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Thai banks are main providers of financial services to Myanmar’s military, says UN expert
BANGKOK (AP) — Thai banks have become the main supplier of international financial services to Myanmar’s military government, allowing it to buy goods and equipment to carry out its operations. increasingly bloody war against pro-democracy resistance forces and ethnic minority armed groups, a UN expert said in a report released Wednesday.
The report by Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, tracks how the military junta was able to continue acquiring weapons through the transfer of suppliers of financial services and military equipment, as previous sources were blocked by sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and other states.
The report accuses companies from Thailand, Myanmar’s eastern neighbor, of having made up for the gap left by the withdrawal of business by Singapore companies with the military junta.
It states that the junta, formally known as the State Administration Council, “continues to collaborate with a broad international banking network to support itself and its arms supply.”
“During the past year, 16 banks located in seven countries processed transactions related to SAC military purchases; Since the coup, 25 banks have provided correspondent banking services to state-owned banks in Myanmar,” says the report, titled “Banking in the Death Trade: How Banks and Governments Enable the Military Junta in Myanmar”, presented to the Human Rights Council of the UN.
Myanmar’s military junta came to power in February 2021 after the army overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. After security forces used lethal force to suppress nonviolent protests, armed resistance emerged and the country It is now in a civil war. The military has been accused of carrying out widespread human rights violations, including the bombing of civilians.
“The good news is that the junta is increasingly isolated,” Andrews said in a statement. “The Myanmar military’s annual acquisition of weapons and military supplies through the formal banking system decreased by a third from the year ending March 2023 to the following year – from US$377 million to US$253 million.”
“The bad news is that the junta is circumventing sanctions and other measures, exploiting gaps in sanctions regimes, changing financial institutions and taking advantage of the failure of (UN) Member States to coordinate and fully implement actions.”
A previous Andrews report documented that Singapore-based entities have become the junta’s third-largest source of weapons materials, despite a clear national policy opposing arms transfers to Myanmar.
After that report was presented and its findings investigated by the Singapore government, “the flow of weapons and related materials into Myanmar from companies registered in Singapore fell by almost 90%,” the new report says.
It states that while Singapore-based banks facilitated more than 70% of the military junta’s purchases that went through the formal banking system in financial year 2022, “this percentage fell to less than 20% in financial year 2023.”
Exports from entities registered in Thailand “more than doubled — from just over US$60 million to nearly US$130 million” from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2023, the report adds.
“Many SAC purchases previously made to Singapore-based entities, including parts for Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters used to conduct airstrikes against civilian targets, are now being sourced from Thailand,” it states.
He highlights Thai banks as playing an important role in facilitating international business for Myanmar’s ruling military, citing the example of Siam Commercial Bank, which said it carried out just over US$5 million in transactions related to Myanmar’s military purchases in the fiscal 2022, rising to more than $100 million in fiscal 2023. The bank declined to immediately comment on the report.
Andrews’ report recounts the cost of the fighting so far in Myanmar: more than 5,000 civilians killed since the seizure of power, 3 million people displaced and more than 20,000 political prisoners.
“By relying on financial institutions that are willing to do business with Myanmar’s state-owned banks under its control, the junta has ready access to the financial services it needs to commit systematic human rights violations, including air strikes against civilians,” said Andrews.
“International banks that facilitate transactions that include Myanmar state-owned banks are at high risk of enabling military attacks on Myanmar civilians. I ask you to stop doing this. Banks have a fundamental obligation not to facilitate crimes – and this includes war crimes and crimes against humanity.”