(Reuters) – The European Union on Monday imposed a sixth round of sanctions on Myanmar over the 2021 military coup that overthrew elected leader Aung Suu Kyi and sparked global outrage.
The new sanctions target nine persons and seven entities and include the energy minister, prominent businessmen, high-ranking officers and departments of the defence ministry and private companies supplying fuel, arms and funds to the military.
In total, EU sanctions now apply to 93 individuals and 18 entities in the Southeast Asian country.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions reimposed.
Around 1.2 million people have been internally displaced and over 70,000 have left the country, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a report in March last year. It accused the military of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Myanmar’s military has said it has a duty to ensure peace and security and denied atrocities have taken place, saying it is carrying out a legitimate campaign against “terrorists”.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout, editing by Mark Heinrich)
