Sydney, Australia
After a series of reforms and recent landmark elections that gave opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi her first-ever parliamentary seat, Australia announced it would lift some of the travel and financial sanctions against Myanmar.
More than 200 political figures, including President Thein Sein, had faced travel restrictions under the sanctions.
In a statement to Australian Broadcasting Corp., Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said that 130 names, including military personnel and human rights abuse suspects would continue to be on the restricted list.
"We're easing sanctions after talking to Aung San Suu Kyi and others in the opposition, after talking to the government itself, (and) after talking to other nations," said Carr before his meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague in London.
Carr added the Australian government wants to reduce the number of Myanmarese government officials under restriction from current 392 to 130.
"That removes many of the civilians from the list, and that includes President Thein Sein and government ministers. But senior serving military officers and people of human rights interest will stay subject to those Australian sanctions," he said.
The Australian government's decision came less than a week after Suu Kyi and visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron jointly called on international powers to suspend sanctions. The European Union is also considering lifting sanctions later this month.
Twitter: @ihavenet
- China's Social 'Harmony' More Fragile Than It Appears
- Reassessing the Wukan 'Revolution'
- China: The Next Great Leap
- America's Pacific Logic
- The United States in Korea: A Strategy of Inertia
- Despite Missile Failure, North Korea is Still the Big Winner
- North Korea's Failed Fireworks
- On Iran, India Is of Two Minds
- Frightening Prospects for Afghan Women
- Afghanistan: Living in the Kabul Bubble
- Laos: Communal Land Titles Could Save More Than Forests
- Asia Is Up in Arms
- Inching Toward Progress on the North Korean Nuke Problem
- Kim Jong-il and the Normalization of Japan-North Korea Relations
- Japan and Mongolia: Geographic Challenges to Free Trade
- How Myanmar Liberates Asia
- Reassessing International Access in Myanmar
- The Kachin's Role in Myanmar - Chinese Relations
- Afghanistan and the Long War
- Death and Public Relations
- Indonesia: Facing the Stigma of Leprosy
- Learning from Japan's Tsunami
- North Korea's Pivot
- Divided Over North Korean Refugees
- Japan and India: Making Up for Lost Time
- Assessing China's Strategy
- Chinese Computer Games
- Beating China, Corporate Style
- The Future of U.S. - Chinese Relations
- How to Mend U.S. - China Ties
- Afghanistan: War Downsized
- A Look at Central Asia's Drug War
- Pakistan: No Road Home for Sindh Flood Victims
- Maoist Ex-Combatants Threaten to Step Up Protests
- Nepal Celebrates Less-Rowdy Festival of Colors
- Isolation and Poverty Loom for Asia's Aging Population
- Piracy, not China, the Real Issue in Indian Ocean
- Chinese Benefits from Investing in Rason
- China's Looming Pension Crisis
- Don't Expect India to Come to the Rescue
- Burma: After 50 Years of Military Rule Signs Of Real Hope
- Afghanistan: Moving Toward a Distant Endgame
- Drug Problem Adding to Challenge in Afghanistan
- Philippines Weighs Increased U.S. Military Presence
- Philippine Airstrike Targets Militant Network
- Indonesia's Fuel Subsidy Problem
- Australia Rises Up
- Japan's Energy Vulnerability After the Nuclear Disaster
- Henoko and U.S. Military: History of Dependence and Resistance
- Indonesia: No Rice, No Way
- Philippines: Mapping 'Blind' Fault Lines
Copyright © 2012 AHN - All Rights Reserved