Removal from sanctions list
The United States has removed sanctions from the daughter of a Myanmar businessman who was accused of supporting the military-installed government. According to its website, the US Department of the Treasury removed Theint Win Htet from its sanctions list on Friday following a lawsuit she filed in July.
The decision followed a Reuters report indicating that the administration of US President Donald Trump has reopened talks with Myanmar’s government, marking a shift from years of US policy that targeted the generals who led a 2021 coup against the democratically elected government.
In January 2024, the Treasury Department under former President Joe Biden’s administration targeted the Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, founded by Theint Win Htet’s father, Thein Win Zaw, and his family. The department stated that the company supplied fuel to the military and owned at least 20 firms with close ties to military leadership.
Lawsuit and impact
Theint Win Htet initially sought removal through a lawsuit filed against the Biden administration, which was dismissed last year. She filed a second complaint in July, maintaining that she holds no role in her father’s business.
The sanctions had blocked her US credit cards, restricted her foreign bank accounts, and forced her to leave her master’s degree program at Columbia University in New York. She currently resides in Thailand with her mother, who was removed from the US sanctions list last year.
Following her delisting, her lawyer, Washington, DC-based sanctions specialist Erich Ferrari, filed a notice in the US capital’s federal court on Friday to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit.
Reactions and background
The group Justice For Myanmar criticized the Treasury Department’s action, pointing to escalating military attacks on civilians.
“It is deplorable that the US government continues to delist Myanmar cronies and their family members that provide funding for the junta’s terror,” the group said.
The Biden administration previously imposed sanctions on military officers and companies following the 2021 coup. The resulting civil war has resulted in approximately 100,000 deaths and displaced more than 3.5 million people. In July of last year, Washington also lifted sanctions on several other Myanmar nationals and a company accused of assisting the military.
