[25 October 2021] UN Member States must show decisive leadership as the world body and adopt a strong resolution in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly said 427 Myanmar civil society organizations in their open letter to the current 76^th UN General Assembly today. The international community’s ineffectiveness has only caused further suffering for the people of Myanmar and a resolution that lays out concrete actions to immediately address the deepening crisis in Myanmar is both urgent and desperately needed, the groups said.

During the current 76^th UN General Assembly, the Third Committee, which deals with matters related to a range of social, humanitarian affairs and human rights issues, will adopt an annual resolution on the situation in Myanmar, following the reporting by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. The Committee’s deliberations coincide with increasing Myanmar military attacks and buildup of troops in Chin State and Sagaing and Magway Regions, in north-western and upper Myanmar that are akin to the ground situation in Rakhine State prior to the “clearance operations” and the genocide against Rohingya in 2017.

Daw Khin Ohmar of Progressive Voice stated: “The international community lacked swift and effective action in response to the genocide in 2017, failing the Rohingya. It must not fail the people of Myanmar again. The UN has yet to take action since the military coup as 1,196 people are being murdered in cold blood and 9,175 were arrested. We see a potential for the situation in north-western Myanmar to quickly escalate as the military sends in reinforcement troops to areas already deeply affected by the junta’s campaign of terror. It must act decisively by passing a strong resolution that sets out concrete actions for the international community to take to end the military’s violence and establish federal democracy in Myanmar.”

Nai Aue Mon of Human Rights Foundation of Monland stated: “ASEAN has failed to yield any meaningful change for the people of Myanmar. The UN Secretary-General must immediately step in with a coordinated humanitarian response to address the dire humanitarian crisis in Myanmar with robust and regular reporting to the UN General Assembly.”

Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi of Action Committee for Democracy Development stated: “The Myanmar military junta is a terrorist organization that stands accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The tactics employed by the military to terrorize the Rohingya in 2017, and against other ethnic and religious minorities for decades is now being utilized against the people of Myanmar on a nationwide scale. This criminal military must be held to account through a UN Security Council referral of the situation of Myanmar to the ICC. It has been 265 days since the attempted coup and people from Myanmar continue to demonstrate their will for democracy and human rights against the brutal junta on the streets. Why is it taking so long for the UN and Member States to demonstrate their will for democracy in Myanmar?”

For more information, please contact:

• Daw Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice, [email protected]
• Nai Aue Mon, Human rights Foundation of Monland, [email protected]
• Ma Thinzar Shunlei Yi, Action Committee for Democracy Development, [email protected]

Please see the open letter by 427 Myanmar CSOs calling on the UN General Assembly to show decisive leadership in response to deepening crisis in Myanmar: https://bit.ly/3ntcmBq

Download press release in PDF.