MYANMAR FOCUS: United Nations Remembers There's A War In Myanmar
The UN calls for the end of jet fuel sales to the Myanmar military and finally appoints a special envoy, plus the main events in Myanmar of this week.
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Good morning! Welcome to the latest “Myanmar Focus” edition of Watching Europe In Southeast Asia, written by journalist and columnist David Hutt.
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— THE UN’S FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL SESSION OF 2024 took place from 26 February to 5 April, the longest session ever. The EU presented five resolutions, including a draft resolution, “Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar”, which was tabled by Belgium. It was accepted. That resolution mandated:
The Council decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar for a further period of one year; requested the Special Rapporteur to present an oral update to the Human Rights Council at its fifty-sixth session and to submit a report to the Third Committee of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session and to the Council at its fifty-eighth session; and also requested the Special Rapporteur to continue to monitor the situation of human rights in Myanmar and the implementation of the recommendations made by the mandate holder and by the independent international fact-finding mission and to make recommendations on additional steps necessary to address the ongoing crisis.
Perhaps more importantly, the resolution also called on UN member states to refrain from the export, sale or transfer of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, something that activists have been campaigning for for years. Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Montse Ferrer, said in a statement:
This resolution is a step in the right direction to combat the deadly supply chain that enables the Myanmar military to continue its barrage of air strikes in which schools, clinics, religious buildings and other civilian infrastructure have all been targeted. It highlights the urgent need to suspend shipments of aviation fuel to Myanmar, where it is used by the military to carry out war crimes.
According to an EU readout:
The EU-led resolution on Myanmar to address the deeply concerning and deteriorating human rights situation in the country…The Myanmar military’s stranglehold on humanitarian assistance exacerbates the consequences of the crisis. This resolution is the Council’s answer to the High Commissioner’s call to the International community to refocus its energy on preventing atrocities against all people in the country, including the Rohingya, notably by taking meaningful, effective and targeted action to end the military’s access to arms, jet fuel and foreign currency that it needs to sustain its campaign of repression against civilians... The adoption of the resolution by consensus by this Council sends a strong signal of support to the aspirations of the people of Myanmar for effective human rights protection, accountability, democracy and a civilian government.
The junta shot back:
The elements contained in the resolution are derived from sources affiliated with armed opposition terrorists backed by the sponsors of the resolution in different means including misusing international platforms like the Human Rights Council to justify interference, apply double standards and put their influence in internal affairs of Myanmar.
— MYANMAR WAS ALSO THE TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AT THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL. On April 4, the UNSC held their first meeting about Myanmar since 2019, at which members heard testimony about the atrocities being committed. Although the UNSC adopted a resolution in December 2022 condemning the Myanmar military’s abuses and attacks on civilians since its February 2021 coup, it has generally been silent about the conflict. Mostly that’s because China and Russia have blocked consideration of a UN-backed arms embargo or any other measures and generally opposed even holding debates. At the Council meeting last week, they disputed that the Myanmar crisis was within the UNSC’s mandate. “Myanmar does not pose a threat to international security,” said the Russian delegate, presumably without understanding the irony. A Japanese delegate put it nicely: the UNSC’s inaction is not what the people of Myanmar “expect from this august body”. This was largely a forum for representatives to offer some bon mots and to express their outrage at what is happening in Myanmar while putting no substantive or new policies on the table. “We will not allow Myanmar to become a forgotten crisis,” said the UK’s delegate. The representative of Malta, who’s serving as Council president for this, said: “The activation of the conscription law marks a new low in the junta’s campaign against the very people it is supposed to protect.” Switzerland’s representative intoned: “It is important not to forget Myanmar. It is impossible to forget the plight of the Rohingya.”
— HOWEVER, ONE TANGIBLE OUTCOME, and something requested by several European governments for months, was that on April 4, UN Secretary-General António Guterres finally appointed a Special Envoy on Myanmar, almost a year after Noeleen Heyzer, the previous envoy, departed the position. The post went to Julie Bishop, a former Australian foreign minister. Whether this does any good is another matter. A certain contingent of Myanmar specialists, whom this journalist wholeheartedly agrees with, reckon that the international community’s focus on ending violence, trying to bring about a speedy resolution to the conflict and unquestionably supporting the ASEAN-led response not only discounts the truly progressive and revolutionary struggle of the Burmese people, it also gives ammunition to the junta. It does this because it presumes that the rightful end to the conflict should be the return to the status quo ante (in which the military gets to keep their political power and their ability to oust any future government) rather than a solution wherein the Burmese people finally throw off the source of the tyranny they have been living with for almost seven decades. Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK, said it best when he tweeted: “The people of Myanmar don't need yet another UN Envoy trying to persuade them to hold dialogue and compromise with their oppressor. That will just throw a lifeline to the military and ensure decades more conflict and suffering.”
IN BRIEF
“Hundreds of soldiers have surrendered in the town of Myawaddy, near to the border with Thailand, according to opposition groups…Myawaddy, in Karen state, is one of the most important border crossings in Myanmar and crucial to the flow of goods between the country and Thailand. It has been controlled by the military for decades.” (Rebecca Ratcliffe and Lorcan Lovett, Blow for Myanmar’s military as rebels say hundreds have surrendered at key border town, The Guardian)
“Myawaddy would be a significant loss for the military from a strategic point of view’, said Thomas Kean, a senior consultant at International Crisis Group. Losing Myawaddy would affect trade and Myanmar’s relationship with Thailand, with which Myanmar shares a 2,000km long border.” (Myanmar’s junta loses key base to rebel forces, Financial Times)
“The current regime is starting to lose some strength," Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said last weekend, adding, "but even if they are losing, they have the power, they have the weapons….Maybe it's time to reach out and make a deal”. (Panu Wongcha-um, Thai PM says Myanmar regime 'losing strength’, Reuters)
Here’s a good 20-minute feature from Al Jazeera, “Is Myanmar's military losing ground?”
Guillaume de Langre, an energy expert, gave an interesting interview to Le Monde (only in French for now) on how peak electricity capacity in Myanmar has now fallen to January 2017 levels
Source: Guillaume de Langre’s Twitter account
Lastly, in a bit of self-publicity, I wrote my column this week for the Diplomat about the results of the latest State of Southeast Asia survey and what they revealed about the region’s shockingly little interest in Myanmar. (Southeast Asians Don’t Really Care About the Myanmar Crisis, The Diplomat)
See you all on Friday for the weekly round-up of Europe-Southeast Asia activity.