LUXEMBOURG: EU foreign ministers agreed yesterday to lift the last of the bloc’s trade, economic and individual sanctions against Myanmar, hailing “a new chapter” with the once pariah state.
“In response to the changes that have taken place and in the expectation that they will continue, the Council (of ministers) has decided to lift all sanctions with the exception of the embargo on arms,” said a statement approved without a vote.
“The EU is willing to open a new chapter in its relations with Myanmar/Burma, building a lasting partnership,” it added.
The European Union began easing sanctions against Myanmar a year ago as the military, in power for decades, progressively ceded power to civilians and implemented reforms of the economy.
In April last year, foreign ministers agreed to a one-year suspension of measures targeting almost 500 individuals and more than 800 firms to bolster a reform process which the same month saw opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s election to parliament.
Among the sanctions, hundreds of people were targeted by a travel ban and asset freeze, while on the economic front the EU had barred investments and banned imports of the country’s lucrative timber, metals and gems.
To help Myanmar’s economy, the EU will also look at the feasibility of a bilateral investment agreement, as well as more development assistance.
Ministers noted, however, that there were “still significant challenges to be addressed,” in particular an end to hostilities in Kachin state and improving the plight of the Rohingya people.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said yesterday that Myanmar had waged “a campaign of ethnic cleansing” against Rohingya Muslims, citing evidence of mass graves and forced displacement affecting tens of thousands.
HRW Asia head Phil Robertson said lifting the sanctions was “premature and regrettable,” warning that the move lessens leverage over Myanmar.
To help the country deal with inter-communal violence, the EU is studying the possibility of assisting reform of the police service, in partnership with its parliament, the statement said.
The government yesterday dismissed the charges by HRW as one-sided and “unacceptable”.
Security forces were complicit in disarming Rohingya Muslims of makeshift weapons and standing by, or even joining in, as Rakhine Buddhist mobs killed men, women and children in June and October 2012, HRW said.
The failure to investigate properly or punish officials had emboldened those behind campaigns against Muslims elsewhere, said Robertson, referring to violence in central Myanmar that killed more than 43 people in March and displaced at least 12,000.
Ye Htut, a presidential spokesman and Myanmar’s deputy Minister of Information, said the government would pay heed only to its own probe panel set up after the initial violence in June.
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