This content was first published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review no. 12 in 2021. The information provided here is therefore current as of the original publication date.
It started in 2008 with George Bush’s JADE Act reacting to the violent crackdown on the “saffron revolution” (from the Buddhist monks’ robes) of the previous year. It continued into 2018 with other Trump imposed sanctions in retaliation for ethnic cleansing operations against Rohingya Muslim minorities. The E.U. and the U.K. followed suit. Those who might have been under the illusion that elections, reforms and partial democratic openings in Myanmar over the past decade were decisive steps in normalizing the country that had been under authoritarian military rule for decades, should reconsider the matter.
It all reached its climax in the February 2021 tragic and bloody coup d’état implemented by the military junta which refused to recognize the landslide victory of long-time opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and so launched a harsh repression. It must be said that observers in the past have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of sanctions. The question is: are these measures punishing the leadership involved in the challenged offenses or rather the helpless population? However, there is a something new now as the specific interests of the generals including jade and rubies are targeted by the US sanctions. The military operates, through two highly secretive behemoths, Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) and the Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC), at least 133 companies.
In a statement dated February 11, 2021, the White House doesn’t mince its words. This time they mention names and surnames: Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese military forces Min Aung Hlaing and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Burmese military forces Soe Win. Jade and rubies are specifically mentioned: “Three entities, including Myanmar Ruby Enterprise and Myanmar Imperial Jade Co., LTD. which are wholly owned subsidiaries of a conglomerate owned or controlled by the Burmese military, have also been designated”. The document states “the U.S. government is taking steps to prevent the generals from improperly accessing more than $1 billion in Burmese government funds held in the United States”. This provision is the real novelty that could solve the rebus: how to hit those in power without damaging a social fabric already hard tried? Facilitating such a determined step may have been the detailed study by the Human Rights Council, an intergovernmental body established within the United Nations system, which in March 2017 established a Mission with the task of ascertaining facts and circumstances relating to alleged human rights abuses and violations by military and security forces in Myanmar. The Mission clearly documented the web of interests that some members of the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, hold in various Burmese industries including mining.
Gem News published on IGR – Italian Gemological Review #12, Summer 2021
