Joint Statement: US should enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar

DATE:               8 July 2024

FROM:              The Sentry and Justice For Myanmar

 

JOINT STATEMENT:      

US should enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar Sanctions urged for Chinese ship, Vietnamese storage terminal, and other entities and individuals involved in supply of jet fuel to the junta

Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry urge the United States to enforce jet fuel sanctions on Myanmar to effectively curtail the capacity of the Myanmar junta to continue its indiscriminate and deadly airstrikes. We are calling for the US to deploy the strong regulatory tools it has already put in place and to leverage the credible intelligence it is receiving from civil society.

As the junta’s brutal aerial war against the Myanmar population intensifies, Justice For Myanmar and The Sentry urge the US Department of the Treasury to finally use its jet fuel determination to sanction Chinese-flagged ship HUITONG78, Vietnamese petroleum storage terminal operator Hai Linh Co. Ltd., and all other entities and individuals involved in the supply of jet fuel to the junta.

We welcomed the adoption in August 2023 of a series of measures by the US Treasury Department targeted at the jet fuel supply to the Myanmar junta and, notably, the issuance of a determination on the jet fuel sector that “allows for sanctions to be imposed on any foreign individual or entity determined to operate in the jet fuel sector of the Burmese economy.” This determination was accompanied by guidance clarifying that the Treasury Department’s Office on Foreign Assets Control “intends to target activities for or related to military regime end users in Burma.” Yet after almost one year, no new jet fuel sanctions have been imposed.

In January 2024, Amnesty International exposed how jet fuel shipments to Myanmar had increased in volume following the adoption of US sanctions. The report notably named two key parties to transshipments aimed at circumventing sanctions: Chinese-flagged ship HUITONG78 and Vietnamese petroleum storage terminal operator Hai Linh Co. Ltd.

In a new report published today, Amnesty International further details how jet fuel shipments to the Myanmar junta continue—with the ongoing involvement of HUITONG78 and Hai Linh Co. Ltd.

Oliver Windridge, Director of Illicit Finance Policy at The Sentry, said: “The US Treasury Department has put in place the regulatory arsenal to strike at those international actors involved with the supply of jet fuel to the Myanmar junta. Amnesty International has now twice provided credible intelligence on who these actors are and how they continue to send the deadly cargo to Myanmar. Treasury must act and sanction these enablers of the Myanmar junta’s air force to show that it is not bark only but that it will use its teeth. These actions can disrupt the supply chain fueling the junta’s air assets and deter international actors from participating in this murderous supply chain.”

Yadanar Maung, spokesperson for Justice For Myanmar, said: “It has been more than three years since the military’s illegal coup attempt, and the junta continues to wage a campaign of terror against the Myanmar people, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity with total impunity. As the junta continues to lose ground to resistance forces, it is increasingly relying on indiscriminate airstrikes, killing women and children; destroying schools, healthcare facilities and whole communities; and causing mass displacement. This is continuing amid a lack of international action to cut off the junta’s jet fuel supply chain. The US has the power to act to disrupt the junta’s access to jet fuel, and now it needs to take concrete action by sanctioning HUITONG78, Hai Linh Co. Ltd. and all other companies that are enabling the junta’s atrocities.”

For media inquiries or interview requests for The Sentry, please contact: Greg Hittelman, Director of Communications, [email protected]

For media inquiries for Justice For Myanmar, please contact: Yadanar Maung, Spokesperson, [email protected]

 

About Justice For Myanmar

Justice For Myanmar is a covert group of activists using research, data visualisation, and reporting to expose and dismantle the business networks that fuel brutality, corruption and mass-scale suffering. ‍‍One report at a time, Justice For Myanmar is going after the military’s sources of funds and arms. As a result of its work and the work of many others across Myanmar and the world, multinational corporations have already divested hundreds of millions of dollars from business with the military, and targeted sanctions are beginning to disrupt the Myanmar military cartel’s global network.

About The Sentry
(Short descriptor for press use: “The Sentry, an investigative organization that tracks corruption”)
The Sentry is an investigative and policy organization that seeks to disable multinational predatory networks that benefit from violent conflict, repression, and kleptocracy. Pull back the curtain on wars, mass atrocities, and other human rights abuses, and you’ll find grand corruption and unchecked greed. These tragedies persist because the perpetrators rarely face meaningful consequences. The Sentry aims to alter the warped incentive structures that continually undermine peace and good governance. Our investigations follow the money as it is laundered from war zones to financial centers around the world. We provide evidence and strategies for governments, banks, and law enforcement to hold the perpetrators and enablers of violence and corruption to account. These efforts provide new leverage for human rights, peace, and anti-corruption efforts.