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State Dept. Considering Sanctions Against Myanmar Military Individuals, Tillerson Says

The State Department is considering "targeted sanctions" against Burmese individuals amid the Myanmar military's crackdown on the Rohingya people in that country, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Dec. 15. Additionally, State Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Sanctions Policy…

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and Implementation Director Sandra Oudkirk said during a Practising Law Institute export controls conference Dec. 15, that sanctions against Myanmar military individuals are "always an option." Steptoe and Johnson attorney Meredith Rathbone a day earlier at the conference said she thinks State will start sanctioning those individuals, adding that the Bureau of Industry and Security also could tighten controls on exports to Myanmar. The Obama administration ordered the lifting of sanctions on Myanmar in October 2016 (see 1610110029), which Oudkirk believes was justified, she said. Any progress toward reimplementing Myanmar sanctions "will take some time" as Congress is "intimately involved" in broad sanctions authorizations, Oudkirk said. BIS and State didn't comment.