The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, as represented by the National Unity Government, is grateful to Tom Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, for his update to the Council. We also welcome the Special Rapporteur’s Geneva press conference held on 17 March 2025.

Myanmar is deeply grateful to the Special Rapporteur and extendsits full support to his mandate. Mr Andrews is a powerful voice for our people. His latest report, press conference and update to the Council send a collective message – that international action to sanction the military junta’s access to cash and weapons is biting, but not deep enough the curb its appalling and escalating atrocities.

As the Special Rapporteur said, “[t]hese attacks are costing lives and if they are not stopped the death toll will rise exponentially.”

At March 2025, 20 million people – a third of our population – require humanitarian assistance. Myanmar also has the largest number of landmine victims in the world. And severe aid cuts, described by the Special Rapporteur as “callous decisions being made with little thought, and apparently, no concern about the consequences”, have stripped millions of people in Myanmar ofassistance and have halved food rations for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. To the Special Rapporteur, “in a word, it is about betrayal.”

Mr Andrews also acknowledges the reality on the ground in Myanmar, where the junta is being driven back and is steadily losing ground to a fierce people-led revolution. His plea for international action matches the High Commissioner’s call on UN Member States to support solutions that place the National Unity Government, ethnic organizations, women’s groups, youth, civil society and other pro-democracy actors at the centre.

In closing, Myanmar calls on UN Member States to seize on current negotiations of the draft resolution on Myanmar to send a clear message to the rest of the system – in the Special Rapporteur’s words, “to speak out, to issue a declaration of conscience against this unfolding disaster.” This must include support for the ICC Prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant for junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, condemnation of the junta’s forced conscription drive and its punitive blocking of humanitarian assistance, a political commitment to a broader ASEAN+ approach to Myanmar, and a request that the Secretary-General report on concrete steps that the UNCT is taking to strengthen the UN’s prevention capacity and to implement the Rosenthal report’s recommendations.

Ministry of Human Rights

National Unity Government

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