US Imposes Financial Sanctions, Visa Bans On Individuals And Entities From China, Myanmar, North Korea

Canada and the United Kingdom also joined the US in imposing sanctions related to human rights violations in Myanmar.

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New Delhi: The United States imposed financial sanctions and visa bans on current and former government officials and entities from nine countries on Friday, reported AP. Canada and the United Kingdom also joined the US in imposing sanctions related to human rights violations in Myanmar. 

In an action marking the Human Rights Day, the US imposed sanctions on North Korea under the Biden administration and targeted the Myanmar military entities. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken while announcing the measures said, “We are determined to put human rights at the center of our foreign policy and we reaffirm this commitment by using appropriate tools and authorities to draw attention to and promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, no matter where they occur.” 

The US officials imposed visa bans and financial sanctions on a broad array of individuals and entities which include Chinese authorities over suppression of Uyghur and other ethnic minorities in China and a university in Russia that helped North Korea raise money with an abusive overseas labor programme. 

The US State Department took action against 12 former and current government officials and their immediate family from six countries — Uganda, China, Belarus, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Mexico — ineligible to enter the United States. The action was taken under a law which authorises banning of people “implicated in a “gross violation of human rights or significant corruption,” as reported by AP.

The Treasury Department too, imposed financial sanctions and other restrictions on 15 people and 10 entities in China, Russia, Myanmar, Bangladesh and North Korea. It included investment restrictions on a Chinese company SenseTime Group Limited. The company was connected with mass government surveillance operations in China. It has developed facial recognition programmes which can ascertain a target’s ethnicity, especially identifying ethnic Uygurs.

“On International Human Rights Day, the Treasury is using its tools to expose and hold accountable perpetrators of serious human rights abuse,” said Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.