documented at least 8 subsidiaries of Asia Sun Group of Companies that are directly involved in the jet fuel supply chain, and only four of these companies have been sanctioned in one or more jurisdictions. Asia Sun Group of Companies has at least 40 subsidiaries and 13 associated companies in total.
The illegal junta relies on its air force to wage a war of terror against the people of Myanmar. In the first two months of 2023, Chin Human Rights Foundation documented one airstrike per day in Chin State townships under martial law. In late February, a campaign of indiscriminate airstrikes in Karenni State killed civilians and displaced thousands.
By supplying jet fuel to the Myanmar military, Asia Sun Group of Companies is complicit in the junta’s airstrikes, which amount to atrocity crimes, and all those responsible should be held accountable under international law.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of sanctions from the US and UK targeting the junta’s jet fuel supply chain.
“However more urgently needs to be done to stop the junta from accessing jet fuel, which enables its ongoing air attacks against the people of Myanmar.
“The US, UK, EU and Australia should follow the lead of Canada by imposing a ban on the sale of jet fuel to Myanmar.
“The US, UK, EU, Canada and Australia need to coordinate to sanction MPE and the whole Asia Sun network of companies and individuals, as well all other companies and individuals that continue to supply jet fuel to the Myanmar military.
“The junta’s procurement of arms and jet fuel is enabled by its access to funds. Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) remains the biggest source of revenue for the junta and must be targeted to disrupt the junta’s ability to maintain its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar.
“We urge the US, UK, Canada and Australia to follow the EU and sanction MOGE immediately, as has been repeatedly demanded by civil society and the National Unity Government.
“It is concerning that Asia Sun has continued to operate in Singapore, along with many other companies supporting the junta’s international crimes.
“Recent US and UK sanctions against Singapore companies should be a wake-up call to the Singapore government to act in accordance with its international responsibilities and stop allowing Singaporean companies to support the junta.
“We note Singapore Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's recent statement committing to a prohibition on the transfer of arms and dual use goods to Myanmar, but comprehensive action needs to be seen.”
More information:
See our data on Asia Sun Group of Companies subsidiaries and directors here, and read Amnesty International’s Deadly Cargo report, with research supported by Justice For Myanmar
Read our joint press release with The Sentry welcoming US sanctions against Star Sapphire Group of Companies, subsidiaries and individuals here
Justice For Myanmar, a group of covert activists campaigning for justice and accountability for the people of Myanmar, is calling for an end to military business and for federal democracy and a sustainable peace..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-03-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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150.57 KB 119.92 KB
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new UK sanctions targeting companies supplying aviation fuel, arms and aircraft parts to the Burmese military. The sanctions follow similar sanctions targeting aviation fuel announced by the USA on 24th March.
The new sanctions target the following:
Shoon Energy, linked to the already sanctioned Asia Sun company, which supplies aviation fuel to the military.
Khin Phyu Win, Director of Shoon Energy.
Tun Min Latt, Director of the Star Sapphire group of companies. He is a Burmese business crony close to the head of the military, Min Aung Hlaing, and also an arms broker and linked to the illegal drug trade.
The updated sanctions list is available here.
It follows Asia Sun Trading and two executives being sanctioned by the UK in February for supplying aviation fuel to the Burmese military.
Since the attempted military coup began on 1st February 2021, the Burmese military have increasingly used airstrikes against civilians and those resisting military rule. More than 1.5 million people have been forced to flee their homes, creating a humanitarian crisis.
These almost daily airstrikes are a violation of international law, with homes, schools, hospitals and medical centres being targeted, as well as churches and other religious buildings.
Stopping the supply of aviation fuel is one of the single most effective things the international community can do to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Burma.
“These sanctions are well targeted, prioritising suppliers of aviation fuel and arms brokers, but a complete ban on British companies supplying aviation fuel to Burma is the only way to ensure no British companies are complicit in airstrikes against civilians,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The British government has the right policy in seeking to cut off sources of revenue, arms and aviation fuel but they are implementing the policy far too slowly.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-03-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Local URL:
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Description:
"Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry welcome the adoption of sanctions today by the United States on Star Sapphire Group of Companies, Star Sapphire Trading Company Limited, Star Sapphire Group Pte. Ltd., and two of their owners, Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe.
Star Sapphire Group of Companies is a Myanmar conglomerate with diversified interests in trading, power, hospitality, and mining. As revealed by Justice For Myanmar in an April 2022 report, Star Sapphire Group of Companies has substantial business links with theMyanmar military. The United Kingdom sanctioned Star Sapphire Group of Companies in August 2022.
According to the Department of the Treasury’s press release, Tun Min Latt has used his companies “to import military arms and equipment, including drones and aircraft parts” and has acted as Myanmar’s agent with the US-sanctioned Chinese arms manufacturer NORINCO.Alongside institutional links between Star Sapphire Group of Companies and the Myanmar military, significant ties exist between Tun Min Latt and his wife Win Min Soe and the family of junta leader and commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military Min Aung Hlaing. Research by Justice For Myanmar and Reuters published in January 2023 revealed that Tun Min Latt held assets in the names of Min Aung Hlaing’s adult children at the time of Tun Min Latt’s arrest by the Thai police in Bangkok in September 2022.
The arrest was carried out after Tun Min Latt and his associates were charged with drug trafficking and money laundering; he remains incustody in Thailand where his trial is ongoing. Thai police found at the time of his arrest that Tun Min Latt was in possession of the property deed for a luxury Bangkok condominium in the name of Aung Pyae Sone and a checkbook for a Thai bank account in the name of Khin Thiri Thet Mon.
Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon are the adult son and daughter, respectively, of Min Aung Hlaing; both children were sanctioned by the US in March 2021 for having “directly benefitted from their father’s position and malign influence.”
The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar welcome the decision by the US to sanction these military cronies and call for likeminded jurisdictions,including the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, to coordinate efforts to ensure that all of the Star Sapphire entities and owners are sanctioned by each jurisdiction.
Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, stated: “We welcome the latest round of US sanctions against StarSapphire entities and two of their owners, who have aided and abetted the Myanmar military’s genocide, war crimes, and crimesagainst humanity through financial support and the brokering of arms. These sanctions are also significant for targeting aSingaporean entity for the first time and help send a message that Singapore is no longer safe for Myanmar cronies. Tun Min Lattalso has deep personal ties with the war criminal Min Aung Hlaing and his family, helping them profit from the military’s illegal coup attempt and hide assets offshore. We urge the US and its allies to extend sanctions to the whole Star Sapphire network, including Htet Aung, Khine Wint Mon, Sithu Maung, and Thant Lwin Moe, as well as all other enablers of the illegitimate Myanmar military junta.”
Justyna Gudzowska, director of illicit finance policy at The Sentry, said: “Tun Min Latt, Win Min Soe, and the Star Sapphireentities epitomize the enablers that facilitate business transactions with the Myanmar military in ways that benefit both the genocidal institution and its leadership. These welcome designations act as a warning and deterrent to businesspersons, corporate entities, and financial institutions from Myanmar and beyond that engaging in transactions with the Myanmar military will incur legal and reputational consequences.”
For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]
About Justice For Myanmar
Justice For Myanmar is a collective of covert activists working to create a just, peaceful, and federal democratic Myanmar. The collective uses painstaking research, data visualization, and hard-hitting reporting to expose multinational corporations with business ties to the Myanmar military—money that funds inequality, corruption, violence, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Their work has helped pressure multinational corporations to divest hundreds of millions of dollars from the Myanmar military, led to targeted sanctions, and raised international awareness of the situation in Myanmar.
About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-03-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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130.69 KB 141.93 KB
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"State-owned arms company Yantra India Limited has shipped multiple 122mm barrels to the Myanmar military in October 2022 in likely breach of international law, a Justice For Myanmar investigation has found.
The 122mm barrels appear to be for howitzers that are produced in Myanmar by the Office of the Chief of Defence Industries (OCDI), also known as the Directorate of Defence Industries, a unit of the military that is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada.
The barrels were sent to a company owned by the Myanmar military arms broker, Kyaw Kyaw Htun, who Justice For Myanmar previously exposed for importing fuzes from the Indian company Sandeep Metalcraft to be used by the Myanmar military for the detonation of munitions. Kyaw Kyaw Htun and his network not yet been sanctioned.
Yantra India Limited is an official public sector undertaking operating under the Department of Defence Production of the Indian Ministry of Defence. Yantra’s exports of 122mm barrels to Myanmar follows several other known exports of weapons and weapon components from Indian companies after the Myanmar military’s attempted coup, including a remote controlled weapon station from the majority state-owned company, Bharat Electronics Limited.
Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the junta has murdered protesters, shelled villages and conducted indiscriminate airstrikes, killing more than 3,000 people and displacing over 1.2 million. The latest shipment comes as the military junta continues to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, including with howitzers.
The Myanmar army has recently been recorded firing 122mm howitzer rounds into civilian areas. For example, on 6 December 2022, the military fired rounds from a 122mm howitzer to the outskirts of Namsai Hkahku in Hpakant Township, Kachin State. On 13 December 2022, 122mm howitzer rounds were fired in Bhamo Township, Kachin State.
The fact that Yantra India Ltd is a fully state-owned company, coupled with the fact that Indian arms manufacturing companies have continued to supply weapons after the attempted coup, show India’s serious disregard for international humanitarian law and norms of conduct contained in the Wassenaar Arrangement.
Justice For Myanmar calls on India to immediately impose an arms embargo on the Myanmar military junta, which is a terrorist organisation under Myanmar law and as defined in international law, and cease all training and other military support.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "India is directly supporting the junta’s indiscriminate attacks against civilians by allowing the export of barrels that that the junta will use in its continued gross violations of international law.
“As a democracy and a neighbour of Myanmar, we appeal to the Indian government to stand with the people of Myanmar, not war criminals and their illegitimate junta.
“India must immediately stop arming the Myanmar military junta and uphold its obligations under international humanitarian law.
“We urge fellow members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (the Quad), Australia, Japan and the USA, to use their influence to stop the flow of arms from India to the Myanmar military.
“It is disappointing that Kyaw Kyaw Htun and his network has not been sanctioned, despite clear evidence of their complicity in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity through the brokering of arms and surveillance equipment.
“We call for urgent sanctions against Kyaw Kyaw Htun, his businesses and associates, along with all other enablers of the junta.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-03-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Size:
113.84 KB
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Description:
"In a bid to attract foreign funds for the country’s electricity sector, which has been crippled since the coup, the junta has waived tax on investment in the sector.
The junta-appointed Myanmar Investment Commission has announced it will waive tax on production and distribution of renewable energy including solar power. The regime has made electricity a national priority for investment and will exempt or reduce tax on imported materials, machines, equipment, spare parts, and construction materials that are not available in Myanmar, according to the announcement.
Taxes will also be waived for businesses related to electric vehicles, it added.
However, a local businessmen working in the sector commented that electricity production is a long-term project, and foreigners will not be interested in investing unless the country has political and economic stability.
“Projects in the electricity sector take around seven years to break even and you only start to see profits after seven years. Even Chinese companies do not want to invest because of uncertainty in Myanmar. Also, investors would be paid in kyats for their electricity, and the kyat is depreciating. This is also a challenge to potential investors,” he said.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s family and their cronies have won licenses to operate solar power plants. But they themselves do not want to make huge investments for the long term, and are seeking business partners, he added.
