US rewards Myannmar for its reforms

WASHINGTON – The United States has eased one of its many sanctions against Myanmar as a reward for political reforms after five decades of direct military rule.
The step is very limited, and most of the tough US economic, trade and political restrictions will remain in place. But it should make it easier for Myanmar to secure help from international financial institutions.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made a landmark visit to Myanmar in December, signed the sanctions waiver on Monday after President Barack Obama authorised the move last week.
The waiver, effective through September, will allow institutions like the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund to conduct economic assessments and provide limited technical assistance to Myanmar. 
A State Department statement said such assessments would enable greater understanding of Myanmar’s economic situation, particularly its “severe poverty alleviation needs”.
Under anti-human trafficking legislation, the US had to oppose these bodies using their funds to help the country. 
Other US sanctions, including the 2003 Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, still require the US to prevent the institutions from giving loans or technical assistance to Myanmar.
The US ambassador-at-large on human trafficking issues, Mr Luis CdeBaca, said on Monday the waiver was a reward to Myanmar for its political reforms, including prisoner releases, the dialogue it has begun with Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and ceasefires with ethnic minority armed groups.
But he said it also reflected the government’s encouraging steps in improving its treatment of human trafficking victims, particularly those repatriated from other countries.
Still, administration officials and some US lawmakers say more progress on democracy and human rights is needed before other sanctions can be lifted. Conducting free and fair by-elections that Ms Suu Kyi and her party will contest on April 1 are seen as a key test of that. There is also concern over ethnic violence and Myanmar’s ties to North Korea.
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa also said Myanmar’s leaders must be “in good standing” on their commitments to democracy and other promise reforms when the country takes over as chair of South-east Asia’s regional bloc in 2014. Agencies