The resolute and momentum of Myanmar pro-democracy movement have been stronger than ever since their elected government was ousted by the coup led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on February 1, 2021. The world has condemned the action of coup d’état. The inhumane and heinous actions of the military junta and its de facto regime, State Administration Council (SAC) are facing unprecedented resistance at home by the people of Myanmar and abroad by the international community. The on-going unlawful grasping of the power at gun point is no different from an armed robbery on a large scale and no international body or nation will or should consider SAC as a legitimate authority in Myanmar.
The people of Myanmar revolted the military rule by means of peaceful mass demonstrations and Civil Disobedient Movement (CDM) with resilience. The SAC felt the unexpected resistance culminated with paralyzed governance and financial draught due to CDMs and boycotts. The military responded with their well-known brutal tactics by using the lethal weapons and arbitrary arrests and torture of the detainees. Simultaneously, the military junta had to face the escalated resistance by the Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAO) as the EAOs felt the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) was betrayed by the coup. The intensive atrocity committed by the military has transformed a once-peaceful land into a warzone, having forced the unarmed civilians to find available means and ways to defend against the well-equipped security and military forces. The use of heavy artilleries and air strikes has resulted in heavy casualties of innocent civilians and displaced thousands of ethnic minorities to flee their homes into neighboring countries.
Cutting off the financial flow to military by targeted sanctions is the one of the most effective measures to stop the ongoing killing fields of the military against their own people. Along with the peaceful resistance, CDMs and boycotts, it is crucial to continue in full scale of the already implemented targeted sanctions by the international community against the SAC, the business empire set up by the military leaders and the cronies. Collaborative sanctions have been proven to be effective in the past to coerce the dictators to come to the table to change their wrongful behavior.
On June 21, 2021, the EU announced a third round of sanctions on 8 individuals, Myanmar War Veterans Organization and 3 economic entities controlled by Myanmar Armed Forces: Myanmar Gems Enterprise, Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Forest Product Joint Venture Corporation Limited, while the UK imposed the sixth tranche of Myanmar sanctions on Myanmar Timber Enterprise and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise controlled by the SAC. It is noteworthy that the collaborative actions of US, UK, and EU were the exemplary actions of a friend indeed for the people of Myanmar and democracy loving world community. We hope all nations who stand for the freedom and democracy will follow suit soon.
Free Myanmar is working tirelessly to have cohesive action by the US, EU, UK, Canada, New Zealand and likewise allies to have stronger targeted sanctions against the SAC. We welcome all the sanctions that have been imposed and we will continue to assist for the remaining individuals and sectors, benefiting the military regime, that have been under the radar and that need to be included in the full-scale sanctions. We are willing to cooperate with any friendly nation around the world.
The resolution by UNGA on June 18, 2021, condemning the use of lethal force and urging the international community to stop selling arms to Myanmar’s SAC regime as well as all these economic sanctions on SAC sent a clear message that “Coup have no place in the modern world” and there is no room for rogue regime like SAC which would become an international pariah like its predecessor military regimes. The justice and freedom will prevail.
Commentaires