A coalition of 92 Canadian and international human rights organizations—including members of the Myanmar diaspora—has submitted a joint letter to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, calling on Ottawa to expand its sanctions against Myanmar to cover its entire oil and gas extraction sector.
The signatories warned that international energy projects continue to serve as a vital financial lifeline for the regime in Naypyidaw.
The petition highlights a major regulatory loophole: current sanctions targeting the regime-controlled Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) fail to stop foreign enterprises from operating in the sector as long as they avoid direct contracts with MOGE.
The groups specifically pointed to Calgary-managed Canadian Foresight Group, which holds an 80 per cent operating interest in the 13,480-square-kilometer offshore Block M-15 concession in the Andaman Sea off the coast of Myanmar’s Tanintharyi Region, where development plans could generate substantial foreign currency revenues for the regime.
The 92 Canadian and international organizations presented three primary policy demands to the Canadian government:
- Sector-Wide Oil & Gas Sanctions: Prohibit all Canadian entities and citizens from participating in Myanmar’s oil and gas exploration, extraction, and production activities.
- Supply Chain Restrictions: Extend sanctions to cover technical, financial, and logistical support services—including insurance, reinsurance, certification, engineering, and banking.
- Resumption of Regular Sanctions Tranches: Resume issuing periodic rounds of sanctions targeting arms, equipment, and revenue streams, renewing the proactive enforcement stance Canada adopted immediately following the Myanmar military coup in 2021.
The petition underscores a worsening humanitarian crisis on the ground, citing data indicating that the Myanmar military executes an airstrike every two and a half hours on average and that a child is killed every 29 hours.
Prominent advocacy leaders, including Slone Phan of the Karen Community of Canada, Yasmin Ullah of the Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network, and Minn Tent Bo of Burma Campaign UK, emphasized that economic interests must not supersede human lives, urging Canada to take decisive action to cut off foreign currency streams enabling the regime’s campaign of violence against civilians.
“The oil and gas sector remains one of the Burmese military’s most important sources of revenue. Oil and gas revenues help finance the military’s campaign of repression, including air strikes that target civilians, schools, hospitals and places of worship. Canada has shown leadership on Burma before and should now take the next step by targeting the entire oil and gas supply chain,” said Minn Tent Bo.
