EU reopens Myanmar sanctions for Myanmar government assassination European Union News
The Bloc chief of staff also wants to ban international weapons following the killing of at least 35 people last week.
The European Union (EU) is preparing to impose sanctions on Myanmar, which is controlled by the military Christmas evening kills many people is being criticized by the military, the bloc’s chief of staff has said.
In a statement on Thursday, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, called on Myanmar to suspend international arms embargoes on December 24.
At least 35 people, including children and social workers, killed by soldiers in a village in the eastern part of Kayah in Myanmar, according to a humanitarian organization and a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Myanmar. The bodies of the victims were later cremated.
“Given the escalating violence in Myanmar, globalization is important, as well as arms embargoes,” Borrell said. “The EU is also planning to impose further sanctions on the military,” he said.
Myanmar militants have reportedly shot and killed unidentified “armed militants” from the anti-Kayah militia group in Kayah last week as they stopped to check on troops.
But Borrell described the incident as “extremely violent in the military” and said “there is an urgent need for people to be held accountable”. The United Nations High Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, and the United States rebuke Myanmar military commanders today.
Twenty-seven EU countries have imposed sanctions on Myanmar troops since a coup in February overthrew the government of former democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi.
The council has suspended aid to Myanmar’s development projects in exchange for financial assistance to the ruling party following the seizure of power.
Since the riots, more than 1,300 people have been killed by security forces and more than 11,000 have been detained while thousands of people are protesting against the coup, according to the Association for Assistance of Political Prisoners rights. The soldiers are protesting the death of the group.
Some opponents in the military have also joined the war effort, sometimes joining forces with small groups that for years have been fighting for independence from various parts of Myanmar, including Kayah.
The military has responded with force to a force called the “People’s Defense Forces” and to avenge the bloodshed.
