May 10th, 2022
Over 600 Myanmar & International Civil Society Organizations and over 220,000 people sent an open letter dated May 4th to the US government to sanction Myanmar’s oil and gas revenues and stop the bankrolling of the genocidal military junta.
Throughout the coup, multinational oil and gas companies have aided and abetted the military junta in misappropriating revenues from offshore gas projects that are owed to the legitimate government of Myanmar and paid through MOGE, the letter says.
The open letter covers three demands. The first is to use sanctions to stop gas revenues from reaching the junta and work with allies in Thailand and South Korea ensure that these revenues are diverted into escrow accounts to be held for a legitimate, recognized government.
The second is to enforce the Treasury Department’s January 2022 business advisory on Myanmar with respect to MOGE, communicating to gas companies and banks that gas revenue payments to the military will be considered money laundering, and that those failing to comply will face consequences.
The third is to sanction the Myanma Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), a state-owned enterprise that for decades has laundered gas revenues and whose government accounts are once again in military hands.
Since taking control of MOGE in February 2021, the military has seized an estimated USD 1.5 billion in gas revenues. The military’s continued access to these revenues enables its brutality and disincentivizes it from ending the coup, the letter says.
On May 12-13, President Biden and ASEAN leaders will meet in Washington, DC and discuss the ongoing human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar.
As a priority next step, we call on the Biden Administration to listen to the voices of over 220,000 people and sanction the Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE). The Biden Administration must move forward without relying on ASEAN to take the lead, the letter says.
Sent by the KIC.