UN expert urges Japan to sanction Myanmar junta

Andrews was speaking after an official visit to Japan to speak with government and business officials – Copyright VATICAN MEDIA/AFP Handout

Japan should sanction Myanmar as it has done for Russia over its Ukraine invasion, a United Nations expert said Thursday, slamming the junta’s “barbarism and oppression”.

Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also urged Japan to immediately end a training programme for Myanmar troops, warning it was tarnishing the image of the country’s military.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021, sparking fighting across swathes of the country and tanking the economy.

An air strike on a village in a resistance hotspot this month killed at least 170 people, according to media and locals.

“The human r