Myanmar military took control of the country, ousting the elected government on 1 February 2021. As of now, about 1,500 civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced in a situation that is close to a civil war.
Earlier in 2017, about 750,000 Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh, escaping a brutal military crackdown against them in the Rakhine State that the UN investigators dubbed having “genocidal intent”. Myanmar is facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice.
The new sanctions were imposed on 22 persons and four entities, including government ministers, a member of the State Administrative Council and members of the Union Election Commission, as well as high-ranking members of the Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw), according to a statement of the European Council today.
The sanctioned entities are either state-owned companies providing substantive resources to the Tatmadaw, or private companies closely connected to the Tatmadaw’s top leadership. These companies are Htoo Group, IGE (International Group of Entrepreneurs), Mining Enterprise 1 (ME 1) and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).
Restrictive measures now apply to a total of 65 individuals and 10 entities and include an asset freeze and a prohibition from making funds available to the listed individuals and entities.
In addition, a travel ban applicable to the listed persons prevents them from entering or transiting through EU territory.
- Collected from The Daily Star
