55 British Parliamentarians from 9 different political parties and Independent MPs have joined the call for aviation fuel sanctions against the Burmese military.
The Parliamentarians are backing Early Day Motion 908, which calls on the British government to introduce sanctions to stop aviation fuel reaching the Burmese military.
Since the military coup last year, the Burmese military are increasingly using airstrikes against civilians, killing and injuring civilians, and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. This has created a humanitarian crisis.
“The Burmese military are committing crimes against humanity through the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in ethnic states. Sanctioning aviation fuel would help ground the jet planes and stop the bombings,” said Rushanara Ali MP, who tabled the motion.
The Early Day Motion ‘One year anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar’, also calls on the British government to support a referral of Burma to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to join the Rohingya genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Almost half a million people have been displaced in Burma since the attempted coup. The majority have been displaced because of airstrikes or the threat of air strikes, with jet planes, helicopters and drones circling over villages and preventing people from returning home because of the fear of being bombed. This is mainly taking place in ethnic states and Sagaing region and is causing a humanitarian crisis.
In the parliamentary motion, the MPs “note in horror the increased attacks by the military in ethnic areas including Chin, Karenni and Karen State over the recent months which includes the burning of people alive, torching of villages and killings of children” and demand “an urgent stop to the attacks”.
“The British government has led on sanctions since the coup, systematically identifying sources of revenue for the Burmese military and introducing targeted sanctions. Sanctions now need to be introduced on Burmese companies that supply aviation fuel to the military and British companies involved in any aspect of the supply of aviation fuel, including shipping, insurance and services,” said Karin Valtersson, Campaigns Officer at Burma Campaign UK.
The Early Day Motion is available here.
Burma Campaign UK has published a Q&A on aviation fuel sanctions, available here.