Feb, 11th 2021 – United States President Joe Biden says sanctions will be imposed on Myanmar’s military leaders following their coup d’etat while calling for a return of power to civilian leaders.
Biden further said that the US will announce the first round of sanctions this week and will impose export controls on Myanmar while still providing medical aid and humanitarian relief. While announcing two other executive orders linked to the sanctions, Biden said, “We will identify a first round of targets this week, and we’re also going to impose strong exports controls.”
He further said that the sanctions will grant his administration the power to freeze US assets that benefit Myanmar’s military leaders. This will however not affect the health care programs, civil society groups, or other areas that benefit the people in the country. He said, “We’re freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.”
He also called on the military to release detained political officials and activists including president Win Myint. He said, “The people of Burma are making their voices heard, and the world is watching. We’ll be ready to impose additional measures and we’ll continue to work with our international partners to urge other nations to join us in these efforts.”
His administration is set to identify specific targets of the sanctions later on in the week. He added that the sanctions could include business interests, family members, and individuals. The order is set to prevent the military leaders from accessing some of the $1 billion in Burmese funds that are in the hands of the US.
Mr. Biden said, “Today, I am announcing a series of actions that we are taking to begin imposing consequences on the leaders of the coup. The US government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly having access to the $1bn in Burmese government funds being held in the United States.”