Special Envoy’s Business of Betrayal
Time and again the Special Envoy mandate has proven entirely ineffectual in making meaningful, positive progress for the Myanmar people.
UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop’s business ties with Chinese state-owned enterprises raise serious concerns over her impartiality and independence. Holding business ties with China—one of the military junta’s foremost supporting states—presents conflicts of interest and directly endangers the Myanmar people’s human rights. It is essential the UN Secretary-General immediately open an investigation into this matter and publish the findings. To prevent further harm, it is time for the UN General Assembly to end the Special Envoy mandate and for the Secretary-General to take a leadership role himself in addressing the Myanmar crisis.
As reported by The Saturday Paper on 8 March, the Special Envoy has been appointed as Strategic Advisor of Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), a mining company whose Kvanefjeld project in Greenland is embroiled in controversy over environmental issues, health risks to locals, and involvement of Chinese state-owned enterprises as dominant shareholders. The Chinese state-owned corporations—Shengde Resources and China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)—are reportedly operating in mining ventures in Myanmar, thus exposing the Special Envoy to potential conflicts of interest. As the Chinese state militarily, financially, and politically supports the junta, these business connections directly threaten the human rights of Myanmar people, and compromise her independence and impartiality as Special Envoy. Made in full knowledge it would involve connections to China, the Special Envoy’s shameless choice to become ETM Special Advisor shows only self-interest and a voluntary shirking of professional obligations to the people of Myanmar. If the Envoy intends to continue engaging in dialogue with China over Myanmar issues, any remnants of trust and impartiality are now utterly eroded.
In response to these reports, Justice For Myanmar immediately called for the UN Secretary-General to open an investigation, which has been backed by 290 civil society organizations in an open letter to the Secretary-General and General Assembly.
The UN has spent decades relegating responsibility to an ineffectual Special Envoy position and making fruitless attempts to broker peace with a military intent on perpetuating illegal rule and violence on the Myanmar people. In response to these latest concerns, a UN Spokesperson insisted the Special Envoy, as UN staff, is bound by the UN Charter and is required to uphold “the highest standards of integrity, including regarding any potential conflicts of interest.” Demonstrating a failure of genuine integrity, when speaking on the controversy the Special Envoy merely affirmed to the Associated Press that “[O]n no occasion have I, or would I engage in matters that conflict with my commitments to the U.N.” Entirely missing the root of civil society’s concerns over her actions—that she has actively harmed the Myanmar people—this comment reveals exclusive concern with accountability to the UN as an institution, not to the people of Myanmar.
Prior to becoming Special Envoy, Julie Bishop demonstrated contempt for the human rights of Myanmar people and accountability for a military guilty of atrocity crimes. Under her watch as Australian Foreign Minister in 2017, Australia offered Rohingya refugees thousands of Australian dollars to coerce them into returning to Myanmar even during ongoing crimes against humanity and genocide. Equally troubling, in 2018 Bishop permitted a 400,000 AUD (approximately 251,900 USD) funding agreement to the Myanmar military for ‘training purposes’ despite their commission of these atrocity crimes only a few months earlier. This stunning disregard for the rights and lives of Rohingya ought to have precluded Bishop from appointment as Special Envoy, particularly as the position theoretically centers on protection of Rohingya.
Time and again the Special Envoy mandate has proven entirely ineffectual in making meaningful, positive progress for the Myanmar people. Bishop’s predecessor Noeleen Heyzer revealed a shameful ignorance of Myanmar history and the depths of the junta’s commitment to maintaining tyrannical rule through its illegal attempt to seize power by suggesting “power-sharing” agreements be made between the military and democratic resistance actors. In November 2024, Bishop echoed this ignorance by calling on all Myanmar actors to end their so-called “zero-sum mentality” while failing to denounce the junta’s commitment to inflicting suffering on the Myanmar people. These attitudes consistently reaffirm Special Envoys’ failure to comprehend the fact that an illegal military junta who commits daily egregious human rights violations and atrocity crimes has no place in a future federal democratic Myanmar. Compounded by numerous meetings with junta representatives, for UN representatives to promote junta-inclusive discourse of peace processes is shameful and contrary to the will and aspirations of Myanmar people. By attempting to facilitate such junta-inclusive political dialogue, the Special Envoy mandate has lent the junta false legitimacy on the international stage and thus caused further harm to the Myanmar people.
With this latest betrayal, the UN must finally recognize the mandate of Special Envoy as not only ineffective but could be actively harmful to the Myanmar people. As such, an investigation into conflicts of interest regarding Bishop’s business connections is essential for the truth to emerge—from which the findings must be made public for full transparency. It is high time to recognize that the Special Envoy mandate has failed in peace-brokering attempts and now become a political avenue for the junta to claim false legitimacy. Therefore, the mandate should be rescinded by the UN General Assembly to avoid further harm and cauterize this avenue of junta engagement.
If the UN Secretary-General’s desire to find an “end to the hostilities and help the people of Myanmar forge a path towards an inclusive democratic transition and return to civilian rule” is genuine, then António Guterres himself must take a leadership role in addressing the Myanmar crisis, above all by supporting the Myanmar people as they work towards a peaceful and democratic Myanmar free from military tyranny.
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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
UN Secretary General Bangladesh Visit Vital For Rohingya Future
By Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
Dictators supporting criminals: Belarus and Russia’s involvement in junta’s sham election
By Defend Myanmar Democracy
By Defend Myanmar Democracy
Bangladesh, Arakan Army: Establish Humanitarian Corridor for War-Affected Civilians in Myanmar
By Fortify Rights
Myanmar Junta’s Farcical Plans for Elections
By Human Rights Watch
JFM welcomes Swiss sanctions on Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise
By Justice For Myanmar
မြန်မာ့ရေနံနှင့်သဘာဝဓါတ်ငွေ့လုပ်ငန်းအပေါ် ဆွစ်ဒဏ်ခတ်ပိတ်ဆို့မှုများကို JFM ကြိုဆို
By Justice For Myanmar
Statement from Karen Rivers Watch for International Day of Action for Rivers and Against Dams
By Karen Environmental and Social Action Network
Massive funding shortfalls put Rohingya refugees at risk of an acute malnutrition crisis
By Medecins Sans Frontieres
A third of Myanmar’s population faces food insecurity: UN human rights experts
By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
By Shan Human Rights Foundation
By Shan Human Rights Foundation
Arrest of Former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte A Game-Changing Moment
By Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
By Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
By UNICEF
WFP warns one million in Myanmar to be cut off from food aid amid funding shortfall
By World Food Programme
Reports
Violation of Media Freedom in February 2025
By Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
The 3Ps’ Responsibility, Accountability, and Reform – Issue 165 (12 – 25 February 2025)
By Burma News International and Myanmar Peace Monitor
By Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
Chinese security companies exacerbate human rights violations in Myanmar
By Human Rights Myanmar
Attacks on Health Care in Myanmar: 19 February-04 March 2025
By Insecurity Insight
Journalism and Media Safety in Myanmar (Annual Report 2024)
By Mizzima
By Shan Human Rights Foundation
By Shan Human Rights Foundation
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar
UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar and UN Human Rights Council
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.”
