President Obama on Friday rescinded executive orders dating back to 1997 declaring national emergencies regarding Burma’s military junta that governed that country until recently.
The situation has “significantly altered by Burma’s substantial advances to promote democracy, including historic elections in November 2015 that resulted in the former opposition party … winning a majority of seats in the national Parliament and the formation of a democratically elected, civilian-led government; the release of many political prisoners; and greater enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression and freedom of association and peaceful assembly,” Obama wrote in rescinding the executive orders and terminating the national emergencies.
It is the latest step by Obama to fully normalize relations with the once-pariah nation now called Myanmar.
Last month Obama lifted most remaining trade sanctions and restrictions as he welcomed State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi to the White House. The former opposition leader spent 15 years under house arrest.
