Myanmar’s military jet fuel supplies hit by latest US sanctions | Conflict News
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two individuals and six entities linked to the military regime’s atrocities, particularly its airstrikes on civilians.
Jet fuel for Myanmar’s armed forces has been the target of recent sanctions imposed by the United States on the country’s military regime and criminal corporations.
The US Treasury Department said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on two individuals and six entities linked to Myanmar’s military, who have enabled the regime’s continued atrocities.
Three sanctioned entities work in Myanmar’s defense sector, specifically importing, storing and distributing aviation fuel for the country’s armed forces, the US Treasury Department said in a statement.
The companies sanctioned included: Sia Sun Group, previously sanctioned by Canada and the European Union, Asia Sun Trading Co Ltd, a company sanctioned by the UK earlier this year, and Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics Co Ltd, a A transport company that distributes aviation fuel to the military across Myanmar and was also designated by the UK earlier this year, the Treasury Department said.
Two people were also sanctioned: Tun Min Latt, whom the Ministry of Finance described as a close associate of the military regime’s leader, and Tun Min Latt’s wife, Win Min Soe, who co-owns the three business units of the Star Sapphire group of companies, Star Sapphire, with her husband Trading Company Ltd, and Singapore-based Star Sapphire Group PTE Ltd.
The couple’s firms were involved in importing “military arms and equipment, including drones and aircraft parts” and had also acted as agents for China’s arms maker Norinco, which has already been sanctioned by the US, the Treasury Department said. Tun Min Latt was arrested in Thailand in September for drug trafficking and money laundering, he added.
“Burma’s military regime continues to inflict pain and suffering on its own people,” Brian Nelson, the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement, referring to the country by its former name.
Today @US Department of Treasury identified eight targets related to the defense sector of Burma’s economy and issued a sanctions alert on Burmese kerosene. The US remains determined to deny the regime the means to continue its violence and outrageous atrocities. https://t.co/KJfS0lwDfd
— Derek Chollet (@CounselorDOS) March 24, 2023
atrocities from the air
Since seizing power in 2021, the military regime has increasingly relied on airstrikes using “unguided ammunition and rockets” aimed at civilian areas.
“These attacks include airstrikes in late 2022 on the Let Yet Kone village in central Burma, which hit a school with children and teachers present, and an airstrike in northern Kachin state that killed up to 80 people attending a music concert,” the said Ministry of Finance.
The sanctions announced on Friday were the latest in the US against companies and individuals linked to the country’s military rulers. The EU and Britain have also imposed rounds of sanctions to isolate the military government.
The Justice for Myanmar activist group and the organization The Sentry welcomed Washington’s focus on jet fuel shipments and the imposition of sanctions on companies and individuals linked to the regime.
📣JFM & @TheSentry_Org Welcome US sanctions against Star Sapphire Group companies and two of the group’s co-owners. We are calling on the EU, UK, Canada and Australia to coordinate their efforts to ensure all Star Sapphire companies and owners are sanctioned. 👉🏽https://t.co/Ai4ObZeFmj pic.twitter.com/rxviMPJBEI
– Justice for Myanmar (@JusticeMyanmar) March 25, 2023
We “welcome the US decision to sanction these military cronies and call on like-minded jurisdictions, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, to coordinate their efforts to ensure all Star Sapphire companies and owners are sanctioned any jurisdiction,” the organizations said in a joint statement.
Last month, the EU imposed asset freezes and travel bans on 16 people and entities in Myanmar – including the energy minister, influential businessmen and senior officers – for “grave” human rights abuses in the country.
The EU also condemned widespread human rights abuses by the military, including sexual violence, the persecution of civil society workers, human rights defenders, journalists and airstrikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals.
