The UK’s biggest opposition party, the Labour Party, is joining calls for the British government to impose sanctions on Burmese military companies.
In an article for Burma Campaign News, also published as a blog on the Burma Campaign UK website here, Stephen Kinnock MP, Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific, states:
“…further sanctions should be considered, with a laser-like focus on targeting the economic interests of the military as an institution. Sanctions are already in place to prevent UK companies trading in certain military goods and technology, but the UK government should be asking if it could go further by preventing British businesses from having any relationship with Myanmar military-owned and controlled companies. This is what the UN Fact Finding Mission recommended, so I’ll be asking the government to look into this urgently.”
Burma Campaign UK welcomes the support of the Labour Party calling on the British government to implement the UN Fact-Finding Mission recommendation to sanction military companies. “The recent UK ban on Min Aung Hlaing, head of the Burmese military, taking holidays in the UK is simply not a credible response to genocide,” said Anna Roberts, Executive Director of Burma Campaign UK. “Support from the Labour Party for sanctioning military companies is very welcome.”
Stephen Kinnock also criticised the British government for its lack of action on international justice initiatives. “The Foreign Office was a mere observer as The Gambia brought forward its case to the International Court of Justice against the Myanmar regime’s acts of genocide in Rakhine State.”