UN Shows Conflicting Approaches to Myanmar Crisis

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
John Sifton
Asia Advocacy Director
April 4, 2024 

The United Nations Security Council’s first open meeting on Myanmar since 2019, New York, April 4, 2024. © 2024 John Sifton/Human Rights Watch

Myanmar’s already abysmal human rights situation is getting worse.

That’s what senior United Nations officials told the UN Security Council on April 4, during a rare open meeting on Myanmar, its first since February 2019.

The council heard of a spiraling human rights and humanitarian catastrophe, with particularly worrisome abuses in Rakhine State. Conflict has “weakened transnational security” and instability has led to a crisis with “global implications,” officials said.

A Road to Nowhere: The Myanmar Regime’s Stage-managed Elections

 

 

 28 March 2023

Two years after carrying out a coup, Myanmar’s generals are planning elections to entrench their role in politics. Amid the widespread resistance to their regime, the polls are bound to intensify armed conflict. Yet there are several ways to keep electoral violence to a minimum. 

What’s new? The military regime in Myanmar has started laying the groundwork for elections, passing a new party registration law and updating the voter list. But with most of the country engulfed in civil war, and most citizens opposed to the exercise, no regime-run vote can be credible.

Afghanistan, Myanmar Crises Test India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ Policy

The Irrawaddy
JAYANTA KALITA
26 August 2021

Myanmar military chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi meet in New Delhi in 2019. / Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing’s website

Two of India’s key neighbors—Myanmar to the southeast and Afghanistan to the northwest—are in turmoil. The biggest South Asian power and the world’s largest democracy, India has over the years engaged with these two nations to varying degrees to aid in their democratic transitions.

But coincidentally, history is repeating itself and democracy is in disarray in both countries—the military has seized power in Myanmar by overthrowing a democratically elected government and the Taliban insurgents have taken over in Afghanistan.

The Coup And The Crisis In Myanmar

OWP
The Organisation for World Peace
Evelyn Elliott
August 14, 2021

Myanmar, a nation whose young democracy began only a decade ago, is currently facing a threat it may not recover from. On February 1st of 2021, the military of Myanmar staged a coup d’état in the Southeast Asian country, overthrowing the democratic government and issuing a year-long state of emergency. Orchestrated under the idea that the nation’s November election was fraudulent, a claim that lacks any substantial evidence, the armed forces took control and arrested senior members of the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) party. The situation was exacerbated by the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy activist and Nobel Prize winner, who led the NLD. The country’s state of emergency has been extended for another two years under the direction of Min Aung Hlaing, a leading army general who declared himself to be the nation’s prime minister at the beginning of August. Now, after months of violence and oppression, Myanmar is confronted with the same military regime that it suffered under previously.

ASEAN urged to address Myanmar crises, as special envoy named

Aljazeera
4 Aug 2021

Rights groups call on regional political bloc to work with shadow NUG, local health organisations to deliver urgent humanitarian aid.

Volunteers in protective suits carry a COVID patient lying on a bed as they try to relocate oxygen-dependent patients from the COVID centre during floods in Karen state [Karen Information Center/Handout via Reuters]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urgently needs to address Myanmar’s “dire” human rights and humanitarian crises, which are being compounded by a COVID-19 health emergency and recent flooding, rights groups have said, warning the regional bloc to avoid giving legitimacy to the country’s military.

‘We can’t breathe... and the whole world is silent’: Myanmar begs for oxygen as Covid crisis worsens

The Telegraph

ByNicola Smith, and Nandi Theint
ASIA CORRESPONDENT
IN YANGON
16 July 2021

Just like in India, Myanmar's citizens take their desperate pleas for help to social media.

People are lining up across Myanmar to find lifesaving oxygen CREDIT: Ye Aung Thu/AFP

Myanmar’s people were first deprived of their democratic rights, and are now being starved of oxygen itself, by a February coup that has plunged the Southeast Asian nation into a political and medical crisis.

As a deadly wave of Covid-19 fueled by the Delta variant sweeps a country where the healthcare system has virtually collapsed, people have flooded social media with pleas for oxygen supplies and coveted hospital beds as their loved ones suffocate at home.

30 years on, Myanmar crisis puts Asian-style democracy to test

NIKKEI ASIA

TORU TAKAHASHI, Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Headquarters for Asia
April 30, 2021 

Big ASEAN players modify noninterference policy as times change at home

Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, center, and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi, right, make their way to the ASEAN leaders meeting in the secretariat building in Jakarta on April 24. © Reuters

BANGKOK -- The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Jakarta on April 24 to grapple with the aftermath of the coup in Myanmar. After the meeting, Brunei issued a chairman's statement, saying the leaders had reached "consensus" on such matters as an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, the sending of the ASEAN chairman's special envoy and the start of constructive dialogue among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.

