Urgent action needed to prevent large armed conflict in Myanmar and beyond, UN says

New York, September 30 – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said an international response is urgently needed to prevent a catastrophic military conflict in Myanmar that would threaten other Southeast Asian nations.

“The risk of a large-scale armed conflict requires a collective approach to prevent a multi-dimensional catastrophe in the heart of Southeast Asia and beyond,” Guterres said in a report to the 193-nation General Assembly. “Grave humanitarian implications, including rapidly deteriorating food security, an increase in mass displacements and a weakened public health system compounded by a new wave of COVID-19 infections, require a coordinated approach in complementarity with regional actors.”

The UN has called for immediate humanitarian access and assistance to vulnerable communities such as 600,000 Rohingya Muslims in northern Rakhine state and over 700,000 others who fled to Bangladesh after a military crackdown in 2017.

Guterres called for an urgent, unified and international response to put Myanmar back on the track to democratic reform and for the immediate release of the country’s President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials who detained after the military takeover in February 2021. The military junta claimed that the general election in November 2020 that elected the civilian government in a landslide was marred by voter fraud.

Large scale protests against the military takeover were violently suppressed by military and security forces resulting in over 1,000 people killed and thousands of arrests and at least 120 people who died while under military detention.

Guterres welcomed the appointment of Brunei’s Second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof in August as Special Envoy to Myanmar by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The UN chief also urged the “timely and comprehensive” implementation of a five-point plan to facilitate a peaceful solution in Myanmar. The plan called for ending violence, constructive dialogue, the appointment of an envoy to direct mediation efforts and a humanitarian aid package.

Just days before Guterres issued his Myanmar report to the General Assembly, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Geneva warned that Myanmar is heading to a nation-wide civil war and the military’s suppression of civilian protests may amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Bachelet said in a report to the 47-member Human Rights Council in Geneva that clashes between the military and civilians have taken place more regularly whereas the country had not seen such violence in generations. The report covered the situation in Myanmar from the military takeover in February to mid-July and was based on interviews with over 70 victims and witnesses to human rights violations, as well as remote monitoring, credible open sources, and meetings with a range of informed stakeholders, UN News said.

“There is no sign of any efforts by the military authorities to stop these violations nor implement previous recommendations to tackle impunity and security sector reform,” Bachelet said calling for the urgent need for strong accountability measures. “The national consequences are terrible and tragic, and the regional consequences could also be profound.”

The report said there have been increasing fighting between the military and ethnic armed groups since the coup, displacing thousands, particularly in Kayin, Shan and Kachin State, where the military has carried out indiscriminate airstrikes and artillery barrages, killing civilians, UN News reported.

CATEGORIES

.