An energy expert told The Irrawaddy: “Foreign investors consider country risk [the risk of investing or lending in a country] as more important than tax exemptions. If a country is unstable, and risk is high, international banks will not grant loans for investment in that country. So, we can’t expect foreign investors to come just because of low tax.”
Another local business owner engaged in electricity production said the regime has introduced tax exemption not out of a desire for electricity sector development but because junta leaders are interested in potential profits from the industry.
The World Bank and other international agencies that had been providing financial and technical assistance for Myanmar’s electricity sector suspended their assistance following the coup. Electricity projects have also stalled.
Suspended projects include a 35-million-euro hydropower plant on the Salween River to be built with loans from French development agency AFD, and a Japan-backed US$ 2 billion LNG (liquefied natural gas) power plant in Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-based VPower halted electricity generation at its 400-megawatt (MW) LNG power plant in Yangon’s Thaketa Township and 350MW power plant in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in July 2021, citing rising LNG prices in the international market and depreciation of the kyat against the dollar.
In September that year, VPower announced it had pulled out of two power projects, each with a capacity of 200MW, in Rakhine State’s Kyaukphyu and Mandalay Region’s Myingyan.
In May 2020, the now ousted National League for Democracy government invited bids for the construction of 29 ground-mounted solar projects capable of generating a total of 1 gigawatt of power under a 20-year build-operate-and-own contract. Chinese companies and their consortia won the bids to build 28 of the 29 plants.
The military regime cancelled tenders for 26 solar power projects and blacklisted the Chinese companies after they stalled on the projects following the coup.
Myanmar has suffered rolling blackouts since late 2021 since the regime ow mainly relies on hydropower plants to supply electricity.
The country’s total electricity production capacity currently stands at 3,600 megawatts, with Chinese companies accounting for about 2,000 megawatts and 56 percent of investment in Myanmar’s electricity sector, according to an August 2022 report of the Institute for Strategy and Policy..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, The Burmese military's role in the economy
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As evidence grows of British companies’ involvement in Burma’s gas industry, Burma Campaign UK is calling on the British government to sanction the military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.
The British government must take action to prevent British companies being involved in Burma’s gas industry, which earns the Burmese military more than $2bn a year. They must also work with allies to prevent gas revenue reaching the Burmese military.
British involvement in Burma’s gas industry includes:
InterMoor, a subsidiary of British company Acteon Group, has been working on the Shwe gas project in Burma.
A holding company in Bermuda, a British overseas territory, is being used by Canadian company MTI Energy to purchase a 41% stake in the Yadana gas project.
Burma Campaign UK is working to confirm information about British insurance companies insuring vessels and infrastructure for gas projects in Burma.
“British companies involved in the gas industry in Burma are facilitating an industry which enables the Burmese military to receive billions of dollars,” said Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Gas sales provide revenue which the Burmese military can use for the purchase of arms and equipment, including the jets used for airstrikes against civilians.”
The British government has a policy of systematically identifying and sanctioning sources of revenue, arms and equipment to the Burmese military. However, the policy is being implemented too slowly.
Burma Campaign UK is calling on Foreign Secretary James Cleverly MP to speed up the implementation of sanctions against other sources of revenue and arms.
The British government should seek to find creative ways of preventing gas revenue reaching the Burmese military, such as the creation of escrow accounts and sanctioning international bank accounts of MOGE.
Burma Campaign UK is asking supporters to write to the Foreign Secretary calling on him to sanction MOGE..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-27
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Oil and gas, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Prime Minister Should Fulfill Pledge by Stopping Payments, Imposing Sanctions
Description:
"During a televised parliamentary budget session on Wednesday, February 22, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his government will “appropriately handle” a development aid project in Myanmar that is benefiting the country’s abusive military. Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese foreign minister, echoed the prime minister’s public pledge to take appropriate action.
The leaders’ comments came in response to questions from an opposition politician about Japan’s Bago River Bridge Construction Project, being built partly by Japanese construction giant Yokogawa Bridge Corp. In March 2021, Myanmar Now reported that a steel mill owned by the military-owned conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) was supplying steel for the project and “profiting enormously.” Financial transactions analyzed by Human Rights Watch show that from July 2022 to January 2023, Yokogawa Bridge Corp. transferred around US$2 million to MEC for the project, with United States government approval.
MEC generates vast revenue through businesses in sectors including manufacturing, mining, and telecommunications, according to a 2019 report by the United Nations-backed Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. The US, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia have sanctioned MEC and Myanmar’s other military conglomerate, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited, for their role in generating significant revenues that help fund military abuses.
Since the February 2021 military coup, Myanmar’s military has been responsible for widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Prior to the coup, Myanmar’s security forces committed crimes against humanity and genocidal acts against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Rakhine State, forcing thousands to flee to Bangladesh, where about 900,000 Rohingya are currently living in overcrowded camps. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine State, where they are subject to persecution and violence, confined to camps and villages without freedom of movement, and cut off from access to adequate food, health care, education, and livelihoods.
If Japan’s prime minister and foreign minister are serious about “swiftly restor[ing] Myanmar’s democratic political system,” they should fulfill their own pledge and take concrete action. This means stopping payments to MEC, suspending all non-humanitarian aid to Myanmar, and imposing targeted economic sanctions on military leaders and military-owned conglomerates..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Watch (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"Two years after the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1st February 2021, the Council adopted today restrictive measures against 9 persons and 7 entities in view of the continuing escalation of violence, grave human rights violations and threats to the peace, security and stability in Myanmar/Burma.
The sanctioned individuals include the Minister for Energy, prominent businessmen who have supported the regime’s repression with arms and dual use goods, and high-ranking officers in the Myanmar armed forces that are closely associated with the regime. Also listed are politicians and administrators from the Yangon Region involved in the process of death sentences and execution of four democracy activists in July 2022, and in Kachin State, where they oversaw air strikes, massacres, raids, arson and the use of human shields committed by the military.
The listed entities include departments of the Ministry of Defence and a state-owned enterprise under its jurisdiction, as well as private companies supplying fuel, arms and funds to the military.
Restrictive measures currently apply to a total of 93 individuals and 18 entities. Those designated are subject to an asset freeze and a travel ban, which prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory. In addition, EU persons and entities are prohibited to make funds available to those listed.
Other EU restrictive measure will remain in place: the embargo on arms and equipment and export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications which might be used for internal repression, the export ban on dual-use goods for use by the military and border guard police, and the prohibition of military training and cooperation with the Tatmadaw.
The restrictive measures come in addition to the withholding of EU financial assistance directly going to the government and the freezing of all EU assistance that may be seen as legitimising the junta.
The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms the grave human rights violations, including sexual and gender-based violence, the persecution of civil society, human rights defenders and journalists, attacks on the civilian population, targeting also children and persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities across the country, and recent deadly air strikes on civilian targets, including on schools and hospitals, by the Myanmar armed forces. Those responsible for the coup, as well as the perpetrators of violence and gross human rights violations, should be held accountable. The EU reiterates its call for increased international preventive action, including an arms embargo in order to cease the sale and transfer of arms and equipment, as they facilitate the military’s atrocities.
All hostilities must stop immediately. The military authorities must fully respect international humanitarian law, and put an end to the indiscriminate use of force.
The European Union supports ASEAN’s and the UN´s efforts to help Myanmar to find a peaceful solution to the crisis and welcomes the UN Security Council’s adoption of Resolution 2669 on Myanmar. Myanmar should swiftly and faithfully implement ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, as reiterated at the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits in November 2022, and at the EU-ASEAN Commemorative Summit in December 2022.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Background
In February 2021, the Council adopted conclusions condemning in the strongest terms the military coup carried out in Myanmar/Burma.
On 31 January 2023, the High Representative issued a declaration on behalf of the EU on the 2nd anniversary of the military take-over stating that, in the absence of any swift progress on the situation in Myanmar, the EU stood ready to adopt further restrictive measures against those directly responsible for and those abetting the undermining of democracy and the serious human rights violations in the country.
The Council has imposed restrictive measures against those responsible for the military coup staged in Myanmar/Burma on 1 February 2021, and the subsequent military and police repression against peaceful demonstrators on 22 March, 19 April and 21 June 2021, and 21 February and 8 November 2022..."
Source/publisher:
Council of the European Union
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new European Union sanctions targeting the Burmese military and associates facilitating their crimes.
Nine people and seven companies/entities have been added to the list of those sanctioned.
This round of sanctions is well targeted, focusing on suppliers of aviation fuel, arms brokers, military procurement entities and members of the Burmese military and associated bodies.
The new sanctions apply to:
Aviation fuel supplier
Asia Sun Group
9 Individuals
Hlaing Oo, Chair of Myanmar Chemical and Machinery (MCM), who has brokered arms and equipment to the Burmese military.
Sit Taing Aung, who has brokered arms and equipment to the Burmese military.
Kyaw Min Oo, Director of Sky Aviator, who has brokered arms and equipment to the Burmese military.
Moe Aung, Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Navy.
Maung Maung Aye, Chief of General Staff for the Myanmar army, navy, and air force.
Myo Myint Aung, Yangon Region economic Minister of the State Administration Council (SAC).
Zin Min Htet, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs and Chief of the Myanmar Police Force.
Ko Ko Maung, Regional Military Commander in Kachin State.
Myo Myint Oo, Union Minister for Energy.
3 Military arms procurement bodies
Myanmar Office of the Quarter Master General, Myanmar Directorate of Defense Industries, Myanmar Directorate of Defense Procurement.
3 Arms Brokers
Dynasty Group of Companies, International Gateways Group of Company Limited (IGG), and Sky Aviator Company Limited.
The new sanctions legislation is available here.
“These new EU sanctions are right on target, aimed at limiting airstrikes and supplies of arms and equipment, as well as targeting individuals responsible for serious human rights violations,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “The EU has the right approach, but they are moving too slowly to implement these sanctions. The delay in cutting off sources of revenue, arms, and equipment is costing lives.”
There were only two rounds of EU Burma sanctions in 2022, despite the increased use of airstrikes against civilian targets, the first executions of political prisoners in decades, and the number of political prisoners reaching an all-time record high of more than 13,000.
Last week, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners – Burma reported that the number of those killed since the attempted coup began has reached 3,000. This figure is an underestimate because of the challenges of documentation in many parts of the country.
“Two years on from the coup, there are hundreds of companies and individuals which should be sanctioned, but have not been,” said Anna Roberts. “The people of Burma are doing everything they can to resist military rule and defend human rights, but the same can’t be said for the EU, UK or USA. The EU is implementing the right policy, but far too slowly.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Buddhist Economics, Sanctions, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Description:
"A Justice For Myanmar investigation using open source and leaked documents has identified 22 international oilfield services companies active in Myanmar since the military’s illegal attempted coup.
The oil and gas sector in Myanmar is illegally controlled by the junta and is its biggest source of foreign revenue, bankrolling the military’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
These oilfield services companies provide critical support and equipment to the sector, from drilling to maintenance to supply. By doing so, they help to keep the gas revenues flowing to the junta, making them complicit in its international crimes.
8 of the companies identified are either fully or partially based in the USA, including the biggest companies in the sector: Halliburton, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes, which have branch offices in Myanmar that remain active.
Tax filings for the first year of the military’s coup attempt, provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets, show earnings in the millions of US dollars.
The activities of US oilfield services companies have been encouraged by the failure of the US government to sanction Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), an agency illegally controlled by the junta.
