The United States has lifted sanctions on Theint Win Htet, the daughter of a Myanmar businessman accused of supporting the military-installed government. The US Department of the Treasury removed her from its sanctions list on Friday following her legal challenge.
Theint Win Htet had sued the Treasury Department after being sanctioned in January 2024 under the Biden administration. The sanctions had blocked her US credit cards, restricted her foreign bank accounts, and forced her to abandon her master’s degree at Columbia University. She currently resides in Thailand with her mother, who was removed from the sanctions list last year.
Sanctions linked to Myanmar military and business ties
The sanctions targeted the Shwe Byain Phyu Group of Companies, founded by Theint Win Htet’s father, Thein Win Zaw, and his family. The Treasury Department stated that the company supplied fuel to the Myanmar military and owned at least 20 firms closely connected to the military leadership.
Theint Win Htet argued in her lawsuit that she had no involvement in her father’s business. After her initial case was dismissed, she filed a second complaint in July, which preceded the Treasury’s decision to delist her.
Criticism from activist group Justice For Myanmar
The group Justice For Myanmar condemned the Treasury Department’s decision to remove Theint Win Htet from the sanctions list. The group stated that Myanmar’s military is intensifying attacks on civilians and called it “deplorable that the US government continues to delist Myanmar cronies and their family members that provide funding for the junta’s terror.”
The Biden administration had imposed sanctions on military officers and companies following the 2021 coup in Myanmar, which triggered a civil war resulting in significant casualties and displacement. Washington also lifted sanctions last July on other Myanmar nationals and a company accused of aiding the military.
