The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Sunday 7 March to take action against Myanmar as the repression there continues.
Around 1,500 people are reported to be in detention and at least 54 are reported to have been killed by military or security forces, the Security Council remains disunited on the response to be given.
“We support the call made by Christine Schraner Burgener at Friday’s UN Security Council meeting that Members must take responsibility and concrete action to address the deteriorating situation”, Mr Borrell explained via Twitter. “Breaches of international law are not an internal affair” he added.
China, while calling on parties to refrain from all violent acts, called on the international community to act “in the interest of Myanmar’s sovereignty”.
On Friday, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, called on UNSC Members to “stand firm and act swiftly to prevent further violence and restore democracy in Myanmar”. She added that it was a “collective responsibility” towards the people of Myanmar to safeguard their democratic aspirations and that collective action was “urgent”. “It is critical that this Council is resolute and coherent in putting the security forces on notice and standing with the people of Myanmar firmly”, she also warned.
New European sanctions by end of March
According to Reuters the EU could adopt sanctions against those responsible for the repression at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday 22 March. The EU could sanction companies that generate income or provide financial support to the armed forces, including Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC).
On Thursday 4 March, before the Bundestag, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas explained that options, “such as inclusion on the list of economic enterprises of the army, (are) already on the table and (could) be taken soon”.
The High Representative issued such an option at the Foreign Affairs Council at the end of February (see EUROPE 12663/2). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)