UK Sanctions Myanmar Conglomerate for Military Ties

The United Kingdom sanctioned Myanmar Economic Corp. for its role in making funds available to the Myanmar military and its association with senior military figures, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced in an April 1 news release. MEC becomes the latest to be sanctioned following the military coup in the Southeast Asian nation and the subsequent crackdown on peaceful protests (see 2102190057). The conglomerate's assets in the U.K. will be frozen, and U.K. nationals will be barred from dealing with funds owned or controlled by MEC, the release said. “The UK’s latest actions target one of the military’s key funding streams and impose a further cost on them for their violations of human rights,” Raab said.