MOGE regulates the sector and acts as both a state revenue collector and commercial partner in oil and gas projects, ensuring the junta gets lucrative tax and royalty payments, as well as a vast share of profits.
Concerningly, the continued presence of US companies has been encouraged by the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, which lists the oil and gas industry in Myanmar as a “best prospect industry” and encourages US companies to seek opportunities, including applying for junta tenders.
With the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law in December, the US must act now and impose sanction on MOGE, in coordination with its allies the UK, Canada and Australia.
Oilfield services companies outside the EU, where sanctions on MOGE are already in place, must uphold their international law and due diligence responsibilities and stop their activities in Myanmar unless the projects they are working on suspend payments to the junta, and withhold them in protected accounts.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Oilfield services companies in Myanmar have blood on their hands for operating in an industry that bankrolls the illegal Myanmar military junta, as it wages a campaign of terror against the people.
“It is deplorable that giants such as Halliburton, Diamond Offshore Drilling and Schlumberger that are listed on US stock exchanges have maintained operations in Myanmar, helping to keep oil and gas revenue flowing to the junta. Their business has helped the junta purchase the bullets, bombs and jet fuel that it needs for its indiscriminate attacks.
“These companies have breached their international legal responsibilities and are complicit in the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity by knowingly servicing oil and gas projects that fund the junta’s atrocities.
“We call on all oilfield services companies to suspend operations on projects that are funding the junta.
“The activities of US oilfield services companies following the military’s coup attempt demonstrates a failure of the US Government to take decisive action against the junta and its terror campaign by sanctioning MOGE.
“The Biden Administration’s contradictory approach to Myanmar has allowed US oil and gas corporations to continue business as usual in Myanmar, enabling the junta’s international crimes.
“While the Department of State has warned that dealing with MOGE risks money laundering, furthering corruption and contributing to serious human rights violations, the US Department of Commerce is advising US companies to seek profits in the oil and gas sectors in Myanmar and to compete for MOGE tenders.
“We call on the US and its allies Australia, Canada and the UK to stand with the people of Myanmar by imposing sanctions on MOGE and helping to cut the flow of funds to the junta.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"US oil major Chevon is selling its 41.1% stake in the Yadana Gas Project to a subsidiary of the Canadian oil company MTI Energy. Chevron first disclosed the deal to the Guardian.
Yadana is the biggest gas project in Myanmar, within an industry that is the largest source of foreign revenue for the illegal military junta. Gas revenue bankrolls the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Yadana project was formerly operated by TotalEnergies, which withdrew in 2022, increasing Chevron’s stake to 41.1%, the largest in the consortium. Other stakeholders in the project are PTTEP, the current operator, and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), a state agency illegally controlled by the junta.
Through the sale, MTI Energy and Chevron will ensure funds continue to flow to the junta, making them complicit in the junta’s international crimes.
Who is MTI Energy?
MTI Energy Inc, based in Edmonton, Alberta, is an offshoot of oilfield equipment manufacturer Mitey Titan Industries and located at the same address. MTI Energy CEO Mehtab (Tab) Khehra has been described as heading “a whole galaxy of service companies active in Cameroon, Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and especially Nigeria.”
An Alberta registry search shows that the company has four directors, including Toronto corporate lawyer, Ralph Lean, and Adewale Olorunsola (AKA Wale Sola), who heads the Nigerian-Canadian merchant bank, Rein Capital. Rein Capital subsidiary, Rein Energy, is a shareholder in MTI subsidiaries Shibah Energy and Caxes Energy, according to data from the Dutch corporate registry.
In 2021, Shibah Energy and Caxes Energy took over Chevron’s stake in Brazil’s Papa-Terra field. MTI Energy also secured four blocks in 2021 in Angola.
MTI Energy is registered as having no shareholders and it is unclear who the company’s profits are distributed to.
MTI Energy is purchasing Chevron’s stake through its Bermuda subsidiary, Et Martem Holdings. Bermuda is a tax haven and secrecy jurisdiction.
As a UK overseas territory, Bermuda has implemented UK sanctions on Myanmar under the territory’s International Sanctions Regulations 2013.
However, with MOGE unsanctioned in either jurisdiction, Canadian and UK sanctions appear insufficient in preventing the transaction.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “Chevron’s irresponsible sale of its stake in the Yadana Project to MTI Energy will ensure that gas funds keep flowing to the illegal Myanmar junta, bankrolling their campaign of terror in response to two years of mass resistance that has prevented the junta from gaining control of Myanmar.
“MTI Energy’s investment will make the company complicit in the junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“We condemn MTI Energy’s total disregard for the lives and democratic will of the people of Myanmar, and its blatant breach of the company’s obligations under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
“This sale is the result of failures of the Canadian and UK governments to sanction Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
“Is the Canadian government willing to stand by while a Canadian company takes over the largest stake in such a significant gas project that enriches the murderous, illegal junta?
“We call on the Canadian and UK governments to immediately sanction MOGE and prevent companies in their territories from financing the junta’s international crimes."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"The NUG welcomes the long-awaited sanctions imposed by the Australian government targeting 16 military individuals including Min Aung Hlaing himself and his deputy Soe Win and 2 entities (Myanmar Economic Cooperation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd) on the second anniversary of the Coup.
The NUG also appreciates another wave of sanctions released by the US, UK and Canadian governments. The US has sanctioned six individuals: 3 from MOGE, 2 former and current military officials, 1 individual, daughter of Tay Za, as financial support to military regime and three entities: the Union Election Commission (UEC), and Mining Enterprises No 1 and 2. The new sanctions by the UK government target two individuals and two companies that play an important role in aviation fuel supply to the junta. The Canadian government targets 6 individuals and imposes a prohibition related to the export, sales and supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar military - the first such embargo in the world, and one we hope other nations will follow as a necessary step to limiting the junta's ability to bombard civilians from the air.
These new sanctions are significant measures to tackle a worsening conflict and in particular ongoing air strikes against civilians amid a range of other barbaric attacks by the military. The junta has been indiscriminately targeting civilians and villages with the use of heavy weapons and artillery air strikes. Coordinated and targeted sanctions such as these are necessary to lessen human rights violations and crimes against humanity by the military regime.
We are grateful for the work of the Australian, US, UK and Canadian governments in placing these important sanctions to slow the military's capacity to continue their campaign of terror and repression. We are hopeful that further targeted sanctions will follow, and we hope that more countries follow suit.
We once again request that all governments and the international community immediately place aggressive, targeted sanctions on the military regime and those who support and supply them, in particular restricting the supply of munitions, weapons, and jet fuel..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of International Cooperation Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-02-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Title: JFM welcomes targeted sanctions imposed on Myanmar junta two years after illegal coup attempt
Description:
"Justice For Myanmar welcomes sanctions imposed by Australia, Canada, the UK and USA on members of the terrorist Myanmar military junta, its businesses and jet fuel suppliers to mark the second anniversary of the military’s illegal coup attempt.
The new sanctions come as the people of Myanmar continue to courageously resist the junta in the face of its nationwide campaign of terror, ensuring its attempted coup is failing.
The junta’s response to mass resistance has been the continued commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity, murdering over 2,900 people, arbitrarily arresting over 17,000 more, displacing 1.1 million people and carrying out indiscriminate air strikes across Myanmar, enabled by the supply of funds, arms and jet fuel.
Canada and the UK have both responded to a grassroots and international campaign to stop jet fuel sales to the military.
Canada is the first jurisdiction in the world to ban the supply of jet fuel to the junta, while the UK has sanctioned crony companies Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Company Limited, both part of Asia Sun Group, which broker the supply of jet fuel to the junta and stand complicit in its international crimes.
In November, Amnesty International released Deadly Cargo, a report into the Myanmar military’s jet fuel supply chain with research supported by Justice For Myanmar. The report named Asia Sun Trading and Cargo Link.
At the time, Justice For Myanmar also published a list of Asia Sun Group companies, directors and shareholder for targeted sanctions.
The US has sanctioned the illegal junta’s energy minister and the managing director and deputy managing director of Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), responsible for the junta’s biggest source of foreign revenue. But the US has disappointingly failed to sanction MOGE.
The US has also sanctioned Mining Enterprise No. 1 and Mining Enterprise No. 2, lucrative state agencies illegally controlled by the junta.
Australia has sanctioned military conglomerates Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), Myanma Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and 16 junta members, including war criminals Min Aung Hlaing and Soe Win, after refusing to sanction them in response to their role in the military’s genocide against the Rohingya.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We welcome the latest round of sanctions from Australia, Canada, the UK and USA, which target military conglomerates, state-owned enterprises illegally controlled by the junta, and the military’s jet fuel supply chain.
“The people of Myanmar have sustained mass resistance to the military’s brutal and illegal coup attempt and its campaign of terror, ensuring that the coup and the junta’s sham so-called ‘elections’ will not succeed.
“The military junta’s ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity are enabled by the flow of funds, arms and jet fuel.
“While these latest sanctions are a positive step in cutting the junta’s access to resources, far more needs to be done to coordinate sanctions that systematically target the junta’s sources of revenue, arms and jet fuel.
“So far, only the EU has sanctioned MOGE, which bankrolls the junta. We call on the US, UK, Canada and Australia to follow the EU and also sanction MOGE.
“We call on the US, UK, EU and Australia to follow Canada in imposing a complete ban on the supply of jet fuel to the junta.
“Democracies in the region, including Japan, South Korea and India, must also urgently step up and sanction the junta, its businesses and arms brokers.
“The international community must take concerted action against the junta, a terrorist organisation, hold perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to account, and stand with the people of Myanmar.
“The Spring Revolution will prevail.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"January 31, 2023 – Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada
On the eve of the second anniversary of the coup d’état by the Myanmar military, the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today announced additional sanctions under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations against six individuals and a new prohibition on the export, sale, supply or shipment of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military regime.
Within two years, the regime has completely reversed a decade of democratic progress, plunging the country into political, economic and humanitarian crises, killing thousands of men, women, and children, detaining many thousands more, and forcing the displacement of over one million. The worsening crises in Myanmar continue to undermine peace, prosperity, and stability for the country’s neighbours and the broader region.
The sanctions announced today, in coordination with our international partners, including the United Kingdom and the United States, respond to the ongoing repression of the people of Myanmar by the military. Canada’s measures are in direct response to worsening armed conflict, in particular the increased use of aerial attacks against civilians, in contravention of international humanitarian law. They also respond to deeply concerning reports of serious violations of international human rights law by the military regime.
These latest measures are complementary to broader ASEAN efforts and its Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar. These sanctions are in line with Canada’s commitments under its Indo-Pacific Strategy, including promoting peace, resilience and security, and upholding democracy and human rights.
On the second anniversary of the Myanmar coup, Canada reiterates continued support for the people of Myanmar and their aspirations for an inclusive and democratic society, and for the range of pro-democracy actors advancing a peaceful return to a democratic, peaceful and inclusive Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
Government of Canada
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Description:
"Burma Campaign UK today welcomed new UK sanctions targeting suppliers of aviation fuel to the Burmese military. Limiting the ability of the Burmese military to carry out airstrikes is one of the single most effective steps the international community can do to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Burma.
The British government today announced sanctions on:
Asia Sun Trading Company Limited and Cargo Link Company Limited both part of what is known as the Asia Sun group which dominates the aviation fuel sector in Myanmar and are involved in the transfer of aviation fuel to the Myanmar Air Force.
