Foreign banks are facilitating the Myanmar military junta’s
access to weapons and related materials that are sustaining its campaign of
violence and brutality against the people of Myanmar, according to a new report
released on Wednesday by Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on
the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
The report titled ‘Banking on the Death Trade: How Banks and
Governments Enable the military Junta in Myanmar’ identifies 16 banks in seven
countries that have processed transactions linked to the junta’s military
procurement in the past two years, and an additional 25 that have provided
correspondent banking services to Myanmar’s state-owned banks that are
controlled by the junta, according to the Office of UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights in Geneva.
“By relying on financial institutions that are willing to do
business with Myanmar state-owned banks under its control, the junta has ready
access to the financial services it needs to carry out systematic human rights
violations, including aerial attacks on civilians,” the special rapporteur
said.
“International banks that facilitate transactions that
include Myanmar state-owned banks are at high risk of enabling military attacks
on Myanmar civilians. I urge them to stop doing so. Banks have a fundamental
obligation to not facilitate crimes – and this includes war crimes and crimes
against humanity,” he said.
“The good news is that the junta is increasingly isolated.
The Myanmar military’s annual procurement of weapons and military supplies
through the formal banking system declined by a third from the year ending
March 2023 to the year that followed – from US$377 million to $253 million.
“The bad news is that the junta is circumventing sanctions
and other measures by exploiting gaps in sanctions regimes, shifting financial
institutions, and taking advantage of the failure of Member States to fully
coordinate and enforce actions.”
The report examines a dramatic shift in the role of two
ASEAN countries as sources of weapons and military supplies for the junta.
After a report last year by the special rapporteur identified Singapore as
Myanmar’s third largest source of weapons and related materials, the government
of Singapore launched an investigation of the Singapore-based entities involved
in the trade. In the year ending March 2024, the flow of weapons materials to
Myanmar from Singapore-registered companies dropped by nearly 90 percent
compared to the previous year.
Military procurement through Thailand has moved in the
opposite direction. In the year ending March 2024, the junta imported nearly
US$130 million in weapons and military supplies from Thailand-registered
suppliers, more than double the total from the previous year. Thai banks have
played a crucial role in this shift. Siam Commercial Bank, for example,
facilitated just over US$5 million in transactions related to Myanmar military
in the year ending March 2023, but that number skyrocketed to over $100 million
in the following year.
“Singapore’s example demonstrates that a government with
sufficient political will can make a significant difference toward shutting
down the Myanmar death trade. Thailand has an opportunity to follow this
powerful example by taking action that will deal a huge blow to the junta’s
capacity to sustain its escalating attacks on civilian targets. I urge it to do
so,” said Andrews, a United States national.
Over 5,000 civilians have been killed by the junta since the
coup, at least 3 million people are displaced, and more than 20,000 political
prisoners remain behind bars in Myanmar.
Over the last six months, military airstrikes against civilian targets
have increased five-fold while the junta continues to lose military outposts,
territory, and troops to resistance forces.
“With the junta on its heels, it is critical that financial
institutions take their human rights obligations seriously and not facilitate
the junta’s deadly transactions. It is
also critical that States step up by fully coordinating their actions,
including by closing loopholes in sanctions regimes,” the special rapporteur
said.
“Sanctioning governments should be targeting the networks
supplying jet fuel to the junta. It is also critical that they target Myanma
Economic Bank, which is not subject to international sanctions and has become
the go-to bank for the junta. These actions could play a decisive role in
helping to turn the tide in Myanmar and saving untold numbers of lives,” he said.