According to a press release issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the United States has imposed sanctions on one of Myanmar’s largest industries, the gemstone industry.
Specifically, the U.S. sanctioned the state-owned Myanmar Gemstone Company (MGE), which is “responsible for all gemstone activities in Burma. The U.S. Treasury Department said gemstones are “a key economic resource for the Burmese military regime.
Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said, “Today’s action underscores the Treasury Department’s commitment to cut off the Burmese military’s funding sources, including key state-owned enterprises throughout Burma.”
Burmese jewelry companies will be blocked from all property and interests in property “located in the United States or owned or controlled by U.S. legal persons, and owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them individually or in conjunction with other prohibited legal persons.
Burma’s military seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, overthrowing the civilian government and arresting de facto national leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top officials.
Since the coup, there has been a wave of protests across Burma, many of which have turned violent as authorities have cracked down. Since the coup, nearly 600 civilians, including dozens of minors, have been killed by government military and police, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners (AAPP). Of the 3,500 people arrested, 2,750 remain in custody, the association said.
The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Burmese military leaders, some of their families and other Burmese companies.
The U.S. has called for the immediate release of National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ousted President Win Myint and protesters, journalists and human rights activists who the U.S. says have been unjustly detained since the coup.
Military officials claimed widespread fraud in last November’s election and used it to justify the coup’s seizure of power in February. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won that election by a landslide. Myanmar’s election commission has dismissed the allegations of election fraud.
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