Zaw Min Tun: Director and sole shareholder of Asia Sun Trading.
Win Kyaw Kyaw Aung: former Director and shareholder of Asia Sun Trading.
The British government statement is here.
“The British government is spot on, targeting suppliers of aviation fuel to the military, but they need to go further and faster to cut supplies to Burma, as the military seize civilian supplies of aviation fuel,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK.
However, Burma Campaign UK is extremely disappointed by the incredibly slow pace of the implementation of sanctions.
“Two years on from the attempted coup starting there are still numerous sources of revenue and arms which have yet to be sanctioned,” said Anna Roberts. “The snail’s pace of sanctions implementation allows the military to access more revenue and arms. Foreign Office ministers need to devote more resources to the speedy implementation of sanctions.”
As the military fails to consolidate its coup in the face of growing resistance, it is using increasingly desperate tactics, including daily airstrikes and artillery strikes against civilians, displacing more than a million people.
Last year Amnesty International published a report exposing aviation fuel suppliers to Burma: The report is available here...https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2022/11/myanmar-the-supply-chain-fueling-war-crimes/..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Description:
"Action Taken in Coordination with the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada
WASHINGTON – Today, on the day before the two-year anniversary of the brutal military coup d’état that deposed Burma’s democratically elected government, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating six individuals and three entities connected to Burma’s military regime pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14014. This action will occur in conjunction with actions taken by both the United Kingdom and Canada.
On February 1, 2021, Burma’s military overthrew the democratically elected government and removed the civilian government leaders from power, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past two years, the military has continued to use violence and oppression to deny the people of Burma the ability to choose their own leaders. Burma’s military regime has used its military aircraft to conduct aerial bombings and other attacks against pro-democracy forces, killing and displacing countless civilians.
“Two years after Burma’s military forcibly overthrew the democratically elected government of Burma, the United States, along with partner nations like the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, continue to stand with the people of Burma as they seek freedom and democracy,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States will continue to promote accountability for those who provide financial and material support to, and directly enable, the violent suppression of democracy in Burma.”
BURMESE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES
Following the 2021 coup, Burma’s military regime appointed new members to the UNION ELECTION COMMISSION (UEC) — including Thein Soe, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on April 21, 2021 — to oversee a post-coup do-over vote after rejecting the results of the November 2020 democratic election. The UEC is the constitutionally mandated body that is responsible for election-related procedures and activities, including organizing, verifying, and announcing election results.
Additionally, the regime has continued to control and benefit from the extraction and export of natural resources of Burma and has utilized various state-owned entities (SOEs) that are fully owned by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) to act as joint venture partners, as well as regulators and policymakers. MINING ENTERPRISE NO 1, which was previously designated by the European Union on February 21, 2022, and MINING ENTERPRISE NO 2 are two such SOEs that play a dominant role in Burma’s mineral sector.
The UEC, Mining Enterprise No 1, and Mining Enterprise No 2 are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being a political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the Government of Burma.
BURMESE ENERGY OFFICIALS
Since the 2021 coup, Burma’s military regime has continued to benefit from the substantial revenue provided by the production and export of oil and gas, which generates over $1 billion in revenue annually and is the single largest source of foreign currency revenue for the regime. Burma’s Ministry of Energy is controlled by the State Administration Council, which was designated on April 21, 2021 pursuant to E.O. 14014; manages the energy sector; and controls the SOEs involved in the production of oil and gas, including the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Myo Myint Oo is the Union Minister of Energy. The Union Minister of Energy represents the Government of Burma in international and domestic energy sector engagements, while also managing the state-owned entities involved in the production and export of oil and gas.
Aung Min is the Managing Director and Than Min is the Deputy Managing Director of MOGE. As managing director and deputy managing director, both individuals are directly involved in the day-to-day operations and management of the regime’s single largest revenue generating SOE.
Myo Myint Oo, Aung Min, and Than Min are being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being or having been leaders or officials of the Government of Burma on or after February 2, 2021.
FORMER AND CURRENT BURMESE MILITARY OFFICIALS
Additionally, despite the international condemnation of the collateral damage caused by aerial attacks, Burma’s Air Force has continued to launch airstrikes against pro-democracy forces that have killed civilians and caused the displacement of tens of thousands of people. General Maung Maung Kyaw, who was previously the head of Burma’s Air Force and was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on February 22, 2021, was replaced by Htun Aung, who was previously the Air Force’s Chief of Staff, on January 12, 2022.
Htun Aung is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being or having been a leader or official of the military or security forces of Burma.
Hla Swe is an ex-military official and a former lawmaker under the military-associated Union Solidarity and Development Party who has admitted to helping to provide training and secure arms for pro-regime militias. Hla Swe is considered the man behind a pro-regime publication that regularly publishes death threats against members of minority groups.
Hla Swe is being designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, actions or policies that threaten the peace, security, or stability of Burma.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO BURMA’S MILITARY REGIME
Htoo Htwe Tay Za is the adult daughter of Tay Za, who was designated pursuant to E.O. 14014 on January 31, 2022. The Tay Za family, including Htoo Htwe Tay Za, are directors and shareholders of numerous subsidiaries and associated companies of Htoo Group of Companies, which was designated pursuant to E.O 14014 on March 25, 2022, including at least one subsidiary developing properties on land leased from the Burmese military.
Htoo Htwe Tay Za is being designated for being an adult child of Tay Za, a person whose property and interest in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14014.
On January 26, 2022, the U.S. government issued a business advisory to inform the public of the heightened risks associated with doing business in Burma, “Risks and Considerations for Businesses and Individuals with Exposure to Entities Responsible for Undermining Democratic Processes, Facilitating Corruption, and Committing Human Rights Abuses in Burma (Myanmar).”
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the persons named above that are in the United States, or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, please refer to OFAC’s Frequently Asked Question 897. For detailed information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list, please refer to OFAC’s website..."
Source/publisher:
United States Department of the Treasury (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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Sub-title:
The UK announced sanctions to increase pressure on the Myanmar military junta, coinciding with the 2-year anniversary of the coup that ousted an elected government.
Description:
"UK announces further round of sanctions to ratchet up pressure on Myanmar military junta
announced ahead of 2-year anniversary of 1 February coup
sanctions target enablers of air force bombing campaign and repression of the civilian population
Companies supplying the Myanmar Air Force with the aviation fuel to carry out its relentless bombing campaign against innocent people have been targeted by the UK in the latest round of sanctions, announced to coincide with the second anniversary of the brutal coup that ousted Myanmar’s elected government.
Two companies and 2 individuals, all associated with what is known as the Asia Sun group, and integral to the aviation fuel industry in Myanmar, have been sanctioned. The group supplies fuel to the Myanmar Air Force enabling its barbaric air raiding campaign in an attempt to maintain power, killing thousands and displacing hundreds of thousands of Myanmar’s people in the process.
The first of February 2023 marks 2 years since the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically-elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, and installed a military regime. Since then, they have used violence and atrocities to maintain power and supress any opposition voices.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said:
Our sanctions are meticulously targeted to deliver maximum impact, reducing the military’s access to finance, fuel, arms and equipment.
The junta must be held to account for their brutal crackdown on opposition voices, terrorising air raids and brazen human rights violations.
The UK has led a strong, coordinated international response to support the people of Myanmar, their democratic demands and right to fundamental freedoms.
The UK has worked with partners including Canada, the United States and the European Union since the coup to impose coordinated and targeted sanctions against the military regime, its business interests and those who facilitate and profit from its brutal campaign.
Since the coup, the UK has now sanctioned 18 individuals and 30 entities, targeting those responsible for the coup, the subsequent violence, and those facilitating it. These sanctions raise the cost for those aligned with and supporting the regime’s campaign of terror. The UK will continue to use economic statecraft to restrict the military’s access to finance and arms and increase the pressure on them to engage with calls for a return to democracy.
As part of its commitment to a free and open Indo Pacific, the UK has led the international community’s work to support a peaceful resolution in Myanmar and a return to democracy; and pushing for progress towards accountability and justice. It has also played a key role in calling on countries around the world to end the sale and transfer of arms and equipment which facilitate the military’s atrocities.
At the United Nations, the UK successfully passed a Security Council Resolution on the crisis, the first of its kind, to apply further pressure on the military junta to end its violence. It also strongly supports ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus, which demands the military immediately ceases its violence and engages in constructive dialogue with all parties..."
Source/publisher:
Govt. UK (London)
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-31
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"An application for a criminal investigation into the activities of the NASDAQ-listed Israeli surveillance firm Cognyte Software Ltd and officials from the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been filed with Israel’s Attorney General, over the suspected aiding and abetting of crimes against humanity in Myanmar.
The application concerns Cognyte winning a tender from the state-owned Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) for a fixed data lawful interception gateway in 2020, with knowledge that it would provide the Myanmar military with capabilities to tap the calls of activists, journalists and politicians, thereby supporting the military’s international crimes. At the time, no safeguards were in place to protect the people of Myanmar from military surveillance.
The application:
argues that Cognyte and officials in Israel’s Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs aided and abetted crimes against humanity by supplying the Myanmar military with access to surveillance equipment knowing that the military was committing atrocity crimes;
calls for concerned individuals to be prosecuted under Israel’s Penal Code;
calls on Israeli authorities to immediately seize relevant documents from the offices of Cognyte, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to avoid the concealment of evidence and potential disruption to the investigation.
The application was filed with Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on January 2 by the advocate Eitay Mack on behalf of more than 60 Israeli citizens, among them the former speaker of the Knesset Avraham ("Avrum") Burg, prominent academics Prof. Eva Illouz, and Prof. Ruth HaCohen Pinczower, and human rights activists.
JFM calls on Israel’s Attorney General to take urgent action in response to the application.
Cognyte’s Myanmar tender was revealed in leaked documents published by Justice For Myanmar.
Since the illegal coup attempt, the junta has built up a digital arsenal that supports its crimes against humanity, which have included the murder of more than 2,700 people and the arbitrarily arrest of more than 17,200, who face widespread torture.
In its 2021 country report on human rights in Myanmar, the US State Department found that “the regime regularly monitored private electronic communications through online surveillance; there were numerous reports that the regime monitored prodemocracy supporters” and that the military bought surveillance technology before its coup attempt.
MPT is controlled by the junta, and is jointly operated by the Japanese multinationals KDDI and Sumitomo Corporation.
In addition to the complaint for a criminal investigation, a letter has been sent to Israel’s Defense Exports Controls Agency (DECA) of the Ministry of Defense demanding it immediately cancel export and marketing licences granted to Cognyte for interception equipment to Myanmar.
Cognyte, formerly Verint Systems, has a history of selling surveillance technology to notorious regimes, including South Sudan, and it has been banned from Facebook. Last month, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund decided to exclude Cognyte over human rights concerns.
Cognyte has partnered with Khine Thitsar Company Limited, a Myanmar company whose owner Justice For Myanmar recently identified as brokering the supply of arms through an associated company, Bamar Pte Ltd. Khine Thitsar updated its website in the past weeks to list Cognyte as a partner and vendor.
According to a Justice For Myanmar source, Khine Thitsar received a payment from Cognyte in October 2021, more than eight months after the military launched its coup attempt.
