ANZ failure to condemn Myanmar highlights need for targeted sanctions.

ANZ failure to condemn Myanmar highlights need for targeted sanctions.
A pedestrian walks past Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) automatic teller machines (ATMs) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 16 December 2019. EPA-EFE/MICK TSIKAS AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

Mizzima  
  
In the face of atrocity crimes, one of Australia’s largest banks last week held firm on refusing to condemn the military violence against unarmed civilians protesting Myanmar’s coup.  
  
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd or ANZ Bank, retained its ‘wait and see’ position as, warned the International Crisis Group, Myanmar edges towards state collapse.   
  
President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), Michele O’Neil said, “ANZ’s ‘concern’ about escalating state-sanctioned violence in Myanmar is not enough.  
 
“ANZ must take concrete action to ensure they are not providing any financial support to the military junta.” 
  
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) has recorded the number of people held in detention and who have been killed by security forces since the 1 February coup. AAPPB latest figures as of 11 April, confirm 706 people have been killed and over 3000 arrested detained or charged. 
  
Myanmar military air strikes and Myanmar Army bombardments on Karen villages that began on 27th of March in Karen State have killed 30 and injured 32 Karen civilians and displaced as many as 20,000. Community organizations said displaced villagers are now living in basic jungle camps and are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance.  
  
The same generals who organized the coup are being investigated by International Criminal Court for genocide against the Rohingya.     
   
“The Myanmar military and military leaders have extensive business interests and any multinational company operating in Myanmar is at risk of legitimizing the coup and funding the military regime,” said O’Neil.  
  
Mark Whelan, a top ANZ executive, told the Australian Financial Review’s banking summit at the end of March, “our two priorities are – are our staff safe? And can we continue to service our customer base appropriately?”. According to Whelan, the ANZ employs just 20 local staff.  
 
Finance Sector Union state secretary Nicole McPherson, who represents ANZ employees in Victoria said that “while we share ANZ’s concerns about its staff, ANZ is wrong if it thinks that silence and inaction will keep anyone in Myanmar safe. ANZ must take practical steps ensure that it is not legitimising or funding the military regime.”  
 
“If ANZ is truly committed to upholding human rights and supporting the people of Myanmar, it is time for them to take a stand.” 
  
Pressure intensifies on ANZ executive decision makers including Whelan, to uphold their institutional responsibility to protect – a responsibility grounded in what the Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business calls the ‘shared space’ that investors inhabit with the people of Myanmar.  
  
Advocacy group, Justice for Myanmar (JfM) said, “ANZ Bank must take their human rights responsibilities seriously.”  
  
In a statement, ANZ said it does not provide banking services to entities subject to sanctions or provide funding for their projects. However, the ANZ does not indicate if it has recently or is currently performing the necessary yet complex due diligence to ensure it is not engaged with military owned or related business.  
  
Nor did it clarify if it referred to Australia’s pre-coup sanction regime which does not target Senior General Min Aung Hlaing or military-owned conglomerates, or the post-coup US, UK, EU sanctions that do.  
  
The scale and brutality of the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar Army and the determination of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) to persist has brought to head a critical moment in Myanmar’s crisis. In such moment, says JfM, “Silence and inaction is not an option.” 
  
The ACTU’s Michele O’Neil is also concerned at the Australian government’s failure to take stronger action against the Myanmar regime. She said, “the Biden Government has taken strong action by implementing sanctions against coup leaders and their family members, blacklisting military conglomerates and suspending all trade with Myanmar in order to put pressure on the military junta – the Morrison Government needs to follow this example.”