UN Security Council states fresh concern over Myanmar crisis

UN Security Council states fresh concern over Myanmar crisis
A group of protesters hold a flash mob rally calling for a boycott of the education system under the military government in Myanmar. PHOTO: AP
A group of protesters hold a flash mob rally calling for a boycott of the education system under the military government in Myanmar. PHOTO: AP
Published 12 November 2021

BANGKOK (AP) – The United Nations (UN) Security Council has issued a press statement expressing “deep concern” about ongoing violence in Myanmar, whose military-installed government is using force against opponents.

The Security Council’s action comes as Myanmar’s army appears to be undertaking a major offensive in the country’s northwest amid warnings that the humanitarian situation throughout the country is sharply deteriorating, with food shortages and a weakened public health system.

A press statement carries less weight than an official resolution, and can serve as a way of achieving consensus among the Security Council members that would otherwise be difficult to achieve.

The body appears to be constrained from taking more serious action because two of its permanent members, Russia and China, maintain warm relations with Myanmar’s current government.

Myanmar’s military seized power in February, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover met with widespread public protests that were suppressed by the use of deadly force.

In response, armed opposition to military rule has arisen, and several UN experts have warned that the Southeast Asian nation risks tumbling into civil war.

The Security Council statement, issued on Wednesday in New York, said it “underlined the importance of steps to improve the health and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, including to facilitate the equitable, safe and unhindered delivery and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines”.

It also called for “full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all people in need, and for the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel”. The security situation in Myanmar, as well as the difficulties aid agencies face in getting permission from the government to operate in remote areas, have greatly restricted the flow of assistance.

On Monday, the UN humanitarian chief urged Myanmar’s military leaders to provide unimpeded access to the more than three million people in need of life-saving assistance “because of growing conflict and insecurity, COVID-19 and a failing economy”.

Martin Griffiths warned that without an end to violence and a peaceful resolution of Myanmar’s crisis, “this number will only rise”.

The council’s new statement reaffirmed support for Myanmar’s democratic transition, and also reiterated its earlier call on the military “to exercise utmost restraint”.

The government blames the violence on opposition groups, some of which it has officially designated “terrorist” organisations.

The council also reiterated support for the role of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in helping find an end to the violence and the political crisis.

It called for a five-point program suggested by ASEAN to be implemented, including a visit to Myanmar by the regional group’s special envoy. A planned initial visit to Myanmar by the envoy was cancelled when the government refused to allow him to visit Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the takeover and is being tried on charges her supporters and others say are spurious.

The government said the envoy cannot meet her because of her legal situation.

Its failure to allow access led to Myanmar’s leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, not being allowed to attend an ASEAN summit last month, an unprecedented rebuke to a fellow member of the organisation.

URGED TO END VIOLENCE

The leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia on Wednesday urged military-ruled Myanmar to resolve its internal conflict and help stem the flow of Rohingya refugees fleeing to Malaysia.

Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, on an official visit to Indonesia, expressed concern about “the emergency situation” in Myanmar following the February 1 military takeover that has led more minority Rohingya to leave the country.

More than 200,000 Rohingya have resettled in Malaysia in recent years.

If the Rohingya could settle peacefully in Myanmar, it would “definitely decrease the number of Rohingya refugees leaving Myanmar for Malaysia”, Ismail Sabri said after meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Jakarta.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar since August 2017, when the military launched a clearance operation in response to attacks by a rebel group. The security forces have been accused of mass rapes, killings and the burning of thousands of homes.

Most of those who fled went to neighbouring Bangladesh. Indonesia and Malaysia, both Muslim-majority nations, expressed concern about the Rohingya after the Myanmar army seized power in February.

All three countries are members of ASEAN, which called for an immediate end to the violence in Myanmar between the military-installed government and opposition forces and the start of a dialogue to be mediated by a special ASEAN envoy.

Since Suu Kyi’s ouster, Myanmar has been wracked by unrest, with peaceful demonstrations against the ruling generals morphing first into a low-level insurgency in many urban areas and then into more serious combat in rural areas, especially in border regions where ethnic minority militias have been engaging in heavy clashes with government troops.