TThe United States imposed new sanctions on senior leaders of Myanmar’s military junta on Monday – on the eve of the one-year anniversary of its overthrow of the country’s democratically elected government and the jailing of its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The United States, joined by the United Kingdom and Canada, announced sanctions on officials who helped prosecute Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate was arrested in the coup on February 1, 2021. Myanmar courts sentenced her to a total of six years in prison from January 10, but she faces additional charges.
Washington has also slapped penalty to the scion of the Kyaw Thaung familythat New York Times reportedly has strong ties to the Myanmar military and helped them acquire equipment. The sanctions also targeted a Myanmar government agency in charge of procuring weapons for the military, which is known locally as the Tatmadaw.
But activists and Myanmar observers say the targeted sanctions will do little to deter a brutal regime that is increasingly isolated from the West and determined to put down resistance to its rule with a violent crackdown. More than 1,500 people have been killed in clashes with the junta across the country, according to the human rights group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.
“I think it’s fair to say that the West has had little leverage in Myanmar both politically and on the ground since the coup,” says John Nielsen, Senior Analyst at the Danish Institute for International Studies and former Danish Ambassador to Myanmar.
Pro-democracy protesters have long called on the international community to find ways to cut the junta’s revenue streams. And since last year’s coup, many Western companies, including energy giants Total Energies of France and Chevron of the United States – have vowed to pull business out of Myanmar because of human rights abuses in the country.
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The head of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing, and other members of the Tatmadaw were already sanctioned by the United States and other nations. Human Rights Watch urged the United Nations Security Council to impose a legal global arms embargo on Myanmar.
But in addition to punitive measures, the Burmese exiles say the international community must work to protect people who are suffering under the junta’s rule. London-based Burmese activist and scholar Maung Zarni says neighboring states should open their borders to Burmese refugees fleeing the Tatmadaw.
They are also careful about dialogue with military leaders, which neighboring countries including some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), favor. Nay San Lwin, a co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, a global network of Rohingya activists and allies, says many Burmese protesters feel such talks will only serve to cement the legitimacy of the coup leaders.
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But not everyone fled the Tatmadaw. Russia has been criticized for warming to Myanmar after the coup, continue to sell weapons and their attending officers events led by the junta. China also has ongoing deals with Myanmar, but has taken a more ambivalent stance: it has urged “to restart the democratic process” in the Southeast Asian country while dealing with the Tatmadaw and ethnic armed forces. “China’s primary objectives in Myanmar is to ensure stability at the borders and have access to the Indian Ocean through a corridor economic from Kunming to Rakhine. They will work with any side in the conflict to achieve these objectives – and that is essentially what they are doing,” says Nielsen.
Jason Tower, Director for Myanmar at the US Institute of Peace, says there must be a regional approach to the crisis, as companies closely aligned with the junta operate in neighboring states. If the United States and allies can convince Myanmar’s neighbors, including Thailand and India, to crack down on these businesses, it could have a dramatic effect on the flow of cash to the military leaders.
But the window for such action may be closing. Cambodia took over the presidency of ASEAN in 2022. And the Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen – no friend of democracy –gave a conditional invitation to Myanmar’s coup leader. Last year, the nine countries prevented the Myanmar junta representative to participate in their meetings.
More and more activists say they cannot trust the international community to support their cause of restoring a democratic government in Myanmar. They put their faith in ethnic minority militias that have long fought the Tatmadaw, and the People’s Defense Force – an armed group made up of members of Myanmar’s exiled shadow government and pro-democracy protesters. “If we want to be free, we have to fight for ourselves,” says Zarni.
