Dhaka: The Burma Campaign UK has welcomed the renewal of sanctions by the European Union against the Burmese military junta, a statement issued on 27 April, 2009 said.
Mark Farmaner, Director of Burma Campaign UK, said, "The renewal of sanctions is very welcome," adding that, "to relax sanctions now, when the regime is showing no improvement on human rights and increasing restrictions on the delivery of aid, would be irresponsible. We would, however, like to see the EU use sanctions in a smarter way, in combination with diplomatic pressure."
The Burma Campaign UK is calling for carefully targeted sanctions that hit the generals and their business cronies, but also for these sanctions to be linked with political initiatives such as visits by UN envoys, so that sanctions can be used to apply political as well as economic pressure.
"The British government has opposed any relaxation of sanctions without positive steps by Burma's generals first, and deserve praise for continuing to stand by the people of Burma, giving them political support, as well as being the largest aid donor," said Mark Farmaner.
The junta had called on the EU to lift sanctions. Some European governments sided with the regime and supported relaxing sanctions, despite the fact that the junta has ignored all requests by the EU regarding human rights and political reforms.
The EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday extended the EU Common Position on Burma for another year.
In the statement, Burma Campaign UK said that although the EU has not introduced the kind of strong targeted sanctions that Burma's democracy movement has been calling for, Burma's generals regularly complain about those sanctions that do exist, demonstrating that they are having an impact.
The first sanctions that initiated any significant steps towards stopping revenue going to Burma's generals and their cronies were only introduced in March 2008. These sanctions included an import ban on gems and timber, but Friends of the Earth has exposed loopholes in those sanctions.