The leaders meeting was extraordinary in every way.

Beyond the Coup in Myanmar: Echoes of the Past, Crises of the Moment, Visions of the Future

JUST SECURITY
by Emily Ray and Tyler Giannini
April 26, 2021

Editor’s Note: This article introduces a Just Security series on the Feb. 1, 2021 coup in Myanmar. The series will bring together local and expert voices on the coup and its broader context. The series is a collaboration between Just Security and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School).

On Feb. 1, 2021, the Myanmar military – the Tatmadaw – shattered the all too brief effort to transition to democracy in Myanmar. Over the past two and a half months, the Tatmadaw has continued its illegitimate effort to undermine the democratic elections from last year and prevent the elected government from taking power. In the face of mass popular opposition and international condemnation, the military has only escalated its use of violence against its own population – systematically stripping away rights and violently attacking protestors and dissidents, reportedly killing over 700 civilians as of Apr. 20, 2021, and detaining more than 3,000.

Why India is struggling to respond to Myanmar crisis

THE WEEK

By Mandira Nayar 

May 02, 2021

The nights have been endless in the Rohingya camp in Delhi since the Myanmarese military overthrew the country’s democratically-elected government on February 1. Watching the images of the violence on their tiny phone screens, the 360 residents in the camp testify that their decision to flee their home was justified. “The world never believed the Rohingyas,’’ said a young man who left Myanmar nine years ago. “Now, the truth is out for everyone to see.”

Food aid operation begins to reach two million affected by Myanmar crisis

UN News
22 April 2021
Peace and Security

UNICEF/Kaung Htet According to WFP, food prices have risen sharply since the start of the political crisis in Myanmar. Pictured here, a grandmother washes vegetables to prepare a meal at her home in the country’s Shan state. (file photo)

Two million people facing growing food insecurity linked to the ongoing political crisis in Myanmar are to receive nutrition assistance, amid rising “hunger and desperation”, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Thursday.

The operation will focus on poor townships in Myanmar’s main cities “and other areas where population displacement has recently taken place” since the 1 February coup, WFP said in a statement.

Millions face hunger as Myanmar crisis worsens, United Nations says

Reuters

Poppy Mcpherson
April 22, 2021

Members of the armed forces stand guard during a protest against the military coup, in Yangon, Myanmar March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

Food insecurity is rising sharply in Myanmar in the wake of the military coup and deepening financial crisis with millions more people expected to go hungry in coming months, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Up to 3.4 million more people will struggle to afford food in the next three to six months with urban areas worst affected as job losses mount in manufacturing, construction and services and food prices rise, a World Food Program (WFP) analysis shows.

MYANMAR CRISIS: Stand with the people and protect them, urges UN rights expert

UN News
Peace and Security

19 April 2021

Unsplash/Matteo Massimi Two women pray at a temple in Yangon, Myanmar. (file photo)

The international community has a responsibility to protect the people of Myanmar, under attack from their own military, the UN independent human rights expert on the country argues, in the second part of our in-depth interview, calling also for refuge to be given to those who have fled for their lives to neighbouring countries.

Over 700 people are reported to have been killed in the crackdown on peaceful protesters by security forces since the military takeover on 1 February. There are also reports that several hundred people have fled areas hit hard by violence, including many who have sought refuge in neighbouring countries.

The Crisis in Myanmar: Repression, Resistance, Repercussions

New York Southeast Asia Network

Speaker(s)

David I. Steinberg, Distinguished Professor of Asian Studies Emeritus, Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Moe Thuzar, Fellow and Co-coordinator, Myanmar Studies Programme, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore

John Ciorciari, Director, Weiser Diplomacy Center, University of Michigan

Donald K. Emmerson, Director, Southeast Asia Program, Stanford University

Date and Time                                                                        Availability     
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Russia and China Thwarting International Response to Myanmar Crisis: EU

KMJ NOW

AFP
11 April 2021

Russia and China are frustrating the international response to the Myanmar crisis, a top European Union diplomat said Sunday, as the death toll from a military crackdown climbed past 700.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power on February 1.

International efforts to stem the violence have so far failed to yield results, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying Sunday it was “no surprise” that Russia and China were blocking efforts at the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo.

