Guest contributor
James Shwe
The junta in Naypyidaw keeps telling Myanmar people: “Trump changed U.S. policy” and that “sanctions don’t hurt us.” This is false.
The U.S. government’s official policy on Myanmar remains firmly against the junta, which seized power after the 2021 military coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
The Trump administration has renewed the National Emergency on Burma as the U.S. has done every year since 2021. The same executive orders (like E.O. 14014) are still active.
The sanctions program is in place and still being actively enforced.
The proof is clear:
- Like every year, sanctions authority is renewed by the White House
- More individuals and companies linked to the junta have been sanctioned, even as recently as 2025
- Congress — Democrats and Republicans — openly calls for tougher, not weaker, measures
If U.S. policy had really changed, the above would not have happened.
Sanctions are working: The numbers don’t lie!
Despite junta propaganda claiming sanctions are ineffective, sanctions against the junta are proving to be effective.
The volume of military equipment that the junta was able to import declined by over 30 percent from 2023 to 2024 in part because of sanctions imposed by the U.S. and other nations.
This is exactly why the regime is so desperate to get them lifted.
How some media coverage helps the spinning schemes
Recent interviews with legal professionals who work on sanctions removal have inadvertently reinforced dangerous messaging.
When sanctions lawyers explain the technical process of delisting — emphasizing it’s “not political” — they’re providing factual information. But the way these discussions are framed can send the wrong signal.
The reality is that every high-priced U.S. legal petition for delisting costs hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.
This isn’t pocket change — it’s resources that could otherwise fund weapons and repression. These expensive legal processes require “substantial formal evidence” and take months or years to complete.
But here’s what’s morally troubling: media coverage that treats sanctions removal as routine bureaucracy ignores where this money comes from. These costly legal campaigns are powered by the blood, sweat, tears, and the stolen futures of the people of Myanmar.
The human cost behind every dollar spent on lawyers
Rare earth mining: Chinese companies rip up hillsides, dump chemicals into rivers, and poison the land. Children fall sick, and birth defects rise. In ethnic Wa areas along Myanmar’s borderlands, Chinese-run mines dump toxins into rivers flowing into Thailand and Cambodia.
Copper mines & the CMEC: Villages and farmland are being bulldozed for copper extraction and China–Myanmar Economic Corridor mega projects. Farmers and fishermen lose their land for tiny compensation, and their water is permanently contaminated.
Timber looting & climate chaos: Myanmar’s ancient forests are stripped for export, leaving bare hillsides, worse floods, longer droughts, and heat.
Migrant Labor Exploitation: Millions of Myanmar migrants in Thailand’s seafood industry endure dangerous work and low wages, sending most of their earnings home just so families can eat.
Every dollar that goes to expensive Washington lawyers and compliance experts is a dollar extracted from this suffering.
Media outlets have a responsibility not to normalize this process or make it sound like just another day at the office.
What media should do instead
When covering sanctions and legal processes:
- Contextualize the human cost — don’t just explain the technical process
- Question the source of funding for expensive legal campaigns
- Emphasize that sanctions are working — that’s why there’s such desperation to remove them
- Avoid framing that makes sanctions removal sound routine or inevitable
The junta and its cronies are willing to spend millions on these legal campaigns precisely because sanctions are biting hard. Every story that treats this as normal bureaucracy helps their propaganda efforts.
The path forward: Conditional sanctions
Push for Conditional Sanctions — Demand that the U.S. only lifts sanctions with hard proof of reform and automatically reimposes them if they slip back.
The U.S. policy hasn’t changed. Congress is still pushing for tougher measures. Sanctions are still working. Don’t let the spin fool you — and don’t let media coverage accidentally amplify the junta’s propaganda.
James Shwe is a Myanmar democracy activist in the U.S. and is a member of the advocacy groups Free Myanmar and the Los Angeles Myanmar Movement. He has been trying to organize and motivate the Myanmar diaspora to advocate for democracy in Myanmar.
DVB publishes a diversity of opinions that does not reflect DVB editorial policy. We’d like to hear what you think about this orany of our stories: [email protected]
