Myanmar resistance leaders and international human rights groups are welcoming a new round of U.S. sanctions aimed at that country’s oil and gas sector, a major source of revenue for the ruling junta that seized power in February 2021.
Additional sanctions announced simultaneously by the United States, Britain, and Canada are hailed as evidence of a coordinated international response to the brutal rule of the junta, which is blamed for almost 4,000 civilian deaths.
The new U.S. sanctions, which take effect on December 15, prohibit U.S. financial institutions from offering services to the Myanmar 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,” the U.S. Treasury Department said in a press release on October 31.
Along with the U.S. actions on MOGE, Britain and Canada this week announced new sanctions on individuals and entities supporting the junta.
As of July 31, at least 3,857 civilians had been killed by the military as a result of political strife, and nearly 1.6 million people had fled their homes because of violence, according to the annual report of the UN High Commissioner in September.
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