The application for a criminal investigation follows a similar 2018 submission by Eitay Mack into the aiding and abetting of atrocity crimes by Israelis who exported arms to Myanmar; and a 2022 application requesting a criminal investigation into corruption over Israeli arms companies’ dealings with the Myanmar broker Dr Tun Min Latt and his conglomerate, Star Sapphire Group.
Justice For Myanmar is concerned that the 2018 complaint has not yet led to a criminal investigation and calls for it to be expedited.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “The complaint filed against Cognyte and Israeli officials raise urgent questions over Israeli support for the Myanmar military’s surveillance capabilities, which it uses to commit crimes against humanity.
“Cognyte’s contract with MPT comes in the aftermath of the Myanmar military’s crime of genocide against the Rohingya, and in a context where there were no safeguards to protect the people of Myanmar from military surveillance.
“It is inexcusable that Israeli officials approved Cognyte’s business in Myanmar, which has continued following the military’s coup attempt.
“Israeli officials and those in Cognyte who have enabled the supply of arms and dual use goods to the Myanmar military, aiding and abetting international crimes, must be held accountable.
“Cognyte’s business with MPT also raises serious questions for its joint operators, KDDI and Sumitomo Corporation, who have failed to fulfil their international human rights responsibilities.
“We call on KDDI and Sumitomo Corporation to immediately end all technical and financial support to the Myanmar junta, or responsibly divest.
“Investors in Cognyte, KDDI and Sumitomo Corporation should use their leverage to pressure these companies to end support for the junta immediately, or divest.
“Governments must urgently do more to cut the junta’s access to surveillance equipment, arms and funds, including through sanctions on Khine Thitsar Company Limited, the individuals involved and all other military brokers.”
Eitay Mack, Advocate, says: “The state of Israel has played a very important role in the establishment and organisation of the Myanmar military through its military aid, which has included weapons, training and military knowledge. The Myanmar military has used these with the intention to attack the people of Myanmar in an attempt to illegally seize power.
“Until now it was known that due to a petition to the High Court of Justice and huge public and media outrage in Israel, at the beginning of 2018 Israel’s Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs decided to stop all Israeli military exports to Myanmar and all Israeli defense companies stopped their activities there. This is what was said repeatedly to journalists, Knesset members and other individuals who contacted the MOD and the MFA.
“Now, JFM managed to prove that Israel’s MOD and MFA have lied, and again prioritised their interests with the Myanmar military over international law and any sense of morality.
“The danger is not theoretical. Cognyte's interception system could help the military’s manhunting of democracy activists and journalists. The fate of anyone in Myanmar located and arrested with the help of Cognyte's interception system would be to suffer the worst horrors.
“Cognyte didn't operate in Myanmar on its own. In order to transfer the company's system to Myanmar, it needed an export license, and even the participation of Cognyte in the tender in Myanmar required a marketing license, both from Israel’s MOD and MFA.
“This is why Cognyte and all the Israeli officials who allowed its operation in Myanmar must be brought to justice.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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207.85 KB 149.8 KB 1.54 MB 1.6 MB
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"The title of a luxury Bangkok condo and two Siam Commercial Bank passbooks belonging to the children of junta head and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing were among items confiscated during the arrest of Myanmar crony arms broker Tun Min Latt, Justice For Myanmar has revealed in a report today, based on the seizure record.
Tun Min Latt and three of his associates were arrested in dawn raids in Bangkok on September 17 and were indicted on December 13 on drug trafficking, money laundering and transnational organised crime charges.
Justice For Myanmar understands that Thai authorities have not seized the assets of Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon, despite evidence linking them to Tun Min Latt’s alleged criminal activities.
The title documents for a number of properties were confiscated belonging to Tun Min Latt and associates in his network.
Among them, a four-bedroom condo in Belle Rama 9 belonging to Aung Pyae Sone, Min Aung Hlaing’s son.
Comparable condos in Belle Rama 9 are being advertised for close to US$ 1 million.
The Siam Commercial Bank passbooks belong to Khin Thiri Thet Mon, Min Aung Hlaing’s daughter.
The condo title and passbooks were in the possession of Tun Min Latt at the time of his arrest.
Min Aung Hlaing and his two children are sanctioned by the US and Canada.
The revelations come as Min Aung Hlaing has maintained a close personal relationship with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, who became Prime Minister after leading a military coup in 2014. Thailand provides substantial support to the illegal junta through the purchase of natural gas.
Justice For Myanmar urges Thai authorities to seize the assets of Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon and investigate whether they have benefited from the proceeds of crime, and to block junta members, their families and enablers from accessing Thai banks and purchasing assets in Thailand.
Justice Myanmar calls on Thai banks to close accounts held by junta members, cronies and their families sanctioned in other jurisdictions.
Justice For Myanmar further calls on governments to urgently sanction financial enablers of the junta to cut its access to funds and block opportunities for generals and their families to profit from the illegal coup attempt and steal public assets from the people of Myanmar.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “The fact that Min Aung Hlaing’s children’s assets were in the possession of an international criminal should be a wake-up call to the Thai government and international community.
“Justice For Myanmar urges Thai authorities to seize Aung Pyae Sone and Khin Thiri Thet Mon’s assets and investigate whether they have benefited from the proceeds of Tun Min Latt’s alleged money laundering and drug trafficking and to hold them accountable for any violations of Thai law.
“The Myanmar military junta is both a terrorist organisation and a transnational criminal enterprise, working in partnership with criminal enablers like Tun Min Latt, who co-own a military-owned casino and has brokered arms while committing his alleged criminal activities.
“While the junta continues waging its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar, the families of junta members are hiding their stolen assets offshore, as they benefit from the military’s genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Thailand and other governments must urgently block the transfer of stolen assets from Myanmar and close access to the international financial system for junta members and their families, or risk complicity in the junta’s international crimes and corruption.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political History
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
141.19 KB 89.02 KB
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Description:
"Six civil society organizations that work on business and human rights sent a letter dated September 30, 2022 to 160 major investors in MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank, major Japanese banks that are investing or lending to projects that may benefit the Myanmar military, or that hold shares in companies that may be complicit in human rights violations in Myanmar. In their human rights policies, the financial groups that oversee each of the banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mitsui Sumitomo Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group, support international human rights standards such as the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and are expected to implement those standards without fail.
The letter requested that the institutions holding shares in the three banks promptly engage with the banks to take the "measures required of banks" shown in the letter, and that if the three banks do not take measures even after engagement, to consider divestment.
The recipients of the letter included multiple pension funds and mutual aid associations. So far, in addition to the Council on Ethics that manages four pension funds in Sweden that welcomed our input, we have received responses from nine institutions. One of the nine stated that it would conduct engagement, and two others said that they would utilize our request in their analyses of corporations and future engagement. However, the remaining recipients did not disclose information about specific activities including whether or not they were conducting engagement. Further, the recipients included multiple mutual aid associations for civil servants in Japan, but none of the associations even responded to our request.
In Myanmar, the military continues to commit international crimes such as the murder of people including children, unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced disappearance, and torture. Investors may be complicit if they neglect the fact that they hold shares in and receive dividends from companies that are funding these crimes. We strongly urge investors to take action towards improving the human rights situation in Myanmar, in accordance with their international human rights responsibilities.
Please refer to the letter linked below for further details.
[English] "Call for Engagement to Urge Banks to Take Measures to Stop the Flow of Funds to the Myanmar Military," dated September 30, 2022, sent to 160 institutional investors holding shares in MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, or Mizuho Bank..."
Source/publisher:
Mekong Watch, Friends of the Earth Japan, Justice For Myanmar, Network Against Japan Arms Trade, ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation and Japan International Volunteer Center
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
66.4 KB 108.52 KB
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Description:
"Six civil society organizations that work on business and human rights sent a letter dated September 30, 2022 to 160 major investors in MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank, major Japanese banks that are investing or lending to projects that may benefit the Myanmar military, or that hold shares in companies that may be complicit in human rights violations in Myanmar. In their human rights policies, the financial groups that oversee each of the banks, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mitsui Sumitomo Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group, support international human rights standards such as the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and are expected to implement those standards without fail.
The letter requested that the institutions holding shares in the three banks promptly engage with the banks to take the "measures required of banks" shown in the letter, and that if the three banks do not take measures even after engagement, to consider divestment.
The recipients of the letter included multiple pension funds and mutual aid associations. So far, in addition to the Council on Ethics that manages four pension funds in Sweden that welcomed our input, we have received responses from nine institutions. One of the nine stated that it would conduct engagement, and two others said that they would utilize our request in their analyses of corporations and future engagement. However, the remaining recipients did not disclose information about specific activities including whether or not they were conducting engagement. Further, the recipients included multiple mutual aid associations for civil servants in Japan, but none of the associations even responded to our request.
In Myanmar, the military continues to commit international crimes such as the murder of people including children, unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced disappearance, and torture. Investors may be complicit if they neglect the fact that they hold shares in and receive dividends from companies that are funding these crimes. We strongly urge investors to take action towards improving the human rights situation in Myanmar, in accordance with their international human rights responsibilities.
Please refer to the letter linked below for further details.
[English] "Call for Engagement to Urge Banks to Take Measures to Stop the Flow of Funds to the Myanmar Military," dated September 30, 2022, sent to 160 institutional investors holding shares in MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, or Mizuho Bank..."
Source/publisher:
Mekong Watch, Friends of the Earth Japan, Justice For Myanmar, Network Against Japan Arms Trade, ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation and Japan International Volunteer Center
Date of entry/update:
2023-01-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
66.4 KB 108.52 KB
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Description:
"The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group is divesting from Yoma Bank, Justice For Myanmar has confirmed through a source with knowledge of the transaction.
IFC owns 4.5% of Yoma Bank and is selling all its shares to First Myanmar Investment (FMI) for US$5 million, which equals the value IFC used to convert its 2014 loan to equity, which it completed in 2019.
IFC signed a share sales agreement with FMI and Yoma Bank on December 12, 2022.
The IFC’s divestment comes amid the Spring Revolution, with mass pressure from the people of Myanmar for companies to cut ties with the junta and its conglomerates. Yoma Bank has a record of doing business with the military and its conglomerates, which stand accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In 2020, Yoma Bank gave a loan to Pinnacle Asia, a Myanmar company owned by Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of military chief and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing. The loan supported the company to build towers for the military-owned mobile operator, Mytel.
Last month, Justice For Myanmar disclosed that as of March 2022, Yoma Bank held over $10 million in a US dollar account for Telecom International Myanmar, the owner of Mytel.
Also in November, a release of records from the military owned Innwa Bank by Distributed Denial of Secrets exposed over 200 transactions with Yoma Bank. Innwa Bank’s parent company, Myanmar Economic Corporation, is sanctioned by the US, EU, UK and Canada.
Last month, the Australian bank ANZ announced it is exiting Myanmar after its transactions with Innwa Bank were exposed.
Yoma Bank is controlled by FMI, a holding company listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. It is led by Serge Pun and backed by major international investors.
Greenwood Capital, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, owns 19.7% of Yoma Bank. The Norwegian development finance institution, Norfund, owns 10.6%.
FMI is buying out IFC’s shares through a transaction with Pun Holdings (HK) Limited, a holding company in Hong Kong.
Justice For Myanmar calls on Yoma Bank’s remaining international investors, Norfund and GIC, to use their leverage to stop the bank’s business with the military junta, its conglomerates and partners or responsibly divest, in accordance with their international human rights obligations.
