Letter to the UN Secretary-General

H.E. Mr. António Guterres
United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretariat
42nd Street,
New York, NY 10017

23 September 2022

Re: UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities engagement with the military junta

UN entities must stop legitimizing the Myanmar military junta and instead present letters of appointment, sign letters of agreement and MoUs with the legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government, and ethnic revolutionary organizations

Your Excellency,

We, the undersigned 638 civil society organizations (CSOs), condemn in the strongest terms the recent public signing of new agreements and presenting of letters of appointment to the illegitimate Myanmar military junta by UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities working inside Myanmar. We urge you to intervene for a principled, coordinated UN response to the crisis in Myanmar. We call on you and all UN entities to immediately cease all forms of cooperation and engagement that lends legitimacy to the illegal murderous junta. Instead, letters of appointment and agreements must be presented to the legitimate government of Myanmar, the National Unity Government (NUG), and ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs).

On 10 December 2021, 256 Myanmar CSOs urged UN entities to not engage with the junta in any way that lends them legitimacy. Despite these consistent calls from the people of Myanmar and CSOs, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) all signed new agreements with and presented credentials to the junta in August and September 2022. The public ceremonies, which were arranged with photographs, were used as propaganda by the military junta in its ongoing attempts to assert their legitimacy. The people of Myanmar have categorically rejected its attempts to seize power since its illegal attempted coup on 1 February 2021.

For nearly a year and a half, the people of Myanmar have sacrificed their lives and livelihoods to defend democracy and their rights by engaging in political defiance and armed resistance – as a last resort. Their aim is to prevent the illegal military junta from taking over the country, as it is attempting to do through inflicting immense suffering on the people.

The recent public actions by UN entities are direct interventions that clearly side with the military junta, undercutting the ongoing collective resistance efforts and sacrifices by the Myanmar people to end the Myanmar military’s tyranny and establish a federal democracy. This breaches the principles of democracy, human rights and humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, independence and “do no harm” outlined in the UNs’ Joint Operating Standards and frame work of engagement, for which UN entities must comply with and hold themselves accountable.

Furthermore, in December 2021, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution to endorse the recommendations of the UN Credential Committee that had rejected the credentials of the military junta and allowed the incumbent Ambassador, U Kyaw Moe Tun, who represents the National Unity Government (NUG) and thus represents Myanmar, to maintain his position at the UN General Assembly. UN entities, and agencies, funds and programmes in Myanmar should be guided by this decision and should be engaging publicly with the NUG and not the military junta.

The Myanmar junta has neither the political legitimacy nor territorial control over Myanmar. According to a recent analysis by an independent group of experts and former UN mandate holders on Myanmar – Special Advisory Council for Myanmar – the NUG and resistance organizations have effective control over 52% of the territory of Myanmar, while the junta is being actively contested in a further 23% of the territory. This means that the junta can only claim to have stable control over 17% of the territory.

Moreover, UN mandate holders have repeatedly raised concern on the weaponization of humanitarian aid by the junta, actively destroying and restricting aid to the people. These realities question the UN’s effectiveness in reaching the population in need by signing agreements to work with the very perpetrators who are causing the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. This is also demonstrative of the importance of signing agreements with the NUG and EROs, and the urgent need to work directly with local actors in the provision of humanitarian aid, including from along the borders of Myanmar.

Within 598 days of the attempted coup, the Myanmar military has killed at least 2,311 people, including 192 children in cold blood. More than 15,400 people have been arbitrarily arrested, with at least 12,462 people still detained, with many routinely facing torture. The actual numbers of deaths and arrests are likely far higher. The Myanmar military continues to commit gross human rights violations and atrocity crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity by torching houses, burning villages, looting properties, massacring people, committing rape and gang rape, shooting on sight, indiscriminate shelling and launching airstrikes in towns and villages. The crimes committed by the military in the past 19 months, in addition to those crimes committed against Rohingya and other ethnic minorities in the past, are collected by the UN, including by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar.

The signing of the MoUs and agreements with the junta, coupled with the inconsistent, ineffectual and non-principled approach to addressing the crisis in Myanmar by the UN, conveys the wrong message to the junta and to the world that it recognizes the body that terrorizes the people of Myanmar and is responsible for gross international crimes. This not only emboldens the junta to commit further atrocity crimes with total impunity, but it indicates that the UN, in practice, does not respect the will of the people of Myanmar as adopted in resolutions and statements, including by the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council and in a statement issued by the president of the UN Security Council. The continuing issues in the UN’s approach in Myanmar, followings its “systemic and structural failures” in providing a unified approach in addressing the Rohingya genocide in 2017, highlighted in the 2019 Rosenthal Report, is glaring.

