Gardner Introduces Bill to Assist Democratic Transition and Spur Economic Development in Burma

Washington, DC – Senator Cory Gardner, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy, along with Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) today introduced the Empower Burma Act, legislation that aims to assist in Burma’s democratic transition by requiring the United States to lead a worldwide effort to assist in Burma’s economic development […]

Presidential Proclamation to the Congress — Restoring Burma’s Trade Benefits Under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP)

1. Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended (the “1974 Act”) (19 U.S.C. 2462), authorizes the President to designate countries as beneficiary developing countries, and to designate any beneficiary developing country as a least-developed beneficiary developing country, for purposes of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program. Section 502(f)(1)(A) of the 1974 Act (19 U.S.C. 2462(f)(1)(A)) requires the President to notify the Congress before designating any country as a beneficiary developing country […]

Joint Statement between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the United States of America

At the invitation of President Barack Obama, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, State Counsellor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is on an official visit to Washington, D.C. in September 2016 […]

Burma: US Should Retain Key Sanctions

The United States government should keep in place sanctions on Burma to deter the Burmese military from derailing democratic reforms, Human Rights Watch said today […]

Announcement of Treasury Sanctions Against Aung Thaung

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated Aung Thaung, a senior official of the Burmese Government, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13448. This action specifically designates an individual, Aung Thaung, and does not designate any Burmese government entity. […]

Rising Costs in Myanmar Put Strain on UNICEF’s Resources in Yangon

YANGON-The end of foreign sanctions and the opening up of Myanmar has benefitted millions of children paving the way for greater progress, however they have also led to higher operational costs for UN agencies and other aid organizations […]

President Obama Renews Burma Investment Sanctions

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, President Obama continued the national emergency with respect to Burma. This follows the call for renewal from U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB) and 28 other human rights organizations on May 6 (see letter here) […]

President Obama Must Renew Burma Investment Sanctions

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. Campaign for Burma (USCB), along with 28 other human rights organizations, called on President Obama to continue the national emergency with respect to Burma. The national emergency provides the authority for the ban of U.S. investment in the Burmese military and the authority for the Reporting Requirements for Responsible Investment in Burma. This authority is set to expire this month. Last week, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom also pressed for the renewal of the national emergency […]

Investment at What Cost?

The re-engagement of Burma with the global, free market economy has created opportunities, hope and great potential. Yet with this re-engagement come significant pitfalls, human rights abuses and the legitimization of past abuses being two of the more serious. All foreign investment must be scrutinized and held to the highest standards in order to avoid either of the above mentioned dangers. Specifically, business ties to any cronies of the Burma Army or perpetrators of human rights abuses must not be tolerated and land confiscation associated with this increased business engagement must end.

On 7 November, 37 civil society organizations sent a letter to President Barack Obama asking him to update the US Specially Designated Nationals list for Burma. The list is a US Treasury Department list of individuals and companies barred from having financial or business ties to the United States. These individual and companies were barred due to their ties to the military regime, serious human rights abuses, corruption and the selling of weapons to North Korea. This list has remained basically unchanged since 2009; this is despite the ongoing corruption in the country and the very serious human rights violations that have occurred. The US itself acknowledges that the list is out of date, as evidenced by diplomatic cables leaked in 2009 where the US embassy in Rangoon noted that “many of the real perpetrators of human rights abuses or those who provide significant support to the regime are not yet targeted.” An updating of the list and a systematic way of adding and removing names are of immediate importance. To date the US government has been more concerned with establishing economic ties and a revised list could cause complications for US businesses. This is a sad state of affairs when economic interests trump basic human rights […]

37 Organizations Urge President Obama to Update Blacklist with Respect to Burma

Updated Sanctions Crucial for Responsible US Investment

Today, November 7, 2013, thirty-seven organizations submitted a joint letter to President Barack Obama calling on the US Administration to update the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list with respect to Burma and implement unambiguous criteria for removing and adding persons to the list […]