Australia imposes sanctions on brutal Myanmar junta

Australia has finally imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders and the economic conglomerates that continue to fund their murderous crackdown.

Sean Turnell in Sydney. Picture: Chris Pavlich

Australia has finally imposed sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders and the economic conglomerates that continue to fund their murderous crackdown, exactly two years after the coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and upended ten years of democratic reforms.

The sanctions against Myanmar senior general Min Aung Hlaing, vice senior general Soe Win, seven senior military commanders and seven political proxy leaders came into force at midnight on Tuesday.

The designation under the Autonomous Sanctions Act effectively freezes any assets owned and held in Australia by those targeted, and prohibits them from travelling to Australia.

An explanatory statement issued overnight by the government said Foreign Minister Penny Wong was satisfied the persons and entities designated “are current or former members of the (Myanmar junta-controlled) State Administration Council and that the entities are owned or controlled by, or provide support to, a regime controlled by the Myanmar military” or by an immediate family member.

“Australia’s autonomous sanctions regimes impose highly targeted measures in response to egregious situations of international concern,” it said.

“The government considers targeted financial sanctions and travel bans are the most effective and least rights-restrictive way to achieve its legitimate foreign policy objectives of signalling Australia’s ongoing concerns about serious violations of human rights committed by the military regime and ongoing efforts to suppress the rights of the civilian population through violence and coercion.”

Also targeted by the Albanese government for sanctions are Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd and Myanmar Economic Corporation, the two main military conglomerates that own more than 100 businesses, generating revenue for the military on a scale that dwarfs any civilian-owned company in Myanmar.

Billions of dollars in military income are believed to be generated through the two companies – which are exempt from paying tax – via major real estate holdings, oil and gas operations, copper and gemstone mines, ports and several major banks.

The decision comes two months after the release from prison of Australian economist Sean Turnell, whose ongoing detention and sham trial and conviction for breaching state secrets was understood to have stayed the government’s hand.

Key allies, the UK, US, EU and Canada have collectively issued 421 sanctions on 181 Myanmar individuals and 178 entities in response to atrocity crimes against Rohingya Muslims and the February 1, 2021, Myanmar coup, with more expected this week, the Australian Council for International Development and the Myanmar Action Network said on Tuesday.

Top military leaders and whole military divisions have been sanctioned for serious human rights abuses including unlawful killings, sexual violence and the destruction of property. Arms dealers, military-appointed Election Commission officials and immediate family of sanctioned individuals have also been targeted.

Professor Turnell, a long-time policy adviser to Suu Kyi, has said publicly since his release from prison and deportation from Myanmar “on humanitarian grounds” that he supported Australian sanctions on regime officials and Myanmar bankers.

The junta revoked his pardon in December and demanded his return to Myanmar and reimprisonment for criticising the regime. 

On Tuesday, Professor Turnell told The Australian he did not believe sanctions could hurt the people of Myanmar any more than the junta already had, given the devastating effect the coup has had on the economy.

“It’s been my view for a very long time that the damage to the Myanmar economy is already done and that the biggest sanctioner is (Myanmar senior general) Min Aung Hlaing himself,” he said.

“Sanctions would cause negligible to zero effect on the average person in Myanmar, and nothing compared to the suffering that’s occurred under the junta.”

As of Tuesday, 2901 people had been murdered by the junta, including 282 children, and 103 political prisoners had been tortured to death. 

Some 142 children have also been tortured – with credible reports of minors being beaten, cut, stabbed, burnt with cigarettes and having their fingernails pulled out – while 17,525 people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners which documents junta atrocities.

The National Unity Government, a parallel administration comprising ousted MPs and ethnic leaders, is investigating 128 cases of gang rape and rape by the military since the coup. ACFID chief executive Mark Purcell said while Australia’s allies had “been sanctioning the leaders of this coup as it has been murdering civilians in its attempt to hold power, Australia has been conspicuous” by its failure to act.