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EU extends Burma sanctions for six
- Subject: EU extends Burma sanctions for six
- From: ausgeo@xxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 03:23:00
Subject: EU extends Burma sanctions for six months
EU extends Burma sanctions for six months
LUXEMBOURG, April 29 (AFP) - European Union foreign ministers agreed Tuesday
to extend for six months a package of sanctions on Burma designed to put
pressure on the country's military rulers over human rights abuses.
Under the sanctions, introduced last October, members of Burma's ruling junta
and senior members of the military or security forces are banned from
travelling to Europe. Contacts at ministerial or senior official level are
also frozen.
The measures strengthened an existing package that includes an embargo on the
sale of arms, munitions and military equipment to Burma, a ban on military
cooperation and the suspension of non-humanitarian aid or development
projects.
Burma has also been stripped of its preferential access to EU markets but EU
governments have ruled out broader economic sanctions. The United States last
week imposed a ban on new investment in the southeast Asian country.
The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has estimated that
800,000 people are currently being forced to work on government or military
projects in Burma.
Amnesty International recently described 1996 as the worst year for human
rights in Burma this decade, with more than 2,000 people arrested for calling
for reforms and severe restrictions placed on opposition leader Aung San Suu
Kyi's freedom of movement and speech.