The Myanmar Military Junta – A Domestic and Regional Terrorist Outfit
“Stopping supplies of aviation fuel must be a priority as ending airstrikes is probably the single most effective action that can be taken to stop mass displacement and the humanitarian crisis being created by airstrikes.”
Unrelenting brutal military offensives by the Myanmar military in Karen State are creating terror among local populations, and spilling over the border into Thailand. Yet both Thailand and ASEAN’s response to this regional security and humanitarian crisis reflects a preference to placate a murderous junta than to help the people who are suffering from their indiscriminate violence.
Since 24 June, the junta has escalated its offensives against the armed forces of the Karen National Union, as well as their allied people’s defence forces (PDFs) operating in the southeast of Myanmar, near the border with Thailand. Constant heavy shelling, airstrikes and long-range artillery being fired into villages is displacing thousands of people. The International Karen Organisation has documented the deaths of at least 13 people, including two children, due to this increase in military attacks. Fighting has been particularly intense near the Thai border, as a battle for control of the Oo Ka Yit Hta base has resulted in several days of airstrikes being launched by the military junta. On 30 June, footage showed a Myanmar military fighter jet violate Thai airspace, causing the Thai airforce to scramble two of its own fighter jets and causing the communities in two Thai villages to take cover. A Thai school near the border is now undergoing air raid drills and has been repainted with a huge Thai flag. While the Thai Prime Minister sought to underplay this violation, citing the friendship between the two countries, regional civil society organizations have heavily criticized the Thai Government’s response. In a statement they pointed out that Thailand’s repeated cooperation with the military junta only “emboldens the junta to perpetrate more gross human rights violations” and also “threatens the safety and well-being of Thais along the border.”
This softly-softly approach to the murderous junta is in line with ASEAN’s engagement, exemplified by the ASEAN Special Envoy’s second trip to Myanmar last week. The envoy, Prak Sokhonn, who is also the Foreign Minister of current ASEAN Chair, Cambodia, met with the junta-leader, Min Aung Hlaing, and only seven, smaller ethnic armed organizations that had been approved by Min Aung Hlaing. Sokhonn did not meet with detained State Counsellor, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the National Unity Government, Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs), nor civil society organizations. This kind of engagement only serves to legitimize the terrorist junta, and without consulting and working with the legitimate representatives of the people of Myanmar will only result in a failure of ASEAN’s approach to the crises.
The junta’s increasing reliance on airpower, as seen in Karen State daily for the past week, reflects a situation where it is unable to defeat the resistance forces during ground-battles, and thus reverts to often indiscriminate aerial attacks. This is all the more reason why it is essential that aviation fuel is sanctioned by the international community. International companies are still supplying the junta with the fuel it needs to murder people using fighter jets and attack helicopters. As the International Karen Organisation stated, “Stopping supplies of aviation fuel must be a priority as ending airstrikes is probably the single most effective action that can be taken to stop mass displacement and the humanitarian crisis being created by airstrikes.” Not only can more be done to stop this supply of aviation fuel, but an international arms embargo, coupled with targeted economic sanctions that are aimed squarely at the junta’s business interests and supply of cash, is urgently needed to support the Myanmar people’s Spring Revolution.
Furthermore, the diplomatic placation by ASEAN and its member states is an affront to the heroes of the Spring Revolution. As the people of Myanmar know only too well, this type of compromise and engagement only emboldens the military to continue to act with total impunity, whether firing indiscriminately in civilian villages, or flying into a neighboring countries’ airspace. This latest breach of international law should serve as a warning of what the junta is capable of, and how it will stop at nothing in its failing attempts to eliminate the fierce and determined resistance to their coup attempt unless the international community acts with concerted and coordinated efforts to support the forces of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution.
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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.
Resources from the past week
Statements and Press Releases
Open letter to Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong from 688 civil society organisations
By 688 Myanmar, Regional and International Civil Society Organisations
By 688 Myanmar, Regional and International Civil Society Organisations
Southeast Asian MPs urge ASEAN economic ministers to immediately tackle food crisis
By ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
Myanmar: Communities in north Shan State face conflicts new and old
By International Committee of the Red Cross
Myanmar: Raising awareness of landmine risks, minimizing threat to lives
By International Committee of the Red Cross
By International Karen Organisation
Petronas, PTTEP, ENEOS, Mitsubishi Corp & Japan Gov irresponsibly exiting Yetagun gas project
By Justice For Myanmar
By Justice For Myanmar
မုံရွာမြို့တွင်ဖြစ်ပွားခဲ့သော ဖြစ်စဥ်နှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ သဘောထားထုတ်ပြန်ခြင်း
By LGBT Alliance – Myanmar
By Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs
ASEAN Chair Special Envoy Urges Return of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi To Home
By Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia
National Unity Government Statement (15/2022)
By National Unity Government
National Unity Government Statement (14/2022)
By National Unity Government
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Human Rights)
Statement of NUG on 7th Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Forum
By National Unity Government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Myanmar: Crisis taking an enormous toll on children, UN committee warns
By Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Activist accuses military of seeking to erase Myanmar’s Rohingyas
By Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
NCA-S EAOs’ Meeting with ASEAN Special Envoy to Myanmar
By Peace Process Steering Team
Open letter: Myanmar junta participation in the Environmental Rights and Climate Change Workshop
By Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institutions for Burma/Myanmar
By Working Group on Independent National Human Rights Institutions for Burma/Myanmar
Reports
By Crown Agents, Humanitarian Assistance and Resilience Programme
Myanmar: Response overview, June 2022
By Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
One Week of Attacks: Burma Army Pushes More Than 4,800 People Into Hiding
By Free Burma Rangers
By Mixed Migration Centre
The Border Consortium 2021 Annual Report
By The Border Consortium
Myanmar Landmine/ERW Incidents Information – Factsheet (January-May 2022)
By United Nations Children’s Fund
UNICEF Myanmar Humanitarian Situation Report No. 5: 1 to 30 June 2022
By United Nations Children’s Fund
Myanmar Humanitarian Update No. 19 | 28 June 2022
By United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”