IFC did not respond to questions from Justice For Myanmar regarding responsible disengagement from Yoma Bank.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "IFC’s divestment from Yoma Bank is a positive step if it cannot prevent the bank from doing business with the Myanmar military, which is waging a war of terror against the people of Myanmar.
“We urge IFC to responsibly disengage from Yoma Bank, in consultation with the National Unity Government, which is the legitimate government of Myanmar.
“IFC should be transparent over their divestment plans, human rights due diligence and any attempts they made to prevent Yoma Bank’s business with the junta and its conglomerates.
“IFC acquired equity in Yoma Bank following the Myanmar military’s 2017 campaign of genocide against the Rohingya, and should have done its due diligence at the time on the bank’s support for the Myanmar military, its businesses and associates.
“The fact that IFC failed to prevent Yoma Bank’s support for military businesses and Min Aung Hlaing’s own family suggests serious human rights failings that requires investigation and rectification if IFC plans to continue operating in Myanmar.
“IFC also must also stop renting an office in Sule Square, a development on land leased from the US sanctioned Quarter Master General Office, and end any remaining business with the junta, its conglomerates and partners.
“We call on Yoma Bank’s remaining international investors, Norfund and GIC, to ensure Yoma Bank cuts all ties with the Myanmar junta, its businesses and partners or responsibly divest, in accordance with their international human rights responsibilities.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-12-20
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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160.71 KB
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"Burma Campaign UK today called on the Qatari government, currently hosting the football world cup, to stop allowing cargo vessels owned by the Burmese military to dock at ports in Qatar.
Cargo vessel U Thar is owned by Myanma Five Star Line, which in turn is owned by the Burmese military-owned conglomerate Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd. It is currently docked at state-owned Hamad port in Qatar.
Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd has been sanctioned by the UK, USA, Canada, and EU because of its role in funding the Burmese military, and thereby helping to fund the human rights violations they commit.
At the United Nations, Qatar has supported resolutions calling for an end to human rights violations by the Burmese military. As a member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Qatar has supported the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
“By allowing Burmese military-owned vessels to use Qatari ports, Qatar is helping the Burmese military to raise funds to commit the human rights violations which Qatar condemns,” said Mark Farmaner, Director at Burma Campaign UK. “It is not consistent for Qatar to condemn human rights violations by the Burmese military but do business with them at the same time. Qatar must ban the Burmese military from using its ports.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Burma Campaign UK" (London)
Date of entry/update:
2022-11-26
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Local URL:
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Description:
"Yoma Bank is providing banking services to Telecom International Myanmar Company Limited, the operator of the Myanmar military’s Mytel mobile network.
As of March 2022, Yoma Bank held over $10 million in a US dollar account for the company, Justice For Myanmar has confirmed.
Yoma is a Myanmar bank controlled by FMI, a holding company listed on the Yangon Stock Exchange. It is led by Serge Pun and backed by major international investors.
Greenwood Capital, an affiliate of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC, owns 19.7% of Yoma Bank. The Norwegian development finance institution Norfund owns 10.6%. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group owns 4.5%.
Telecom International Myanmar is a joint venture of the miliary conglomerate Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), which is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada. Other Mytel shareholders are Viettel Global Investment of Vietnam’s Ministry of National Defence, and Myanmar National Telecom Holdings, an investment vehicle for Myanmar cronies.
Mytel is incredibly lucrative. Myanmar’s generals benefit through access to Vietnamese investment and technology, and future profits. Justice For Myanmar estimates that Mytel’s Myanmar military owners are projected to earn more than US$700 million in a decade from Mytel’s fifth year of operation.
Mytel also provides the Myanmar military leadership with capabilities for surveillance of troops and the public.
The Myanmar army’s signals directorate is operationally linked to Mytel and the mobile network uses and maintains the military’s network of fibre optic cables. Mytel operates towers on military bases, which are likely used to supplement military communications.
Transaction records from the MEC-owned Innwa Bank, recently released by Distributed Denial of Secrets, revealedmore than 200 transactions with Yoma Bank, including transactions with MEC.
In 2020, Yoma Bank issued a loan to Pinnacle Asia, a tower company co-owned by Khin Thiri Thet Mon, daughter of military chief and war criminal Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The loan supported Pinnacle Asia to build towers for Mytel.
After Justice For Myanmar exposed the Yoma Bank loan to Pinnacle Asia, Norfund spokesperson Ylva Lindberg told Bistandsaktuelt that Yoma Bank will now use the UN Fact-Finding Mission as part of its standard background checks. However, she went on to say that “the military in Myanmar has a very extensive role in society and business, which makes it a demanding exercise to set a limit for indirect connections to the military… It is difficult to draw a clear line for how far the responsibility extends.”
Telecom International Myanmar was identified by the UN Fact-Finding Mission as a military business, yet it has remained a Yoma Bank customer.
After the latest revelations, Norfund told Bistandsaktuelt that, according to Yoma Bank, it cannot block transactions between its customers and Innwa Bank unless those accounts are blacklisted by the junta’s central bank, and that Yoma Bank cannot deny accounts to companies.
As the Myanmar junta’s war of terror intensifies, Justice For Myanmar calls on Yoma Bank and its investors to immediately end its business with Telecom International Myanmar and all other companies owned by the Myanmar military, which stands accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: "Mytel is a strategic resource of the illegal Myanmar military junta and the company aids and abets the junta’s war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“By providing banking services to Mytel, Yoma Bank is supporting its international law violations.
“Norfund, IFC and GIC have been warned about Yoma Bank's business with the Myanmar military and its associates, yet Yoma Bank’s business with the Myanmar military is continuing.
“If Norfund, IFC and GIC cannot stop their investee, Yoma Bank, from providing services to Mytel and transacting with Innwa Bank, then they should responsibly divest, in accordance with their international human rights responsibilities."..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-11-25
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, Sanctions, The Burmese military's role in the economy
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
151.22 KB
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"Justice For Myanmar cautiously welcomes ANZ’s announcement that they will exit Myanmar by early 2023.
ANZ will be the first international bank to leave Myanmar and its decision follows the blacklisting of Myanmar by the FATF.
Earlier this month, Justice For Myanmar exposed ANZ transactions with Innwa Bank, a subsidiary of the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), found in data released by Distributed Denial of Secrets.
MEC and Innwa Bank are sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada.
ANZ has also facilitated payments from its customers to the military junta.
Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung says: “We cautiously welcome ANZ’s decision to leave Myanmar and call on them to responsibly exit.
“This must involve mitigating and remedying the impact on their staff and ensuring that they repatriate all funds so they do not leave a windfall for the terrorist military junta.
“Since the military’s illegal attempted coup, ANZ has transacted with the US, UK and EU sanctioned Innwa Bank and facilitated customer payments to the military junta, enabled by the refusal of the Australian government to sanction the junta and its businesses.
"The Australian government's appalling inaction in response to the crisis in Myanmar undermines its democratic values and international obligations.
“We call on the Australian government to support the people of Myanmar and take a clear stand for democracy and human rights by sanctioning the illegal junta and its businesses.
“ANZ is the first international bank to leave Myanmar and their planned exit is another sign of the destruction the junta is causing to Myanmar’s economy through the military’s coup attempt, war of terror and proliferation of illicit business activities under control of or profiting the military and its associates.”..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-11-22
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The US $3.8 billion accounts for more than two-thirds of foreign investment.
Description:
"Myanmar has raked in $3.8 billion in foreign investment in the nation’s key energy sector as key Asian oil firms continue to do business with the military regime despite efforts to reduce cash flows to the junta since the February 2021 coup.
Earlier this month, independent research group the Institute for Strategy and Policy (Myanmar) reported that the junta had attracted U.S. $3.8 billion to Myanmar’s energy sector between its Feb. 1, 2021, takeover and Oct. 30, 2022, or nearly 68% of all foreign investment over the same period.
The report was based on numbers provided by the junta’s Directorate of Investment and Company Administration and comes despite a concerted effort by Western governments to cut off funding to the military regime through sanctions, citing its role in violence that has claimed the lives of at least 2,525 civilians since the coup.
It’s a substantial cash infusion for the junta, which observers expected would be starved of money 20 months after seizing power as foreign companies fled political turmoil and economic mismanagement by the regime. Since December, five major players in the country’s energy sector have announced their departure, including France’s Total, U.S.-based Chevron, Australia’s Woodside, Japan’s Mitsubishi and Malaysia’s Petronas.
However, Soe Thura Tun, minister of energy and electricity for Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government, questioned the accuracy of the junta’s numbers, which he said only accounted for the total amount of investment without addressing losses incurred from foreign companies leaving the country.
“The reality is that $1 billion came in as new investment while $1 billion of old investment pulled out,” he said.
“But the junta won’t include loss of investment in its calculations and showed only the total figure. I don’t believe that they have as much investment as they claim.”
‘Selfish opportunists’ ignore crisis
Despite the departures since December, companies such as Thailand’s PTTEP, South Korea’s POSCO, India-based ONGC, Nippon Oil of Japan and China-owned CNPC continue to operate in Myanmar and have become the major players in the country’s energy sector, expanding their presence to make up for the gaps.
Soe Thura Tun said that the shadow government is working with the international organizations to cut off that energy sector revenue and other sources of income, which rights groups allege is being used by the junta to crack down on pro-democracy civilians.
The junta, meanwhile, has ignored calls to seek a political compromise, prompting condemnation and sanctions from the global community.
Ko Ye, spokesman for the Blood Money Campaign, which seeks to shut down junta access to foreign income and international business, told RFA that the kind of foreign investment that has entered since the coup is “not good … for countries like Myanmar.”
“This kind of investment at this time of chaos in our country is the work of selfish opportunists,” he said. “Reputable and unbiased investments are hard to come by these days.”
According to Ko Ye, much of the new investment obtained by the junta in 2022 involved fuel, including for aircraft, and electricity production.
The National Unity Government and NGOs such as Blood Money Campaign estimate that as much as 50% of Myanmar’s total revenue comes from the energy and oil and gas sectors, and despite their efforts to reduce how much of that flows to the junta, they have a long way to go.
Junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun acknowledged in May that while energy sector production had seen a “pause” as the result of foreign investment withdrawals, Russia was expected to make up the difference with investments of its own “in the near future.”
Russia, China and ASEAN
A Myanmar-based economist, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, said that while Western sanctions have been effective, China, Russia, and some of Myanmar’s fellow Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states are continuing to prop up the regime with foreign investment.
“The NUG’s attempts to cut off the junta’s sources of income won’t have much of an impact on Russia and China, because those counties have always supported the military regime,” they said.
Than Soe Naing, a political analyst, said Myanmar’s neighboring nations should know how the junta rule has impacted the country more than most.
“We are dealing with selfish neighbors that prioritize their national interest above anything else,” he said.
“That’s why we have seen oil and gas companies from Thailand replace western corporations that pulled out, such as Chevron and Total Energy.”
Myanmar’s Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise, which is estimated to generate U.S. $1.5 billion in annual revenues – or half the country’s foreign currency reserves – signed a deal with Thailand’s PTTEP in August 2014 to cooperate on U.S. $72 billion-worth of energy projects.
Last week, the Blood Money Campaign issued a statement urging Thailand, which recently hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, to stop investing in Myanmar’s energy sector..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-11-22
[field_licence]
Type:
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy
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"Six civil society organizations that work on business and human rights sent a letter dated September 30, 2022 to 160 major investors in three major Japanese banks (MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and Mizuho Bank) that are investing or lending to projects that may benefit the Myanmar military, or that hold shares in Japanese companies that may be complicit in human rights violations in Myanmar. The letter urges the investors to engage with the banks.
