Junta has imported $1 billion worth of arms since 2021 coup, UN says

Since its 2021 coup, Burma’s junta has imported $1 billion worth of weapons it has used “to commit atrocities”, denounces the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Burma, in a report published on Wednesday 17 May. The soldiers killed “at least 3,500 civilians” since the putsch and imprisoned more than 20,000 political prisoners, underlines Tom Andrews.

At least a billion dollars “weapons, dual-use technologies and materials used to make weapons” were imported by the junta between February 1, 2021, the day of the coup, and December 2022, mainly from Russian, Chinese, Singaporean and Indian suppliers. “Entities based in Russia and China are essential to the Myanmar military” to obtain armaments and spare parts, writes Tom Andrews in his report.

“These weapons and the materials needed to manufacture them have continued to flow uninterrupted to the Burma Army, despite overwhelming evidence of its responsibility for atrocious crimes”, denounces the UN expert. He cites the “brutal attack” of an opposition-controlled village, in which 170 people, including children, were killed. Tom Andrews urges UN member states to apply sanctions against arms dealers and sources of foreign currency.