The violent crackdown by the Burmese military government on the people protesting the military coup has caused nearly 300 deaths so far, causing international concern. The U.S. Treasury Department and the British Foreign Office jointly announced on the 25th that sanctions will be imposed on Myanmar’s military-owned “Myanmar Economic Holdings PLC” (MEHL), in addition, the U.S. Treasury Department will also sanction the “Myanmar The U.S. Treasury Department will also sanction the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on 25 May that MEHL was suspected of committing serious human rights abuses against the Rohingya and was linked to a number of senior military officers, and that “the sanctions announced today are aimed at the economic interests of the military” in the hope of depleting the military’s financial resources for civilian repression.
The British Foreign Office issued a statement on 25 May, noting that the Myanmar Economic Holding Company is a military group owned by some of Myanmar’s armed forces, current and former military officers. There is evidence that the company has provided funds to support the Myanmar army’s 2017 Rohingya ethnic cleansing operation, and that the company is associated with Myanmar Army Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Soe Win. Under the global human rights sanctions regime, the UK will be prohibited from providing funds to any subsidiary owned or controlled by Burma Economic Holdings.
A statement from the U.S. Department of the Treasury states that all assets of the sanctioned person that are located in the United States and held or controlled by U.S. persons will be blocked and notified to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). This includes assets held directly, indirectly, or more than 50% by the sanctioned person.
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