US Imposes Sanctions on Military Leaders in Myanmar

KOMPAS.com – US President Joe Biden on Wednesday issued an executive order targeting Myanmar's military regime with sanctions following a coup earlier this month that ousted the country's democratically elected government under democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.

"The military must relinquish the power it seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of Burma,'' Biden said, using the former name of Myanmar.

"I again call on the Burmese military to immediately release democratic political leaders and activists they are now detaining including Aung San Suu Kyi and also Win Myint, the president," he added.

Biden's order will keep Myanmar's generals from accessing $1 billion in assets held in the United States. Specific targets of the sanctions will be identified later this week.

Also read: Protests Sweep Myanmar to Support Suu Kyi

Biden said the sanctions are aimed at "military leaders who directed the coup, their business interests as well as close family members."

"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,'' Biden said at the White House.

The new sanctions will cut off US assets benefiting the military while allowing US support for health care programs and civil society groups to continue, he added.

International response?

Many leaders of Myanmar's military, including top general Min Aung Hlaing, are already subject to US sanctions that were applied in 2019 over the violence against the Muslim Rohingya.