Skip to main content

EU eases sanctions on Myanmar leaders after reforms


(Reuters) - The European Union will suspend travel bans on the president of Myanmar and other senior officials, following reforms that have included the release of hundreds of political prisoners.
And EU foreign ministers held out the prospect of a further easing of sanctions in April if a "remarkable programme of political reform" and a commitment to economic and social development continued.
In the steps agreed on Monday, the EU said it would suspend visa bans on Myanmar's president, Thein Sein, the country's vice-presidents, cabinet members and parliamentary speakers.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said he saw real willingness by the government to liberalise and democratise and was now watching whether Myanmar freed political prisoners, allowed strikes, and held transparent elections on April 1.
"If this process of democratisation goes further, we shall go further in lifting sanctions," he told a news conference.
EU sanctions were imposed after bloody military crackdowns on a pro-democracy movement led by Nobel Prize-winning dissident Aung San Suu Kyi.
They target nearly a thousand firms and institutions with asset freezes and visa bans have affected almost 500 people. The sanctions also include an arms embargo, a prohibition on technical assistance related to the military and investment bans in the mining, timber and precious metals sectors.
The EU will promote reform through aid, training and greater dialogue with the government, it said. Ministers also called for "progressive engagement" by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Myanmar's strategic location at a crossroads in Asia and its resources have increasingly made the country of interest to both Western nations and its neighbours, particularly China.
Its ports on the Indian Ocean make it an important ally for Beijing and last year, China's state energy group CNPC started building a crude oil port there, part of a pipeline project aimed at cutting out the long detour oil cargoes take through the congested and strategically vulnerable Malacca Strait.
"QUITE EXTRAORDINARY CHANGES"
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said "quite extraordinary changes" had taken place in Myanmar in the last weeks and months and British Foreign Secretary William Hague said it was important to recognise the progress made.
Ashton said she would visit Myanmar in April after elections, coordinating the visit with Aung San Suu Kyi, with the aim of offering "full support in what we hope will be a very successful transition".
Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner freed in 2010, has reversed her stance on boycotting the army-dominated political system following the reforms and will stand in the April polls.
The reforms in Myanmar have followed a 2010 election that saw a new government take over from a military junta last March. They have included loosening media restrictions and other repressive laws, peace talks with ethnic insurgents and the freeing of hundreds of political prisoners.
Ashton sent her top foreign policy adviser to Myanmar last year, and the EU, in a move to encourage reform, slightly eased sanctions last April by suspending travel bans and asset freezes on 24 civilian government officials.
Earlier this month, the European Union said it would open a representative office in Myanmar to manage aid programmes and promote political dialogue.
The United States has decided to upgrade diplomatic ties with Myanmar as a result of its reforms and is considering lifting its sanctions if April's elections are fair and open.
(Editing by Justyna Pawlak and Ben Harding)


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung undergoes questioning

Rohingya MP U Shwe Maung By Kayleigh Long Myanmar Times February 07, 2014 Union Solidarity and Development Party MP U Shwe Maung has been questioned by police in Nay Pyi Taw over comments he made to Democratic Voice of Burma about possible police involvement in a fire that broke out in a Muslim village in Rakhine State late last month. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in the blaze at Du Chee Yar Tan West village near Maungdaw in northern Rakhine State on January 28. U Shwe Maung said the February 4 interrogation came at the behest of President U Thein Sein, who sent a letter to Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Speaker Thura U Shwe Mann requesting permission for police question the MP. The interview lasted about 90 minutes and was conducted at his USDP living quarters in Nay Pyi Taw. It focused on allegations that U Shwe Maung, a Rohingya, had defamed the state and police by saying that residents believed security forces were involved in starting the fire. ...

ERC representatives and Dr.Maung Zarni partook a seminar in Sweden

ERC Delegation Meet Dr. Zarni Mohamed Farooq ( Mayu Press) May 7, 2013 The Stockholm University of Sweden held a seminar on “Forum for Asian Studies” at William Olsson Hall, the department of geological science on 3rd May 2013. It depicts Rohingya tragedy and Human Right Eradication in western Burma. Burma (Myanmar) is a nation with ambition to make their name and discharge their White Man’s Burden, one of the world’s hottest assignments in the world of diplomats, development consultants, NGO experts and academic researchers, a lucrative ‘frontier’ market for investors, venture capitalists and multinationals, a must-go for both citizen-tourists and global luminaries. This lecture will critically discuss the rose-tinted view of reforms in Burma against the troubling realties as lived by the people of that country, including full-scale Rohingya genocide of 40 years, the 60-years of Burmese army’s un-ending internal colonial wars against the Christian Kachins, the Kare...

রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনো ভবিষ্যৎ নেই

বাংলাদেশের আশ্রয়শিবিরে বসবাসকারী রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের কোনোই ভবিষ্যৎ নেই বলে মন্তব্য করেছেন রোহিঙ্গা বিষয়ক আইনজীবী রাজিয়া সুলতানা। তিনি এই আশ্রয়শিবিরকে চিড়িয়াখানার সঙ্গে তুলনা করেছেন এবং রোহিঙ্গাদের ফেরত পাঠানোর জন্য একটি উপযুক্ত কৌশল নির্ধারণের আহ্বান জানিয়েছেন। কয়েকদিন আগে যুক্তরাষ্ট্রের পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রণালয়ের ইন্টারন্যাশনাল ওমেন অব কারেজ এওয়ার্ড (আইডব্লিউসিএ) পুরস্কার পান রাজিয়া সুলতানা। সাহসিকতা দেখানোর জন্য সারা বিশ্ব থেকে বাছাই করা ১০ জন নারীকে এ পুরস্কার দেয়া হয়।  রাজিয়া সুলতানার একটি সাক্ষাৎকার নিয়েছে বার্তা সংস্থা রয়টার্স। তাতে তিনি রোহিঙ্গাদের পরিণতি নিয়ে হতাশা প্রকাশ করেন। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, মিয়ানমারের মুসলিম সংখ্যালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের রোহিঙ্গা শরণার্থীদের মধ্যে আশার অভাব রয়েছে। ২০১৭ সালের আগস্টে মিয়ানমারের সেনাবাহিনীর নৃশংস নির্যাতনের ফলে তারা পালিয়ে এসে বাংলাদেশে আশ্রয় নিতে বাধ্য হয়। রাজিয়া সুলতানা বলেন, এই আশ্রয় শিবিরে যত বেশি সময় শরণার্থীরা থাকবেন ততই পরিস্থিতির অবনতি ঘটতে থাকবে। ওই সাক্ষাৎকারে তিনি আরো বলেন, হ্যাঁ, এ কথা সত্য যে, শরণার্থীরা খাবার পাচ্ছে। কিন...