OPINION - Political calculations to settle Myanmar crisis

AA

Ramdhan Muhaimin
JAKARTA, Indonesia
06.04.2021

Myanmar’s military coup has put Association of Southeast Asian Nation at crossroads

The writer teaches at the Center for Peace and Defense Studies (PSPP), University of Al-Azhar Indonesia.

Since the military forcibly seized control and forced the exit of the National League for Democracy (NLD) from the government on Feb. 1, the socio-political conditions in Southeast Asian nation Myanmar have again moved towards uncertainty.

The coup, led by the head of Tatmadaw -- the national armed forces – Gen. Min Aung Hlaing shortly after Aung San Suu Kyi's NLD won the election, has become a nightmare for people in the country.

Myanmar crisis: Asean's next moves

Bangkok Post

PUBLISHED : 6 APR 2021

Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin takes part in a virtual meeting of Asean foreign ministers in Nay Pyi Taw last Friday. AFP

The recent call by Indonesian President Joko Widodo for a meeting with his colleagues on the Myanmar crisis is gaining traction. It is now possible to say that the proposed leaders' meeting could take place at the end of this month, after the Songkran break and the Muslim Ramadan festival.

Senior Asean officials will have to decide tomorrow whether to have the physical meeting either in Bandar Seri Begawan or the Asean Secretariat and the preferred date. Both places have their own merits in discussing the Myanmar crisis. Therefore, the right timing is imperative for a face-to-face rendezvous. Asean has learned to its cost that a teleconference on the Myanmar crisis could cause harm and bitterness due to the lack of clarifications and personal rapport in virtual meetings. This time, the Asean chair wants to ensure that all Asean leaders, including Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing, join the meeting.

China to support ASEAN mediation on Myanmar crisis

AA

Riyaz Ul Khaliq 

ANKARA

01.04.2021

China on Thursday said it supports the idea that leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) hold a “special meeting as soon as possible to mediate” in Myanmar, which is witnessing mass demonstrations against the military coup launched last on Feb. 1

“Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN family, and a close neighbor to China. We all hope different forces in Myanmar can start a dialogue as soon … to solve divergence under the framework of the law and the constitution and promote hard-won democratization,” Wang told a news conference alongside visiting Malaysian Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein in China’s eastern Nanping city.

The Myanmar crisis and our options

E-PAO

Lt General L. Nishikanta (LN) Singh

Tuesday, Mar 23, 2021

The coup in Myanmar on 01 February did not come to me as a surprise. It was quite expected I was surprised that it took so long. When NLD won the November 2020 elections with a thumping majority, perhaps they got carried away. There was an abrupt denial of space or rather authority of the military, which have tested blood for nearly six decades and relevancy reduced. The Army chief Min AungHlaing was retiring and he was scared that he could be put on trial.

In this article, I have synthesized the background, the likely future events, and options for us.

On 4th January 1948, Myanmar became independent. U Nu was the prime minister. ‘U’ meaning ‘Mr’ in Myanmarese. In 1958 there was a political pandemonium. The army was ready to intervene and compelled U Nu to ‘invite’ Army Chief of Staff, General Ne Win, to take over the country as a ‘caretaker government’. This was the first coup and the military-ruled the country for two years. The military was certainly more organized and efficient than the bureaucracy and successfully brought pandemonium under control. There was a general election in 1960. U Nu returned with a large majority.

Solidarity needed to halt crisis

BANGKOK POST

VITIT MUNTARBHORN

PROFESSOR OF LAW AT CHULALONGKORN UNIVERSITY
PUBLISHED : 16 MAR 2021 

The desperate situation in Myanmar calls for concerted international solidarity to counter the Feb 1 coup d'etat and its heinous consequences. To date, scores of people have been killed by junta forces, while several thousands have been detained. The crisis compounds two disquieting situations of a longstanding and multi-faceted nature in the country -- the mistreatment of the Rohingya population (a Muslim community) and the decades-long civil war between the authorities and different ethnic groups.

Myanmar Crisis Heightens With Police Raids And Strike Call

Bloomberg

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
7 March 2021,

 

Protestors shelter during a demonstration against the military coup near the UNESCO world heritage site Bagan on March 7.

Photographer: STR/AFP/Getty Images

Yangon, Myanmar (AP) -- Myanmar careened deeper into crisis, as police occupied hospitals and universities and reportedly arrested hundreds of people involved in protesting last month’s military seizure of power, while a coalition of labor unions called a strike for Monday. 

Tension was high Sunday in the country’s biggest city, Yangon, where for a second night running gunshots from heavy weapons rang out randomly in the streets of several neighborhoods after the start of an 8 p.m. curfew. The sounds of what apparently were stun grenades could also be heard on videos posted on social media.