U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the congressional sponsor of economic sanctions
against Myanmar, said he won’t seek their extension in light of
the former military regime’s shift toward democracy.
“I will not be making an effort to renew those sanctions
this year, based upon consultations with the State Department,”
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, told reporters at the Capitol
yesterday after meeting Myanmar President Thein Sein. “We think
enough progress has been made in Burma where implementation of
the sanctions this year is actually not a good idea.”
Thein Sein’s moves to allow more political freedom and open
Myanmar’s economy following about five decades of military rule
have attracted companies including Ford Motor Co. (F), Coca-Cola Co.
and Visa Inc. He sought the end of U.S. sanctions in a meeting
this week with President Barack Obama, a month after the
European Union lifted punitive measures.
Myanmar’s economy may grow 6.75 percent this fiscal year,
led by natural gas sales and investment as the country
modernizes its financial system, the International Monetary Fund
said in a statement today. The country of 64 million, sandwiched
between China and India, is among Asia’s poorest.
“The authorities’ ambitious reform program is bearing
fruit, with macroeconomic stability and high investor
interest,” Matt Davies, the IMF’s mission chief for Myanmar,
said in a statement after a 15-day visit to the country.
Slapping Reformers
McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor yesterday
that renewing the sanctions against imports from Myanmar “would
be a slap in the face to Burmese reformers and embolden those
within Burma who want to slow or reverse reform.”
Congress “should be strengthening the hand of these
reformers to show the fence sitters that reforms will be met
with positive action by the United States,” he said. “Burmese
citizens should not be made to feel that Congress will maintain
sanctions no matter what they do.”
While Obama praised Myanmar’s progress after meeting with
Thein Sein on May 20, he expressed “deep concern” about
violence against ethnic and religious minorities and said abuse
of human rights “needs to stop.” Clashes between Rakhine
Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya last year in a western border area
killed about 180 people and displaced more than 100,000.
Anti-Muslim Violence
Last month, anti-Muslim violence in central Myanmar killed
more than 40 people, displaced 20,000 others and left about
1,400 buildings destroyed, including mosques. A Myanmar court
yesterday sentenced seven Muslims to prison terms over the
killing of a monk in the riots. No Buddhists have been convicted
yet over the violence.
Obama last year relaxed sanctions on Myanmar, which the
U.S. still officially calls Burma, after Thein Sein engaged with
political opponents, released dissidents and relaxed censorship
following his party’s victory in a 2010 election that ended five
decades of repression and direct military rule.
Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi told reporters
yesterday the country needs to see more changes to the political
system. The constitution now bars her from becoming president
after elections planned in 2015 because her children are British
citizens.
Suu Kyi also rejected concerns that her international image
may suffer for not advocating citizenship for Muslim Rohingya.
Suu Kyi
“It is according to the citizenship law,” she told
reporters in Naypyidaw yesterday. “If you are concerned about
your image, don’t do politics. You have to do what’s right for
your country.”
Human-rights advocates opposed Obama’s decision to invite
Thein Sein to the White House as premature. They said he has
dragged his feet on promises for change and that many pledges
haven’t been met, including setting up a panel to review
political prisoner cases.
“The last year has seen devastating violence against
minorities and a stalled reform process,” John Sifton, Asia
advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, said in an e-mailed
statement. Obama must “make it clear that there are
consequences if the Burmese government fails to implement its
previous human rights pledges.”
source: Bloomberg Businessweek
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