US President Joe Biden has extended a national emergency order on Burma, according to a statement.

In a statement released on February 7 argued that the situation within the country “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

The order allows, inter alia, for the imposition of sanctions and the freezing of Burmese or Myanmar state funds held within the US.

The following is the statement issued from the office of the White House and signed by the US president:

A Message to the Congress on the Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to the Situation in and in Relation to Burma Section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)) provides for the automatic termination of a national emergency unless, within 90 days prior to the anniversary date of its declaration, the President publishes in the Federal Register and transmits to the Congress a notice stating that the emergency is to continue in effect beyond the anniversary date. In accordance with this provision, I have sent to the Federal Register for publication the enclosed notice stating that the national emergency with respect to the situation in and in relation to Burma declared in Executive Order 14014 of February 10, 2021, is to continue in effect beyond February 10, 2022.

The situation in and in relation to Burma, and in particular the February 1, 2021 coup, in which the military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of Burma and unjustly arrested and detained government leaders, politicians, human rights defenders, journalists, and religious leaders, thereby rejecting the will of the people of Burma as expressed in elections held in November 2020 and undermining the country’s democratic transition and rule of law, continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. Therefore, I have determined that it is necessary to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14014 with respect to Burma.