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- U.S. President Joe Biden has announced new sanctions will be applied to the Myanmar military leaders who staged a coup
- Myanmar’s elected leaders were detained when the military took power on February 1, stating Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent election was fraudulent
- In response to the action, Biden has announced sanctions targeting Myanmar’s military leaders, as well as their business interests and family members
- Around $1 billion of the Myanmar Government’s funds are held in the U.S. and these new actions will restrict the military’s access to the money
U.S. President Joe Biden has announced new sanctions will be applied to the Myanmar military leaders who staged a recent coup.
All of Myanmar’s democratically elected leaders were detained when the military forcibly took power on February 1.
In defence of the action, the military claimed Leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s recent election in November was fraudulent.
It’s since charged her with numerous offences, including possession of illegally obtained walkie talkies.
Since the arrests earlier this month, the U.S. has condemned the military’s action and labelled it a coup.
President Biden has now gone one step further and confirmed sanctions will be applied to those responsible for the takeover.
The sanctions, which will be imposed via an executive order, will target Myanmar’s military leaders, as well as their business interests and family members.
They’ll also target the military’s access to money, including the estimated $1 billion worth of the Myanmar Government’s funds which are being held in the U.S.
“We’re also going to impose strong export controls,” the U.S. President said.
“We’re freezing U.S. assets that benefit the [Myanmar] government while maintaining our support for health care, civil society groups and other areas that benefit the people of [Myanmar] directly,” he added.
President Biden also called for an immediate end to the coup, or else more sanctions would be applied.
“The military must relinquish power they’ve seized and demonstrate respect for the will of the people of [Myanmar], as expressed in their November 8 election,” Biden said.
“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,” he concluded.
