Sanctions, smanctions

Posted on November 15, 2007
Filed Under Burma news |

As if life in Burma wasn’t tough enough, Canada has announced what Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has called ‘the toughest sanctions in the world’. In addition to existing Canadian sanctions against Burma, Ottawa is introducing a ban on all imports and exports from Burma except for humanitarian goods, and a ban on new investment by Canadians and Canadian companies.

Bernier announces toughest sanctions in the world

Canada will also freeze assets of any designated Burmese nationals connected with the junta, prohibit the provision of Canadian financial services to and from Canada, and prohibit the export of any technical data to Myanmar. Canadian-registered ships and aircraft will be prohibited from docking or landing in the country.

All of which is probably good news for companies in India, China and southeast Asia (for more on ASEAN’s dealings with the junta, see Time for ASEAN to step up), which have operated for years inside Burma without competition from their US counterparts.

But, then again, with Canadian-Burmese trade valued at an estimated US$9 million last year, they’re probably not that excited.

Until there is a universal sanctions regime, sanctions are nothing more than a way for individual countries to feel good about themselves. As Bernier said: “Tougher sanctions against Burma are the right thing to do. They are right on moral grounds. The regime in Burma is abhorrent to Canadian values.”

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