The Japanese government lodged an official complaint with Myanmar after it confirmed passenger ships it provided to the country through a special developmental assistance program were used for military purposes, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Japan is demanding that the country prevent a repeat since the Official Development Assistance program is restricted to non-military assistance, officials said.

Japan had provided three passenger ships to Myanmar--two used ships in 2017 and one new ship in 2019--through the ODA program for use as commuter vessels for workers and students.

But following reports by local media there in September that the ships might have been used by the military, the ministry confirmed two of the ships were used to transport soldiers and weapons last fall in Rakhine State in the western part of the country, where fighting was intensifying between the junta and ethnic minority groups.

Myanmar promised Japan that it would not violate the program rules again, ministry officials said.

Japan had suspended a new developmental assistance project for Myanmar after the military junta seized control of the government through a coup in 2021. But Japan has continued to maintain its existing ODA projects set up with the country.

And it has come under criticism for not ending the assistance given the brutal human rights abuses occurring in the country.

According to Human Rights Watch, a Japanese company commissioned by the government for a development project there had paid some $2 million (260 million yen) to a Myanmar company linked to the country’s military.

The human rights group has called on Japan to suspend all non-humanitarian aid that benefits Myanmar’s military.

Image courtesy: AFP