Since the Myanmar military attempted a coup d'etat in February 2021, we have pointed out that some of the Japanese companies investing in projects in Myanmar may be complicit in human rights violations by the Myanmar military through business operations benefiting the military. Through letters of request and meetings, we have also asked these companies to act in accordance with their human rights policies and international human rights responsibilities. There is a strong concern that if these business operations continue or are conducted as planned, they will provide a source of funds for the Myanmar military, thereby facilitating the military’s international crimes, which include the murder of citizens, unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced disappearance, and torture.
In their human rights policies, the financial groups that oversee each of the banks (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Mitsui Sumitomo Financial Group, and Mizuho Financial Group) publicly state that they will follow and implement international human rights standards such as the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The letter requests that the institutions holding shares in the three banks promptly engage with the banks to take the "measures required of banks" shown in the letter, and that if the three banks do not take measures even after engagement, to consider divestment..."
Source/publisher:
Justice For Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2022-10-11
[field_licence]
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"CSW is calling on the Council of the European Union (EU) to introduce a fifth round of sanctions against the Myanmar/Burma military, with a particular focus on arms sales.
The EU has introduced four rounds of sanctions against the Myanmar army and its enterprises, and notably took the lead in sanctioning Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in February 2021. However, the EU’s last round of sanctions was over seven months ago, during which time Canada, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) have initiated new rounds of sanctions.
In a letter dated 29 September, signed by CSW’s Founder President Mervyn Thomas, and addressed to the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, and the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states, CSW urges the recipients to “expedite the introduction of new sanctions, targeting the sources of arms, equipment, and revenue of the Myanmar military.”
Since the February 2021 coup, the military junta’s increasing use of airstrikes against civilians and civilian structures has been a major driver of displacement, occasioning a humanitarian crisis.
In its letter, CSW contends that limiting the military’s access to parts, ammunition, and aviation fuel could assist in reducing its ability to wage war on civilians from the air, and by extension save lives. The letter suggests that targets for additional sanctions should include “the numerous arms brokers exposed by the advocacy group Justice for Myanmar.”
CSW Senior Analyst for East Asia Benedict Rogers said: “Since the coup in February 2021, the people of Myanmar have suffered crimes against humanity, violations of human rights and humanitarian law, and war crimes. We commend the EU for its first four rounds of sanctions. However, seven months after last the round, it is beginning to fall behind its allies, and is missing vital opportunities to further obstruct the military’s ability to continue its brutal campaign against civilians. By acting swiftly to sanction arms brokers highlighted by Justice for Myanmar, the EU will assist in saving civilians lives.”..."
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-29
[field_licence]
Type:
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Sub-title:
EU must introduce a new round of sanctions against the Myanmar military
Description:
"Your Excellencies will be aware of the horrific human rights violations that have taken place in Myanmar since the military coup last year.
Severe violations of human rights and humanitarian law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, are occurring on a daily basis. More than a million people are now displaced internally, and more than 15,000 people are detained arbitrarily. Military tribunals have handed down extremely harsh verdicts, including the death sentence.
The people of Myanmar continue to resist the military junta in the face of air and ground attacks on villages, mass arrests, severe repression, and the use of the death penalty for the first time in decades. They believe that there will be no positive future for their country for as long as the military remain in power, and have been calling for international action to cut off the supply of revenue and arms to the Myanmar military.
The people’s unwavering commitment to struggle for their freedoms is being paid for with lives. However, the European Union (EU), which initially surpassed other countries in sanctioning the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), has now fallen behind in sanctioning arms brokers.
The military junta is currently using aerial bombardment on an unprecedented scale. Airstrikes are a major driver of displacement and have occasioned a humanitarian crisis. Sanctioning the suppliers of parts, ammunition, and aviation fuel alongside further revenue sources could save lives by reducing the military’s ability to wage war on civilians from the air.
It is now seven months since the EU introduced new sanctions against the Myanmar military, and there is an urgent need for further sanctions, including against the numerous arms brokers exposed by the advocacy group Justice for Myanmar.
May I, therefore, urge you to expedite the introduction of new sanctions, targeting the sources of arms, equipment, and revenue of the Myanmar military..."
Source/publisher:
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-29
[field_licence]
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Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Sanctions, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Human Rights and international relations
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"20 September 2022, London, UK - The European Union must push further actions against the Burmese military and its interests. The EU led the way in sanctioning Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, but further action is required as the junta continues a campaign of rape, murder, and widespread destruction. BHRN calls on EU members, particularly France and Germany, to push for further sanctions to undermine the junta’s access to funds, weapons, and legitimacy.
“The EU’s sanctions on MOGE were a tremendous help in bringing the world together to stop the genocidal rampage of the Burmese military, but seven months have passed since the EU has issued any new sanctions. In that time, the military has only become more brazen in disregarding human dignity and rights. The attacks in the Sagaing Region have increased steadily, and murder and rape by junta soldiers are now common. The junta feels the pressure of being sanctioned, but they are fighting desperately to cling to power. We cannot let them win,” said BHRN’s Executive Director, Kyaw Win.
Fighting between the junta and democratic forces has spread throughout the country, and the military is struggling to maintain control. The junta is using its most inhumane tactics to reclaim territory and snuff out resistance. A democratic Burma remains possible, and the least the international community can do to help is to deprive the Burmese military of the money and weapons they use to terrorise the population.
BHRN calls on the European Union to take further steps to sanction the business interests of the Burmese military and its leaders, cut off Burma’s access to weapons, deny the junta any credibility internationally, and create a path of justice and accountability. While doing this, the international community, including the EU, must make greater efforts to support the National Unity Government and civil society organisations inside of Burma. The EU must also hold the NUG accountable for implementing a plan allowing full human rights and citizenship for all of Burma’s ethnics and religious minorities.
Organisation’s Background
BHRN is based in London and operates across Burma/Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in the country. BHRN has played a crucial role in advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders..."
Source/publisher:
Burma Human Rights Network
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-20
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Description:
"Qatari telecom Ooredoo’s operation in Myanmar is now de facto owned by Zaw Win Shein, a military crony and the adopted son of a general who served as a minister in the military proxy Thein Sein administration, which ran Myanmar from 2011 to early 2016.
Ooredoo Group announced on Sept. 8 the sale of its telecom business in Myanmar to Nine Communications Pte. Ltd. at an enterprise value of US$576 million.
Nine Communications is a Singapore-based subsidiary of Link Family Office and Nyan Win.
While details about Link Family Office are unknown, according to data from the Directorate of Investment and Company Registration, Nyan Win is a director of Horizon Telecom International Company Limited based in Myanmar. Two other directors of that telecom company are Ne Ne Hlawn Moe and Ye Myat Soe.
Ne Ne Hlwam Moe is the managing director of Ayeyar Hinthar Construction Co. Ltd, and Ye Myat Soe, who has been the CEO of Horizon Telecom, is also the managing director of A Bank.
A Bank and Ayeyar Hinthar Construction are businesses of Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings Company Limited, which is owned by Zaw Win Shein, according to the companies’ websites.
Zaw Win Shein is an adoptive son of Soe Maung, who was a key President’s Office minister when the military proxy Thein Sein administration was in power. Soe Maung is a retired major general and also a former judge advocate-general.
The Thein Sein government was replaced by a civilian government led by the NLD in 2016. Soe Maung founded the Democratic Party of National Politics (DNP) in 2019 with other retired generals and contested in the 2020 general election. He was also a close confidant of former military regime leader Than Shwe and a member of the military commission that drafted the 2008 Constitution.
According to business circles familiar with Zaw Win Shein and his conglomerate, Ayeyar Hinthar group’s capital mainly came from Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo, who is a former general and vice president during the Thein Sein administration; when the group was established in 2006, it was widely reported to be an asset of Naing Lin Oo, a former military captain who is the son of Thiha Thura Tin Aung Myint Oo. An executive committee member of the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry confirmed this. Naing Lin Oo and his wife Hnin Yee Mon are on a UK list of financial sanctions.
When the country entered a so-called democratic transition after a quasi-civilian government emerged in 2011, the transparency of the private sector was promoted and Ayeyar Hinthar group became Ayeyar Hinthar Holding. It is known as a conglomerate owned and operated by crony Zaw Win Shein.
Some of the leading businesspeople in Myanmar wondered how a conglomerate owned by Zaw Win Shein can afford half of a billion dollars to buy a telecom operator like Ooredoo during such a chaotic time, and suspected there could be unknown and/or invisible investors behind him.
“It is very risky to invest in such a big telecom during these days of economic decline. There might be some other investors behind it, even if it is publicly and officially bought by Ayeyar Hinthar,” said a businessman who is also a chair of a group of companies in Myanmar’s automobile industry.
The Ayeyar Hinthar group has engaged in several businesses with the Myanmar military. In one notorious example, it acts as a proxy company for the military at the Y Complex project in Yangon.
The Y Complex is built on land belonging to the Myanmar military, and, according to a copy of the lease revealed to the public by Justice for Myanmar, the money for the rent flows to the Quartermaster General’s office via a proxy company.
On March 20, 2021, French energy giant Électricité de France (EDF) suspended a hydropower project worth more than $1.5 billion in Myanmar’s Shan State over human rights concerns as the military regime continues to use lethal force to crack down on anti-coup protesters across the country then.
Électricité de France notified human rights groups that it has halted development of the Shweli-3 Project, including the activities of its subcontractors. Led by EDF, the 671 MW project was being jointly developed with a Japanese company and locally owned Ayeyar Hinthar.
“Now, Myanmar citizens have no choice at all as all the operators here in the country are owned or are still fully or de facto managed by the military regime, and also now, there is no operator too who would defend our rights to privacy,” said a female poet activist who has also been working for digital freedom..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
The junta’s gross mismanagement makes it even more unpopular amid currency, trade and banking chaos.
Description:
"Sept. 7 marked the first anniversary of the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar’s declaration of a defensive war against the military. Few at the time gave them much hope against a well-armed and brutal military that had ruled the country for all but seven of the past 60 years. But 19 months after the coup, Myanmar’s military is mired in a multi-front war and losing ground. Yet, the junta’s greatest vulnerability is the imploding economy.
The junta’s battlefield losses are real. The military is fighting with diminishing resources against a surprisingly durable alliance of the NUG, some 275 People’s Defense Force paramilitary groups under its chain of command, and several ethnic resistance organizations. There were more than 6,600 individual clashes in the past year.
A new report by the Special Advisory Council, a panel of former U.N. experts, contends that the junta only has effective control over 17% of the country, while the NUG and its allies control 52%. The remainder is contested space, and often the target of indiscriminate shelling against civilian communities and arson which has so far destroyed about 28,000 homes.
In addition, hostilities between junta forces and the well-armed Arakan Army, which has not formally aligned itself with the NUG, are escalating, putting more strain on the military.
The NUG has stepped up its attacks in cities, including bombings and the targeted assassination of military regime officials and their cronies. These attacks undermine the assertions of stability and normalcy from the State Administration Council (SAC), as the junta is formally known, to an urban population unaccustomed to war.
Estimates of junta casualties vary. The NUG says, perhaps optimistically, that 20,000 junta troops have been killed with an unknown number of wounded. (Conventional estimates are that the number of wounded are three times the number of killed in action). Others put the toll much lower, but it’s clear the military is suffering significant losses. It is also facing defections and desertions, while the NUG and allies are capturing more military personnel.
