Human rights expert urges banks to stop financing Myanmar junta's arms trade — Global Issues

Since the February 2021 coup, more than 5,000 civilians have been killed and at least three million displaced. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain incarcerated. Military airstrikes against civilian targets have increased fivefold over the past six months, even as the junta loses military outposts, territory and troops to resistance forces.

Potential facilitators

In a new report, Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, identified 16 banks in seven countries that processed transactions related to junta military purchases over the last two years.

In addition, 25 banks provided correspondent banking services to Myanmar's state-owned banks under junta control.

“With the junta on his heels, It is essential that financial institutions take their human rights obligations seriously and not facilitate the junta’s murderous dealings,” he said.

He stressed that banks involved in Myanmar's state-owned banks are at high risk of enabling military attacks against civilians and underlined their fundamental obligation to avoid facilitating crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Good and bad news

It noted a decline in annual purchases of weapons and military supplies by the Myanmar military through the formal banking system, from $377 million to $253 million for the year ending March 2023.

He warned, however, that the junta is circumventing sanctions by exploiting loopholes, changing financial institutions and taking advantage of insufficient coordination and enforcement among member states.

“The good news is that the junta is increasingly isolated… The bad news is that the junta is circumventing sanctions and other measures by exploiting loopholes in sanctions regimes, changing financial institutions and taking advantage of the failure of member States to fully coordinate and implement sanctions actions,” the Special Rapporteur said.

Passage from Singapore to Thailand

The report Banking on the business of death: how banks and governments are helping the military junta in Myanmar examined “a sea change” in the role of two Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries as sources of weapons and military supplies.

Following the identification last year of Singapore as a significant source, the Singapore government investigated the entities involved, resulting in a 90% drop in weapons flowing to Myanmar from companies registered in Singapore.

Conversely, military purchases via Thailand have moved in the opposite directionnotes the press release.

The junta imported nearly $130 million worth of weapons and military supplies from registered suppliers in Thailand in the year ending March 2024, more than double the previous year's total.

Thai banks have played a crucial role in this change. Siam Commercial Bank, for example, facilitated just over $5 million in transactions linked to Myanmar's military in the year ending March 2023, but that figure has risen sharply to more than 100 million dollars the following year.

Necessary political will

“Singapore's example demonstrates that a government with sufficient political will can make a significant difference towards ending the trade in death in Myanmar,” Mr Andrews said.

“Thailand has an opportunity to follow this powerful example by taking steps that will deal a significant blow to the junta's ability to sustain its escalating attacks on civilian targets. I urge him to do so,” he concluded.

Appointed by the Geneva-based United Nations Human Rights Council and as part of its special procedures, special rapporteurs are mandated to monitor and assess the rights situation in certain thematic or national situations.

They work voluntarily, are not UN staff and do not receive a salary.

UN food warehouse looted

Amid the ongoing conflict, a warehouse of the United Nations emergency food relief agency was looted and burned last Saturday in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine province.

It contained 1,175 tonnes of food and vital supplies, enough emergency food to sustain 64,000 people for a month. However, due to the intensification of conflict in the region, its staff have not been able to access the warehouse since late May.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemned the incident, stressing that the seizure of humanitarian goods and destruction of facilities have compromised its food support programme for conflict-affected populations in Myanmar.

He called on all parties to the conflict to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law to respect and protect humanitarian installations and assets and to guarantee humanitarian workers unimpeded access.

WFP is gathering details about the circumstances surrounding the incident, the agency said.