On 25 March 2021, the UK Government announced further measures targeting the Myanmar regime, adding Myanmar Economic Holdings Public Company Ltd (MEHL) to the Global Human Rights financial sanctions regime for its alleged involvement in human rights violations against the Rohingya. MEHL has been added to the UK Sanctions List and to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s consolidated list of financial sanctions targets.
The UK also named 40 of MEHL’s subsidiaries in its Sanctions List, targeting entities operating in a broad range of industries including consumer goods, tourism and mining. The sanctions impose an asset freeze against MEHL and its subsidiaries and prohibit funds and economic resources being made available, directly or indirectly, to MEHL or any subsidiary it owns or controls.
This action was announced alongside the United States, and follows the designation of nine individuals from Myanmar’s military last month under the UK’s Myanmar/Burma sanctions regime (see our previous blog posts here and here).
