The European Union (EU) was, on 22 February, the first jurisdiction to impose sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).

MOGE is the junta’s biggest single source of revenue, responsible for financing its terror campaign.

The move comes after TotalEnergies, Chevron, Petronas, Mitsubishi Corporation and Woodside have announced plans to exit from their investments in Myanmar.

The EU has also imposed sanctions on the state-owned No. 1 Mining Enterprise, and crony conglomerates International Group of Entrepreneurs (IGE) and the Htoo Group of Companies. It also sanctioned 22 individuals, including a number of officials from the State Administration Council - the military junta’s governance vehicle and 14 members of the military-appointed Union Election Commission who have helped the military launder its claims of election fraud by invalidating the November 2020 elections in the summer of 2021, despite a complete lack of evidence.

According to the rights organization Global Witness, these sanctions are extremely important and demonstrate that the EU is willing to begin holding those who have helped enable the military’s actions to account. However, it is the EU’s decision to add MOGE to its sanctions list that is the most significant step any member of the international community has yet taken to punish Myanmar’s brutal military junta for its ongoing attempt to take control of the country.

Myanmar’s offshore gas sector provides over a billion USD per year in revenue to the government, money that is now being expropriated by a military junta that has killed over 1,500 civilians since the coup. Activists have been calling for months for the international community to cut off the military’s access to this revenue by sanctioning MOGE, and the EU appears to have finally heeded these calls.

“The addition of MOGE to the EU sanctions list is a hugely important step in targeting the revenue sources helping keep the military afloat,” said Hanna Hindstrom, Myanmar Senior Campaigner at Global Witness. “While the EU and other countries have sanctioned dozens of other entities, the exclusion of MOGE seriously limited the effectiveness of those sanctions. Today’s announcement shows that the EU is finally serious about addressing the main financial lifeline for the military government,” she added.

In spite of the clear case for sanctioning MOGE, the past year has seen the EU and US take the side of the oil and gas companies and their lobbyists over Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement. The announcement in late January by Chevron and Total that they would begin withdrawing from the country due to the military’s human rights abuses signaled the companies were finally responding to the pressure and appears to have removed the final barriers for action from the EU.

Reacting to the news Yadanar Maung, the spokesperson for the Myanmar rights organization Justice for Myanmar, said: “We welcome this new round of EU sanctions. The designation of MOGE is a historic win for grassroots activism throughout Myanmar and around the world, after over a year of campaigning to stop oil and gas revenue flowing to the terrorist military junta.

“Sanctions on MOGE are essential to deny the junta the funds it needs to finance its increasing and intensifying violent attacks against civilians, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

“EU sanctions send a strong signal that the Myanmar junta cannot continue business as usual, but it is not enough.

“Other governments including the US and Japan must now follow with sanctions on MOGE, other military controlled businesses and their significant associates.

“EU sanctions against IGE should send a strong message to POSCO International and Lotte Hotels & Resorts, which continue to partner with IGE in the Lotte Hotel project, on land leased from the Office of the Quartermaster General.”

Hanna Hindstrom concluded: “This move is a welcome one but long overdue. Now the US and UK must follow suit, and all three must focus on enforcing these crucial economic sanctions.”