International Organizations Develop Responses to the Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar

Citizens of Myanmar protest against the reign of the Tatmadaw (Wikimedia Commons).

The United Nations (UN) released a human rights report on the situation in Myanmar on March 15, one year after Burmese Tatmadaw forces overthrew the National Unity Government of Myanmar in a military coup d’etat. The human rights report concluded that the military junta has committed human rights violations and war crimes against Burmese citizens, including airstrikes, the use of heavy weaponry, arbitrary arrests, and assassinations.

UN Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani announced that the UN had uncovered a “pattern” within the past year of “planned, coordinated, [and] systemic attacks” against protestors amounting to “war crimes and crimes against humanity.” An investigation of the region uncovered countless civilians’ burned bodies and revealed evidence of mass killings and extreme forms of torture, including electrocution, drug overdosages, hangings, rapes, and assaults. 

Prior to the UN human rights report’s publication, the international community—particularly the European Union (EU)—had already initiated a response to the human rights abuses in Myanmar. Last month, the EU declared that it was “deeply concerned by the continuing escalation of violence in Myanmar,” and imposed a fourth round of economic sanctions on the Tatmadaw.

The EU’s most recent round of sanctions targeted the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), one of the largest sources of revenue for the Burmese military junta. 500 civil society organizations have urged foreign governments to cut ties with MOGE. These organizations have referenced the fact that MOGE revenues are being funneled into junta accounts, even as the military government “commits atrocities, from air strikes on communities in ethnic areas to detaining and torturing peaceful protesters and journalists.”

The sanctions also targeted high-ranking members of the Tatmadaw, including Minister for Investment Aung Naing Oo and Minister for Social Welfare Thet Thet Khine. The EU froze many of their assets and imposed travel bans on junta cabinet members, the armed forces, and the Union Elections Committee. This fourth round of sanctions raised the number of Burmese individuals targeted by international sanctions to 65.

The international community’s actions in the coming months will likely be critical in determining the longevity of the Tatmadaw’s reign and the degree of violence against Burmese civilians. While it is uncertain whether the United States will follow the EU’s lead in imposing sanctions on MOGE, Washington, Ottawa, and London recently imposed sanctions on the junta government. If Security Council members and other influential states were to impose economic and arms embargoes on MOGE, the international community could counteract the military junta’s growing power in even greater proportions.

The rationale behind an arms embargo has received increased attention as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Russia and China remain the Tatmadaw’s largest arms providers, and as these economic sanctions hurt the Russian economy, their ability to supply weapons to the junta government may falter. The swift and decisive reaction to the human rights abuses committed in Ukraine has also been compared to the lack of attention that Burmese citizens have received from the international community during the past year as they have suffered from torture, mass killings, and detainment. It is possible that the Ukrainian crisis will force international leaders to more closely examine the situation in Myanmar throughout the coming months.