The people of Myanmar have been loud and clear that they want their legitimate government, the NUG and their Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun to be their representative at the UN. The will of Myanmar people in choosing their own government and thus their own representative at the UN and as well as in their struggle for federal democracy and human rights in their country must be fully recognized and respected by the UN and its member states.

Your Excellency, as the people and civil society of Myanmar, the region and throughout the world, we strongly urge all UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities to stop legitimizing the illegal murderous junta and call on you for your leadership in a coordinated response to the crisis in Myanmar. We call on UN agencies, funds, programmes and other entities to work with the legitimate government of Myanmar, the NUG, EROs, CSOs and community-based organizations.

For more information, please contact:

• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice, [email protected]
• Naw Wahkhu Shee, Karen Peace Support Network, [email protected]
• Gus Miclat, Initiatives for International Dialogue and Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition, [email protected]
• Chris Gunness, Myanmar Accountability Project, [email protected]

Signed by 638 organizations, including 239 groups who have chosen not to disclose their names:

1. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
2. Action Against Myanmar Military Coup (Sydney)
3. Action Committee for Democracy Development
4. Active Youths (Kalay)
5. Advocacy Forum Nepal
6. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversation with Myanmar
7. La. Ka (12) Hta Khwe. Primary Education Student Union
8. All Arakan Civil Society Organization Network (AACSON)
9. All Arakan Civil Society Partnership (AACSP)
10. All Burma Democratic Face in New Zealand
11. All Burma Indigenous People Alliance
12. All Religions Strike Column
13. ALTSEAN-Burma
14. Ananda Data
15. Anti Dictatorship in Burma – DC Metropolitan Area
16. Arakan Civil Engagement Network (ACEN)
17. Arakan CSO Network
18. Arakan Humanitarian Coordination Team – AHCT
19. Arakan National Democratic Party
20. Arizona Kachin Community
21. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
22. Asia Democracy Network
23. Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
24. Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition
25. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
26. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners
27. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
28. Association of United in Nationalities in Japan
29. Association Suisse-Birmanie
30. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
31. Auckland Kachin Community NZ
32. Auckland Zomi Community
33. Aung Myay Thar Zan Education Schools Strike Column
34. Aung Pin Lae Main Strike Column
35. Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway
36. Australia Karen Organisation
37. Ayeyarwady Youth Network
38. Bank Trade Unions Federation of Myanmar (BTUFM)
39. Beyond Borders Malaysia
40. Blooming Padauk
41. Buddhist Solidarity Association
42. Burma Action Ireland
43. Burma Human Right Network
44. Burma Medical Association
45. Burma Task Force
46. Burman suomalaiset Finland
47. Burmese Canadian Network
48. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
49. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
50. Burmese Women’s Union
51. Calgary Karen Community Association (CKCA)
52. California Kachin Community
53. Cambodian Americans and Friends for Democracy and Human Rights Advocates
54. Campaign for a New Myanmar
55. CDM Support Team Mandalay (CSTM)
56. Central European Institute of Asian Studies
57. Chan Mya Thar Si Township People Strike Column
58. Chin Community in Norway
59. Chin Community of Auckland
60. Chin Community Of Japan
61. Chin Leaders of Tomorrow
62. Chin Resources Center
63. Chinland Natural Resources Watch Group
64. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
65. Civil Society Forum for Peace Network (Arakan)
66. Computer University (Mandalay) Student Union
67. Cooperative University Student Strike Column
68. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
69. CRPH Funding Ireland
70. CRPH Support Group, Norway
71. CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany-Deutschland
72. Dallas Kachin Community
73. Daung Sit Thi
74. DEEKU-Karenni Community of Amarillo, TX
75. Democracy for Ethnic Minorities Organization
76. Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization
77. Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
78. Dhanu Youth Organization
79. Edmonton Karen Community Youth Organization
80. Education Family (Anti – Fascists Education Strike Columns Coordination Committee)
81. Educational Initiatives Myanmar
82. Equality Myanmar
83. Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee
84. Federal FM Mandalay
85. Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
86. Federation of Worker ‘s Union of Burmese Citizens in Japan (FWUBC)
87. Florida Kachin Community
88. Foundation of Khmer Samaki, USA
89. Free Rohingya Coalition
90. Freedom for Burma
91. Future Light Center
92. Future Thanlwin
93. General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN)
94. Generation Wave
95. Georgia Kachin Community
96. German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy e.V.
97. Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy
98. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution
99. Grass-root People
100. Green Network (Myeik)
101. Hkunzup Development Committee
102. Houston Kachin Community
103. Human Rights Educators Network
104. Human Rights Foundation of Monland
105. In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND), Philippines
106. Info Birmanie
107. Initiatives for International Dialogue
108. Institute for Asian Democracy
109. International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
110. International Campaign for the Rohingya
111. International Karen Organisation
112. International Society of Myanmar Scholars and Professionals
113. Iowa Kachin Community
114. Justice for All
115. Justice for Myanmar
116. Justice Movement for Community – Innlay
117. Kachin Affairs Organization Japan, KAO(Japan),
118. Kachin Alliance (US)
119. Kachin American Community (Portland – Vancouver)
120. Kachin Association Norway
121. Kachin Community of Indiana
122. Kachin Community of USA
123. Kachin Gender Star Group
124. Kachin State Women Network (KSWN)
125. Kachin Women’s Association Thailand
126. Kamma Lover
127. Kansas Karenni community, KS
128. Karen American Association of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
129. Karen Association of Huron, SD
130. Karen Community of Akron, OH
131. Karen Community of Canada (KCC)
132. Karen Community of Czech Republic
133. Karen Community of Finland
134. Karen Community of Hamilton
135. Karen Community of Iowa, IA
136. Karen Community of Ireland
137. Karen Community of Israel
138. Karen Community of Kansas City, KS & MO
139. Karen Community of Kitchener & Waterloo
140. Karen Community of Leamington K
141. Karen Community of Lethbridge
142. Karen Community of London
143. Karen Community of Louisville, KY
144. Karen Community of Minnesota, MN
145. Karen Community of Ottawa
146. Karen Community of Regina
147. Karen Community of Saskatoon
148. Karen Community of Thunderbay
149. Karen Community of Toronto
150. Karen Community of Windsor
151. Karen Community of Winnipeg
152. Karen Community Society of British Columbia (KCSBC)
153. Karen Environmental and Social Action Network
154. Karen Human Rights Group
155. Karen Organization of America
156. Karen Organization of Illinois, IL
157. Karen Peace Support Network
158. Karen Thai Group
159. Karen Women’s Organization
160. Karen Youth Education Pathways
161. Karen Youth Networks
162. Karen Youth of Norway
163. Karen Youth of Toronto
164. Karen Youth Organization
165. Karenni Association – Norway
166. Karenni Civil Society Network
167. Karenni Community of Arizona, AZ
168. Karenni Community of Arkensas, AK
169. Karenni Community of Austin, TX
170. Karenni Community of Bowling Green, KY
171. Karenni Community of Buffalo, NY
172. Karenni Community of Chicago, IL
173. Karenni Community of Colorado, CO
174. Karenni Community of Dallas, TX
175. Karenni community of Des Moines, IA
176. Karenni Community of Florida, FL
177. Karenni Community of Fort Worth, TX
178. Karenni Community of Georgia, GA
179. Karenni Community of Houston, TX
180. Karenni Community of Idaho, ID
181. Karenni Community of Indianapolis, IN
182. Karenni Community of Massachusetts, MA
183. Karenni Community of Michigan, MI
184. Karenni community of Minnesota, MN
185. Karenni Community of Missouri, MO
186. Karenni Community of North Carolina, NC
187. Karenni Community of Portland, OR
188. Karenni Community of Rockford, IL
189. Karenni Community of San Antonio, TX
190. Karenni Community of Sioux Falls, SD
191. Karenni Community of Utah, UT
