The United Nations envoy to Myanmar has urged the international community to take urgent action against the military’s brutal crackdown on anti-coup protesters in the country. Christening the military’s actions as “repression,” the envoy has noted that there is wide resistance to such a move both in Myanmar and across the world. This article delves deeper into the ongoing strife in Myanmar and the efforts being made by the international community to put an end to it.
Noeleen Heyzer, the United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, delivered a grim assessment of the situation in the conflict-wracked nation during a U.N. General Assembly meeting on Thursday. Heyzer stated that the devastating impact of the military’s February 2021 takeover of the country has resulted in widespread violence continuing “at an alarming scale.” Myanmar was ruled for five decades under strict military control, and despite a loosening of the regime’s grip in 2015, the generals ousted the government two years later and moved to suppress public opposition to the takeover.
Heyzer’s comments followed a briefing to the U.N. Security Council on Monday by herself and Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi. Heyzer noted the urgent need for concrete progress on the ASEAN’s five-point consensus on restoring peace in Myanmar, adopted in April 2021. The consensus called for the implementation of a plan of action, including stopping violence, constructive dialogue with all parties, appointment of an ASEAN special envoy as mediator, and humanitarian aid.
Heyzer said it’s critical that Myanmar’s future is decided by its people through a Myanmar-led process reflecting all voices. She stressed that sustainable solutions for Rohingya Muslims must be integrated into the design of a peaceful, inclusive and democratic Myanmar. Over several decades, more than 1 million Rohingya refugees have fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar. This movement intensified in August 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal crackdown against the Rohingya, leading to the international courts’ consideration of the crackdown as genocide.
The military’s intensified use of force has included bombings and other grave human rights violations, with the regime’s four-cut strategy targeting civilians in a collective punishment approach. Heyzer noted that heavy fighting has spread to new areas, which has put more lives at risk and complicated delivering humanitarian assistance. She highlighted that 17.6 million people now require assistance.
Heyzer emphasized that the generation that benefited from Myanmar’s opening up after 2015, especially young people, “is now disillusioned, facing chronic hardship and many feeling they have no choice but to take up arms to fight military rule.”
With no prospects for a negotiated settlement, Heyzer pledged to continue engaging with all parties, including countries that have leverage on the different players. Heyzer stated that “At the end of the day, what we want is a movement towards a more just and a more democratic union of Myanmar for all.”
