UN Expert Appalled by U.S. Withdrawal of Sanctions on Myanmar Arms Suppliers

Arakan Now | 31 July 2025

The U.S. decision to lift sanctions on individuals and companies that have supplied weapons and military support to Myanmar’s junta is a shocking reversal that could strengthen the military regime and worsen its brutal attacks on civilians, a United Nations expert said Thursday.

Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, condemned the move as a “major step backward” in global efforts to restrict the junta’s access to deadly weapons.

“It is unconscionable to undermine these efforts by rolling back sanctions on Myanmar arms dealers and junta cronies,” Andrews said.

According to the Special Rapporteur, the companies removed from the U.S. sanctions list have been directly involved in brokering arms deals and supplying the Myanmar military with aircraft, surveillance systems, naval guns, and technology used in armored vehicles and tanks. Some have also provided raw materials and components to enable domestic weapons production.

Weapons supplied through these channels have fueled deadly airstrikes and attacks on civilian areas, including villages, displacement camps, schools, hospitals, monasteries, churches, and mosques—many of which may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Andrews emphasized that sanctions have played a critical role in reducing the junta’s military capabilities. U.S. and allied sanctions helped cut Myanmar’s arms imports by more than 30 percent between 2023 and 2024.

Despite this progress, the Trump administration has moved to ease pressure. On February 4, President Donald Trump extended the executive order authorizing sanctions on Myanmar, citing ongoing threats to U.S. national security.

Yet by mid-2025, several companies linked to the junta’s weapons network were quietly removed from the sanctions list.

At a UN meeting in June, the U.S. representative to the Economic and Social Council acknowledged that the junta continues to bomb civilians, forcibly conscript Rohingya, and block humanitarian aid—actions widely condemned by the international community.

Andrews urged the U.S. to reconsider its decision and instead expand sanctions, including targeting the junta-controlled Myanmar Economic Bank, which plays a key role in financing military imports.

“Rather than lifting sanctions, the U.S. should be increasing pressure,” Andrews said. “This is a matter of life and death for the people of Myanmar.”