192. Karenni Community of Utica, NY
193. Karenni Community of Washington, WA
194. Karenni Community of Wisconsin, WI
195. Karenni National Society Japan, KNS-Japan,
196. Karenni National Women’s Organization
197. Karenni Society Finland
198. Karenni Society New Zealand
199. Karenni Society of Omaha, NE
200. Karenni-American Association
201. Kayan Women’s Organization
202. K’cho Ethnic Association
203. Keng Tung Youth
204. Kentucky Kachin Community
205. KontraS
206. Korea Karen Organization
207. Korea Karen Youth Organization
208. Kyae Lak Myay
209. Kyaukse University Students’ Union
210. Kyauktada Strike Committee (KSC)
211. Land in Our Hands
212. League of Labour Union
213. Let’s Help Each Other
214. LGBT Union Mandalay (LGBTIQ Strike of Mandalay)
215. Los Angeles Myanmar Movement LA2M
216. Louisiana Kachin Community
217. Mae Tao Clinic
218. Maha Aung Myay Township People Collective Strike Column
219. Mandalar University Student Strike Column
220. Mandalar University Student Union (Mandalay Poets’ Union)
221. Mandalay Alliance Strike Collective Column
222. Mandalay Based People Strike Column
223. Mandalay Civil Society Organizations
224. Mandalay Computer University Student Union
225. Mandalay Engineer Group
226. Mandalay Engineer United Force
227. Mandalay Private University Student Union (MPUSU)
228. Mandalay Technical University Student Union
229. Mandalay University Student Alumni Union
230. Mandalay Wholesale Strike Column
231. Mandalay Youth Association (MRYA)
232. Mandalay Youth Strike Column
233. Maryland Kachin Community
234. Matu Burma Foundation
235. Me Boun Foundation
236. Medical Family – Mandalay
237. Medical University (Mandalay) Student Union
238. Metta Campaign Mandalay
239. Michigan Kachin Community
240. Midwives Training School (Mandalay) Student Union)
241. MIIT Students Strike Column
242. Minnesota Kachin Community
243. Minority Affairs Institute (MAI Myanmar)
244. Muslim Youth Union
245. Mya Taung Strike Column
246. Myanmar Accountability Project
247. Myanmar Action Group Denmark
248. Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability
249. Myanmar Baptist Churches in Norway
250. Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway
251. Myanmar Community Austria (MCA)
252. Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
253. Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
254. Myanmar Community in Norway
255. Myanmar Cultural Research Society (MCRS)
256. Myanmar Democratic Force in Denmark
257. Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
258. Myanmar Emergency Fund-Canada
259. Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
260. Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
261. Myanmar Hindu Community – Norway
262. Myanmar Institute of Information Technology Students Union
263. Myanmar Muslim Organization – Norway
264. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
265. Myanmar People in Ireland
266. Myanmar Railway, Region (3) CDM Strike Column
267. Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
268. Myaung Education Network
269. Myaung Medical Team
270. National Culture and Arts University (Mandalay) Student Union
271. Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
272. Netherlands Myanmar Solidarity Platform
273. Network for Advocacy Action
274. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
275. New York Kachin Community
276. New Zealand Doctors for NUG
277. New Zealand Karen Association
278. New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
279. No 7 State High School Alumni Strike Column
280. No Business With Genocide
281. North Carolina Kachin Community
282. North South Initiative
283. Norway Falam Community
284. Norway Matu Community
285. Norway Rvwang Community
286. NRFF – New Rehmonnya Federated Force
287. Nursing Training School (Mandalay) Student Union
288. Nursing University (Mandalay) Student Union
289. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
290. Olive Organization
291. Omaha Kachin Community
292. Oversea Karen Organization Japan
293. Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand
294. Palaung National Society Japan, PNS-Japan
295. Pan Pa Wash People Strike Column
296. Pa-O Women’s Union
297. Pa-O Youth Organization
298. Pa-oh Youths Japan, PYJ-Japan
299. Paramedical Technical University (Mandalay) Student Union
300. Pennsylvania Kachin Community
301. People’s Empowerment Foundation
302. Pharmacy University (Mandalay) Student Union
303. Phayagye Peace Strike Column
304. Private Pre-school Teachers Association
