WASHINGTON (CN) — The Biden administration issued sanctions targeting Myanmar’s military capabilities as its ruling junta faces setbacks on the battlefield.
The State and Treasury departments announced on Wednesday the designations targeting four people and two entities that provide revenue and support arms production for the military.
“We are going to continue to support efforts by the opposition to the regime to seek a resolution to the conflict that provides for genuine and inclusive multiparty democracy,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said.
Myanmar's military, called the Tatmadaw, has been in power since 1962. U.S. policy is to call the country Burma, the name that it shed over 30 years ago after the ruling junta brutally suppressed a pro-democracy uprising.
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.
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 NLD leader Aung San 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.
The National Unity Government faced dim prospects until this past October, when it joined forces with disparate militia groups to launch a widespread offensive that has the military on its heels.
In the violence since the 2021 coup, an estimated 6,000 civilians have been killed, with tens of thousands detained and more than 2.6 million displaced. Meanwhile, widespread food and fuel shortages have occurred as part of an economic collapse.
The White House has responded with sanctions on 94 people and 55 business entities tied to the military regime since the coup.
“Today’s action emphasizes our commitment to deprive Burma’s military regime of the resources it needs to conduct its attacks against its own people,” Brian Nelson, under secretary of Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a press release. “The United States, along with our allies and partners, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to profit from, and provide support for, the violent oppression of the people of Burma.”
The sanctioned entities are Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, which imports and distributes petroleum, and Myanma Five Star Line Company Limited, a shipping company that handles materials essential to weapons production.
The sanctioned individuals are Thein Win Zaw, founder of Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies; his wife, Tin Latt Min; and their adult children, Theint Win Htet and Win Paing Kyaw.
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