The military continues to wage its “four cuts” strategy, a doctrine based on terrorizing the population into submission. The NUG acknowledges that it has lost some 1,500 resistance fighters and 2,200 civilians in the year; both numbers are probably low estimates.
Yet the military has been unable to cow the civilian population into submission. The civil disobedience movement has continued, with daily protests breaking out across the country.
An Economy in Freefall
While the battlefield situation should concern the military, a greater worry should be the free fall in the economy.
The GDP contracted by 18% in 2021 and estimates for 2022, including the World Bank’s forecast of 3% growth, are overly optimistic.
Inflation was 14% in mid-2022 and is now over 18%, with rice prices up 35-50% and gas prices spiking amid shortages. This, of course, impacts production as many firms rely on generators due to electricity shortages. The International Monetary Fund estimates that 1.6 million jobs were lost in 2022, around 7 percent of the workforce. Forty percent of the population is now living under the poverty line.
The currency lost 60% of its value against the dollar in 2022. The kyat briefly traded at a record low, below 4,000 kyat to the U.S. dollar, while the official conversion rate is 2,100.
So what’s causing the collapse of the kyat?
First is the demand for foreign exchange, which is in very short supply. Indeed, the government issued regulations compelling businesses to sell their foreign exchange to the government at official rates.
Everyone is hoarding foreign exchange and gold, which is now trading at record highs. In September, the government announced the sale of some of its gold reserves to help stabilize prices.
The shortage of foreign exchange is so desperate that in July the Myanmar Central Bank issued orders to companies to stop servicing their $1.2 billion in foreign debts or renegotiate their repayment terms, which will have long-term ramifications for the country’s economic development.
Second is that exports, apart from monthly rents on oil and natural gas, have dried up, including border trade with China. That said, the state-run Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise is still collecting $800 million per quarter in gas export revenues alone. The pipelines to China and Thailand account for 10% of government revenue. This remains the junta’s financial
lifeline.
Third is that the Myanmar Central Bank is burning through its reserves. Prior to the coup it had $7.67 billion in reserves. Today, the junta claims $6 billion, an overestimate that also includes the $1.1 billion frozen by the United States.
Fourth is that according to the Nikkei Asian Review, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force is about to put Myanmar on its money laundering blacklist. Only two other states, Iran and North Korea, are on the blacklist. This is the international financial community labeling the SAC as a criminal enterprise, incapable of conducting any financial oversight.
While this does not prevent international businesses from doing business in Myanmar, it adds very onerous reporting requirements for every financial transaction. That alone will deter businesses, including Japanese, South Korean, Singaporean, and Thai firms that have continued to do business with the junta.
The fifth point to keep in mind is that the collapse of the kyat is ultimately about rock-bottom confidence in the military-run administration because of its incompetence. The SAC has moved to consolidate full authority over the central bank. In July, it deployed six lieutenant colonels to oversee operations. The SAC recently replaced the bank’s top leadership with
sycophants. The new chairman survived an assassination attempt in April following the imposition of currency controls, while her deputy served as the Tatmadaw’s chief financial officer.
The country’s banking system is on the ropes. The junta has placed officers in all banks to monitor transactions to make sure funds aren’t making their way to the NUG or the civil disobedience movement. To that end, the SAC impeded the country’s burgeoning mobile banking market, causing irreparable harm, especially to farmers and local merchants.
The dearth of capital needed to carry farmers through the growing season compounds the real problem in the agricultural sector, which is that the lack of foreign exchange has curtailed the import of vital fertilizers and pesticides. The goal of doubling agricultural exports from 2 million tons by 2025 is beyond reach.
The junta’s own Internal Revenue Department acknowledged a 35% decline in revenue in 2021 over the previous year. That is 4.745 trillion kyat ($2.657 billion) in revenue, down from 7.296 trillion kyat ($4.086 billion), due to tax boycotts and a contracted economy.
It’s also worth noting that the military’s two conglomerates, which control more than 100 different companies that dominate Myanmar’s economy, are reeling from sanctions and domestic boycotts. Though we don’t know the extent of losses, the two firms never paid dividends to their “shareholders” (soldiers compelled to buy shares each month based on their rank) in 2021
and are unlikely to do so in 2022.
Major foreign investments, such as the telecoms firm Mytel, a joint venture with the Vietnamese military, are routinely targeted in both bombings and assassination attempts.
So while the military’s fighting force is being hollowed out in clashes and guerrilla attacks across Myanmar, its economic base of support is also under threat. The SAC’s gross mismanagement will allow the NUG to peel away military supporters who see the junta’s economic stewardship as irredeemable. Only a democratically elected government, with the rule of
law and empowered technocrats, will be able to protect their economic interests..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-12
[field_licence]
Type:
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"Myanmar regime’s sale of gold coins is not bringing down the gold price as they are being sold too near the market rate, according to dealers.
On Monday the junta started selling gold coins at a gems emporium in Naypyitaw for 2.95 million kyats per tical (16 grams) while the market price is around 3 million kyats.
On Tuesday, the market price reached 3.15 million kyats and was around 3.12 million kyats on Wednesday.
A trader said: “If they sell at a price lower than the market rate, traders would buy and sell their gold at a lower rate. But as they are selling near the market price, gold prices have gone up. The policy is not working.”
The gold price has risen as citizens have bought gold as the kyat slumped because since the military coup in February 2021. In January 2021 the gold price was slightly over 1.3 million kyats per tical and the exchange rate was around 1,300 kyats per dollar.
The regime announced last week that it would sell gold coins to the public to bring down rising prices.
The regime is selling one tical coin per person. Buyers have to present their ID cards. The regime did not say how many gold coins were being sold.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun told the media that the coins would be sold at international prices and that they were not from the country’s gold reserve. He said the regime would sell enough gold to affect the domestic market.
The gold price quoted by the Yangon Region Gold Entrepreneurs Association on Wednesday was 1.98 million kyats per tical at the official exchange rate of 2,100 kyats per dollar. The market exchange rate is around 3,600 kyats.
The international gold price is approximately US$1,695 per ounce (28 grams).
The coins show independence hero General Aung San, the father of jailed State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, minted in 2018 under her National League for Democracy government.
Gold coins are only being sold in Naypyitaw with no dates announced for sales in Yangon and Mandalay..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar
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"Myanmar has begun buying petroleum products from Russia and is expecting the delivery of diesel fuel in the coming days, the Southeast Asian country’s military leader said Wednesday.
Senior general Min Aung Hlaing shared the news on his second visit to Russia in less than two months as both isolated countries seek to deepen ties in the face of international sanctions.
“Deliveries of petroleum products from Russia to Myanmar are already underway successfully,” Min Aung Hlaing told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
“We will receive the first shipment of diesel fuel from Russia in a few days,” he said, noting that Mynmar is ready to pay for supplies in Russian rubles.
“Whatever currency the Russian side accepts, that’s what we’ll pay. This makes it much easier for us because there are a lot of restrictions on receiving and transferring in other currencies,” Min Aung Hlaing said.
Min Aung Hlaing reprtedly agreed to import petrol from Russia during his last trip to Russia in July.
Myanmar has resorted to fuel oil imports after petrol prices surged and the country was hit by shortages.
Russia is meanwhile seeking new export destinations for its energy exports amid Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is a major ally and arms supplier of the Myanmar military.
The Kremlin said Wednesday that Min Aung Hlaing met President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of Russia’s Eastern Economic Forum in the port city of Vladivostok..."
Source/publisher:
"The Moscow Times"
Date of entry/update:
2022-09-07
[field_licence]
Type:
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"Mekong Watch
Friends of the Earth Japan
Justice For Myanmar
Network Against Japan Arms Trade (NAJAT)
ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation
Japan International Volunteer Center (JVC)
Pacific Asia Resource Center (PARC)
Human Rights Now
Eight civil society organizations that are deeply concerned about business relationships that Japanese companies have with the Myanmar military sent a letter dated May 24, 2022 to 101 corporate investors holding shares in Tokyo Tatemono Co., Ltd. or Daiwa House Industry Co., Ltd. regarding a real estate development project in Yangon (commonly known as “Y Complex”) being implemented by the two companies. The letter pointed out that Tokyo Tatemono and Daiwa House Industry may be complicit in grave human rights abuses by the Myanmar military, and asked that the two companies take measures to ensure that Y Complex does not benefit the military. The letter further asked the corporate investors to consider divestment if the companies did not take sufficient measures.
In response, eight corporate investors have sent substantive replies to date, including one that stated that it engaged with the company concerned after receiving our letter. Two investors stated that they would consider engaging with the companies. However, the other five sent replies that did not correspond to our request, such as an explanation of their own human rights policies, and did not disclose the details of their efforts, including whether they engaged with the two companies.
The project company, Y Complex Company Ltd., is a Myanmar corporation. 80% of the shares are owned by Yangon Museum Development Pte. Ltd. (YMD), a Singaporean corporation, and 20% by Yangon Technical and Trading Company Ltd. (YTT), a Myanmar corporation. YMD was jointly set up by Tokyo Tatemono, Fujita Corporation (a subsidiary of Daiwa House Industry), and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN). Investment and debt guarantee by JOIN, a government-funded infrastructure investment corporation, as well as a loan from the state-owned Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), signify that Japan’s public funds are being invested in the project. The project is being implemented on military-owned land on a sublease, under a build-operate-transfer agreement, and land lease payments are made to the Office of the Quarter Master General. The Office of the Quarter Master General is responsible for procurement for the Myanmar military, and land rent payments to the Office of the Quarter Master General may fund the Myanmar military’s international crimes and grave human rights violations such as the killing of citizens, wrongful arrest, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, forced disappearance, and torture. The US, UK, and Canada have imposed sanctions on the Office of the Quarter Master General.
According to what is reportedly an official Myanmar document, the land lease payment is about two million USD per year (about 230 million JPY), to be paid for the contract period of 50 years. As of April 2022, payments apparently have not been made since the attempted coup, but neither Tokyo Tatemono nor Daiwa House Industry has given concrete answers to concerns expressed by civil society about serious human rights abuses, and they have not withdrawn from the project.
In Myanmar, violence by the military is only escalating. A pro-democracy activist and a former member of parliament, among others, had been given “death sentences'' by a military court organized by the illegitimate junta, and in late July, it was reported that the sentences were carried out. There is strong criticism from the international community about the Y Complex Project. Progressive Voice, an organization that has been working on human rights in Myanmar for many years, mentioned Y Complex as an example of Japan prioritizing its business interests over human rights and democracy. Tokyo Tatemono and Daiwa House Industry should withdraw from contractual obligations under which rent payments are made to the Office of the Quarter Master General. Further, given that most of the shareholders to whom we sent our letter either did not respond or simply called attention to their own human rights policies, more action is needed. We request all shareholders to continue engaging with the companies to urge them to sever their economic relations with the Myanmar military..."
Source/publisher:
Mekong Watch, Friends of the Earth Japan, Justice For Myanmar, Network Against Japan Arms Trade, ayus:Network of Buddhists Volunteers on International Cooperation, Japan International Volunteer Center, Pacific Asia Resource Center and Human Rights Now
Date of entry/update:
2022-08-29
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Type:
Individual Documents
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Business and the Military, The Burmese military's role in the economy, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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