305. Probono Lawyer Network
306. Progressive Voice
307. Punnyakari Mon National Society Japan, PMNS-Japan
308. Pyi Gyi Ta Gon Strike
309. Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
310. Rohingya Action Ireland
311. Rohingya American Society (RAS), Milwaukee, WI, USA
312. Rohingya Community in Norway
313. Rohingya Cultural Center of Chicago, IL, USA
314. Rohingya Society of Greater Nashua, NH, USA
315. Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
316. Safe of Dawei
317. SaNaR (Save the Natural Resource)
318. Sangha Samaga Strike Column
319. Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas
320. Save Myanmar – USA
321. Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
322. Save Myanmar San Francisco
323. Save the Salween Network (SSN)
324. SEA Junction
325. Second Tap Root
326. Sein Pan Strike Column
327. Shan Community (New Zealand)
328. Shan Community in Japan (SCJ)
329. Shan MATA
330. Shan State Nationalities for Democracy Japan, SSND-Japan,
331. Sisters 2 Sisters
332. Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
333. Social Program Aid for Civic Education (SPACE)
334. South Carolina Kachin Community
335. Southern Dragon (Myanmar)
336. Southern Youth Development Organization
337. Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Network (SRMMN)
338. Spring Traveller
339. Strike Column of Representatives of Arbitrarily Arrested People
340. Strike Column of Teachers from Universities and Degree Colleges of Mandalay
341. Student Union of Mandalay University of Foreign Language
342. Students for Free Burma (SFB)
343. Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (The Netherlands)
344. Support the Democracy Movement in Burma
345. Supporting 4 Myanmar Australia
346. Swedish Myanmar Supporting Community (Sweden)
347. Synergy – Social Harmony Organization
348. Ta’ang Women’s Organization
349. Taekwondo Sport Association
350. Tanintharyi MATA
351. Tanintharyi Nationalities Congress
352. Tanitharyi People’s Voice
353. Tanitharyi Women’s Network
354. Technical University (Mandalay) Student Union
355. Technical University (Yadanapone Cyber City) Student Union
356. Tenasserim Student Unions’ Network – TSUN
357. Tennessee Kachin Community
358. Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma
359. Thapaynyo News Letter
360. The Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
361. The Ladies
362. The Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development, Chiang Mai University
363. The Swedish Foundation for Human Rights
364. Traditional Medicine (Mandalay) Student Union
365. S Campaign for Burma
366. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
367. University of Dentistry (Mandalay) Student Union
368. US Advocacy Coalition for Myanmar (USACM)
     1. Campaign for a New Myanmar
     2. Students for Free Burma (SFB)
     3. Freedom for Burma
     4. International Campaign for The Rohingya
     5. Helping Hands for Burma (H2B)
     6. Global Movement for Myanmar Democracy (GM4MD)
     7. Chin Leaders of Today &Tomorrow
369. Utica Karen Community, NY
370. Virginia Kachin Community
371. Washington Kachin Community
372. West Virginia Kachin Community
373. Women Activists Myanmar
374. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar
375. Women’s League of Burma
376. World Kachin Congress (WKC)
377. World Rohingya Organization, Jackson Height, NY, USA
378. Yadanapone University Student Union (Ya. Ta. Ka. Tha)
379. Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)
380. Youth Poet Union
381. Youths for Community-Myaung
382. Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway
383. Zomi Community Norway
384. ခုနှစ်စင်ကြယ်အဖွဲ့
385. စစ်ဘေးရှောင်စခန်းများ စီမံခန့်ခွဲရေးကော်မတီ ပုလောမြို့နယ်
386. ဆီသို့ – စာစဉ်
387. တက်ကြွလူငယ် (ထားဝယ်)
388. တူမီး‌ – တော်လှန်ရေးစာစဉ်
389. ထားဝယ်ပညာရေးဘုတ်အဖွဲ့
390. ဒေါနတနင်္သာရီ – စစ်ဘေးရှောင်များ အထောက်အကူပြုရေးအဖွဲ့
391. နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဥ်းသားများကွန်ရက် (ထားဝယ်)
392. ပြည်သူမှပြည်သူသို့- ကမ္မ အဖွဲ့
393. ပွင့်ဖြူလယ်ယာမြေကွန်ရက်
394. ဗေဒါ လူမှုဖွံဖြိုးရေးအထောက်အကူပြုအဖွဲ့
395. မျိုးဆက်-Generations
396. မြစ်ကွေ့ -လူထုတော်လှန်ရေးစာစဉ်
397. ရင်ခွင်သစ်
398. သင့်မြတ်ခြင်းနှင့်ငြိမ်းချမ်းသောလမ်းစဥ် အဖွဲ့
399. သူပုန်ဂေဇက် – The Rebel Gazette

*Additional 239 groups have chosen not to disclose their names.

Additional endorsements

1. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
2. Karen Swedish Community (KSC)
3. Women’s Peace Network

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