As the U.S., European Union and others hit Russia with crippling economic sanctions in response to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, they are facing demands to go hard against another regime: Myanmar’s military junta.
In the past year since a military coup shook Myanmar, Washington and Brussels have taken steps to cut off the country’s army leaders and their businesses from the global financial system. But the junta has continued its campaign of airstrikes, arrests and custodial torture to counter the armed resistance that has emerged in response to the coup. Now, the coup’s opponents are pushing for a ban on the sale of jet fuel to Myanmar.
Such a move, they say, would hobble the air force that for months has hit rebel strongholds with bombs and mortar shells. According to a United Nations report released last month, the Myanmar military has used jet fighters, combat helicopters, bombs and rockets in dozens of airstrikes, killing scores of civilians including children as young as 5. Human-rights groups and local media have documented fighter planes dropping munitions on or near civilian structures including homes and camps for people displaced by the conflict.
“Without fuel, the military can’t use their air force,” said Zin Mar Aung, foreign minister of the National Unity Government, which sees itself as a parallel administration composed of ousted civilian leaders and their allies. “If the jets can’t fly, they can’t bomb. It is as simple as that.”