The US and the EU are considering imposing targeted sanctions against Myanmar’s top generals over the military’s displacement of over 500,000 Rohingya Muslims from Rakhine State, several diplomats based in Washington, Brussels, and Yangon told Reuters.
While decisions about targeted sanctions have not yet been made, the fact that they are being considered marks a departure from what US and EU policymakers had on the table as recently as a month ago. The scale of the violence and displacement appears to have ratcheted up the sense of urgency with which some in the international community feel they must respond to the crisis.
A European diplomat in Yangon said there is agreement among Western governments that the military and its leaders must be the target of their response to the crisis, rather than State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who does not control the military and whose civilian leadership still enjoys support from Western governments.
Two Washington-based diplomats told Reuters that the Trump administration is considering sanctions against commander-in-chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, other military leaders, and leaders of Rakhine Buddhist militias that are thought to have torched Rohingyas’ homes.
Under these sanctions, the generals and militia leaders will have their assets frozen and will be banned from traveling to the US and doing business with Americans.
A European diplomat said initial sanctions would be symbolic in order to allow for negotiation. This might mean banning Senior General Min Aung Hlaing from traveling to Europe, which he visited three times in the past year.
However, the diplomats admitted that the efficacy of sanctions on Myanmar’s military are limited by the meager military engagements and investments in Myanmar from the US and EU. They also fear the possibility of sanctions hurting the general population or stoking tensions between Aung San Suu Kyi and the military.
While sanctions are being considered, US and EU officials say their response to Myanmar will come in the form of strategically deploying or withholding humanitarian and development aid.
One American diplomat said the US aims to formulate a plan of action on Myanmar in time for President Trump’s visit to Asia in early November.
The EU Foreign Ministers Council will discuss Myanmar on October 16. Danish minister for development cooperation, Ulla Tornaes, told Reuters that her government will push for a discussion of the Rakhine crisis “with the wish to put further pressure on the military.”
