The people of Myanmar are faced with the pressing question – how long must they endure suffering or how many people must die before receiving meaningful international attention? Thousands who have escaped remain in a state of vulnerability and struggle to survive – A male Burmese journalist in exile, 35 y-o. 

My husband was killed, but I have a life, a future and a son who has a future. We need to build our capacity and knowledge to rebuild our lives. Many people who fled in 2017 are still suffering from physical pain and need treatment – they need better support – not only basic – A female Rohingya survivor, Shanti Mohila member, 26 y-o 

We are not stateless. We have a state. A home in Myanmar. We want to go back home with respect, with our rights, with safety and security, with citizenship – A male Rohingya survivor, 31 y-o  

On 25 September 2024, LAW hosted a roundtable on the sidelines of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, “Paving the way for accountability, truth, and reconciliation: a trust fund for victims of atrocity crimes in Myanmar” at the NYC Bar Association in New York, United States. 

Ms. Antonia Mulvey, Founder and Executive Director of LAW, chaired the roundtable. Noting the findings of a survivors’ perceptions of justice survey by LAW, and recognizing that the draft resolution on Myanmar would be before the UNGA in November 2024, Ms. Mulvey prompted the participants to deliberate on the central question – whether there is value in establishing a trust fund for victims and survivors in Myanmar context and what innovative avenues can be pursued to support creation of such a trust fund?  

Overview: For decades, ethnic minority groups in Myanmar have suffered grave human rights violations and international crimes, resulting in a protracted humanitarian crisis that continues to intensify considering Myanmar’s perpetual lack of respect for international law. The sheer scale of devastation, including the physical and psychological harm to the victims and survivors across the Kachin, Chin, Karen, Shan, Mon, Karenni, and Rohingya communities, the added impact of the 2021 coup on civilians across Myanmar, and the extensive damage to civilian property, warrants an urgent dialogue on finding pathways towards fulfilling victims and survivors right to reparation.  

In the absence of any domestic legal recourse inside Myanmar, the ongoing international accountability efforts are of great significance to challenge the impunity enjoyed by the Myanmar military junta. However, the ongoing justice and accountability processes currently have no clear strategies for implementation nor means of funding reparations to victims and survivors in the short and long term.  

Considering the lack of any credible domestic avenues to deliver accountability and remedy, including reparations, and the unwillingness and inability of the State of Myanmar to fulfil its obligations, an international trust fund established through a UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolution for the purpose of facilitating reparative measures for communities that have faced atrocity crimes must be considered. 

LAW’s roundtable brought together government officials, legal practitioners, INGOs, and members of civil society with the aim of initiating a dialogue on identifying creative and innovative pathways to secure reparative justice for victims and survivors of grave human rights violations and international crimes in Myanmar – including the role of the UNGA in steering accountability discourse away from purely punitive justice towards a more holistic and transformative justice approach through the establishment of a trust fund.  

Importance of Reparative Justice:  The scope of the crisis in Myanmar has been recognized, with bodies such as the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) documenting the extensive gross human rights violations that amount to serious international crimes.  Roundtable participants noted that the extraordinary and long-lasting impact of these crimes requires that justice should not be administered myopically, but rather comprehensively. Ambassador Beth van Schaack, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice stressed the need for a holistic approach to justice, encapsulated in the field of transitional justice, that recognizes the complexity of harm and diverse needs of survivors. Progress in the ongoing legal and investigative cases is indicative of accountability mechanisms that are necessary to achieve justice, but they are not the only form of justice. Transitional and reparative justice is vital for victims and survivors during and in the aftermath of atrocities.   

Encourage timely establishment of the trust fund to complement the ongoing humanitarian assistance. Roundtable participants agreed that the establishment of a trust fund for victims is an important step to contribute towards reparative justice for victims of atrocity crimes linked to grave violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in Myanmar. Participants expressed concern for the worsening humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, particularly in the Rakhine state, as well as the deteriorating conditions within the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.  While it is important that the international community continues to address the pressing humanitarian needs of those impacted by violence and atrocity crimes in Myanmar, in the face of critical underfunding for the ongoing humanitarian needs, it is equally necessary to look beyond the immediate context. U Aung Kyaw Moe, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Human Rights, National Unity Government, encouraged the international community to find innovative ways to deliver beyond humanitarian aid and ensure that long-term reparative support for victims and survivors is meaningfully and impactfully addressed. Further, he noted that the 1982 citizenship law was repressive and discriminatory and that many victims and survivors cite the repeal of the law as a desired reparative measure.  Implementing mechanisms for long-term reparative support can and should happen, as a matter of urgency, concurrent to the administration of aid and the administration of justice through the courts.  Honorable Dawda A. Jallow, Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Gambia, emphasized the importance of establishing a UN-supported trust fund to support compensation efforts and aid the ICJ’s work in ensuring reparations for Rohingya victims. 

Action: In light of the fact that the resolution on Myanmar will be before the UNGA in November, member states and the international community must recognize the urgency of victims and survivors needs, the critical underfunding of humanitarian assistance and it limitations, and take action accordingly by supporting the adoption of the UNGA resolution that recognizes the need for establishment of a trust fund.  

Support the meaningful participation and inclusion of survivors’ experiences and voices in conceptualizing a trust fund. Roundtable participants noted that the crisis in Myanmar and neighboring states has lasted a significant length of time, resulting in impact to a large number of populations with varying needs. In designing a trust fund and conceptualizing use of these funds towards reparative measures or future reparations schemes, centering the experiences and voices of victims and survivors and ensuring their participation in the process is essential. Ambassador van Schaack highlighted the key role that civil society can play in driving reparative justice efforts. Inclusivity fosters more meaningful and restorative outcomes that better address individual and community needs. It was noted that development of reparation schemes through a survivor-centered approach helps mitigate the creation of hierarchies that prioritize one victim group over another.  

Action: In designing the administration and governance of the trust fund, member states should take necessary steps to ensure the inclusion of victim and survivors’ perspectives and consult with civil society.   

Explore dynamic funding pathways. Key to the administration of a trust fund is the securing of adequate and sustainable funding sources.  Participants including the Global Survivors Fund (GSF) and REDRESS weighed in on the sources of financing that must be considered for a trust fund in the Myanmar context and the importance of layering multiple financial pathways. Different funding streams may carry different meanings for victims and survivors, impacting how they are perceived toward achieving justice. Contributions by third-party states may go toward establishing a more comprehensive recognition of harm endured. In particular, repurposing of assets of perpetrators of human rights violations may present a greater sense of direct accountability for victims and survivors. It was noted that frozen assets of sanctioned individuals and entities and fines for breach of sanctions regimes can be considered to provide reparation for victims. There are opportunities for investigating transnational organized crimes that are financing the junta. It is important to look beyond traditional third-party contributions toward innovative solutions, and to ensure that victims and survivors are granted the space to advocate for suitable funding streams. Participants noted some steps already taken by certain states to contemplate using appropriated funds for reparative support to victims and survivors in other settings. At this point in the process for Myanmar, all avenues should be considered. 

Action: In exploring financing opportunities for a trust fund, consideration should be given to a variety of funding mechanisms, including but not limited to, traditional state and third-party contributions, as well as fines for the breach of sanctions and potential repurposing of frozen assets of sanctioned individuals and entities to facilitate reparative measures or future reparations for victims. Consideration of potential funding streams should be informed by what value it holds for the victims and survivors’ sense of redress and justice. 

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