Oct 5, 2022 | DFF, Opinion Articles
By Heidi Hautala, Ilhan Omar, and Charles Santiago.
Less than two years ago, on Feb. 1, 2021, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup d’etat. Since then, international headlines might have faded, but the situation in the country has only become more desperate. The junta has killed and arrested thousands, while pushing the country to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe, all with the outright support of China and Russia.
Meanwhile, the U.S., the European Union, and other supporters of Myanmar’s democratic resistance have thus far mainly issued statements of concern. As lawmakers from different countries, we are deeply frustrated by the lack of action by governments around the world. The international community can and must do more, before Myanmar is pushed over an edge it cannot come back from.
The coup in 2021 ended a decade-long power sharing agreement between the military and civilian leaders, although one heavily tilted in the army’s favor. Even so, the Tatmadaw, as the Myanmar military is known, soon felt too threatened by the electoral success of the National League for Democracy (NLD), and decided to seize power outright. The aftermath of the coup has been as brutal as it has been chaotic.
The junta has killed more than 2,000 people, many of them peaceful protesters. More than 15,000 people have been arrested, among them Aung San Suu Kyi, NLD’s leader, and scores of prominent democracy and human rights activists. Myanmar is also facing a humanitarian crisis, with government services and the economy collapsing, and more than 1.2 million people internally displaced from the army’s brutal crackdown across the country.
The people of Myanmar have, however, continued to fight back against military rule. Across the country, a Civil Disobedience Movement has organized itself, including unions, doctors, teachers, students and other citizens from all walks of life. A National Unity Government (NUG), composed of civil society and political representatives, has led the political struggle from exile. Meanwhile, in Myanmar’s border areas, Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) have continued to resist the junta. They function as de facto states within the state, providing services and governance, as well as safe havens for pro-democracy activists fleeing from other parts of the country.
It is this bravery from ordinary Myanmar people that has made the international reactions since the coup so disappointing.
The junta has been actively and openly supported by both China and Russia, including through financial investments, arms sales, and official visits offering legitimacy to the regime. China has also shielded Myanmar from scrutiny at the UN Security Council.
On the other hand, the United States, the European Union and other democratic countries have offered lip service to the Myanmar resistance, but not much more. The sanctions that have been imposed have had little impact on the junta, and regular statements of concern are no substitute for real action. Many Western countries have also left the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on its own to resolve the crisis. However, ASEAN’s “Five Points Consensus” approach with the junta, launched more than a year ago, is now all but dead, having had almost no real impact.
The international community must change course, and do so quickly. In June this year, we joined lawmakers from seven countries in Africa, Asia and Europe to launch an International Parliamentary Inquiry into the failed response to the crisis. Together with democracy and human rights leaders from Myanmar, we developed a set of recommendations that we believe should be acted on immediately.
A first step is to address the immediate humanitarian crisis. As much as possible, international donors must channel aid and resources through Myanmar civil society and EAOs who are already providing services in border areas. At the same time, the UN must step up efforts to convince Myanmar’s neighbors — India and Thailand — to open their borders to refugees and aid flows, and not seek to push back those who are fleeing from the junta.
We should also implement limited sanctions that target the junta’s leaders, without punishing the entire Burmese population. This includes imposing sanctions on junta-owned companies, such as the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), which remain some of the military’s most important sources of funding. To its credit, the EU sanctioned MOGE in February, and the U.S. should follow its example.
The international community must also make it unequivocally clear that the NUG and its partners are the true representatives of the people of Myanmar. The junta must never be afforded the legitimacy it so desperately craves. Governments should afford formal recognition to the NUG, take all possible steps to facilitate its work, and open dialogues with both the NUG and EAOs to chart the course for a future federal democratic Myanmar. Only such kind of dialogue can solve the long-standing problem of inter-ethnic conflicts in the country.
Myanmar faces a long and protracted conflict between the military and most of its population that will not be easily resolved. But amid the darkness, there are real signs of hope, as brave people from across the country are resisting the junta’s brutal rule. We in the international community have failed them so far, but it is not too late for us to do better. The future of a whole country depends on it.
Heidi Hautala is vice-president of the European Parliament and chair of the International Parliamentary Inquiry (IPI) into the global response to the crisis in Myanmar. Ilhan Omar represents the 5th District in Minnesota and is a committee member of the IPI. Charles Santiago is a Malaysian member of parliament and committee member of the IPI.
This article first appeared in The Hill.
Jul 20, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – The Myanmar people are not receiving the humanitarian assistance they need as the crisis triggered by the coup d’état of February last year worsens, parliamentarians from seven different countries in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe have denounced, ahead of the fourth public oral hearing of their International Parliamentary Inquiry (IPI) on the global response to the crisis in Myanmar, to be held today, 20 July.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) puts at over 750,000 the number of people displaced by the violence perpetrated by the Myanmar military in order to cement their power since the takeover, bringing the total for the country the record number of over 1 million.
Experts audited by the IPI in previous oral hearings have described a rapidly deteriorating situation, marked by a worsening economic crisis, an almost complete collapse of the health system and the systematic targeting of the civilian population by the military.
“Time is rapidly running out to prevent the worst-case scenario for millions of people in Myanmar. But instead of increased attention to the situation, we are seeing the opposite: less engagement by regional and international actors, less efforts to lead the junta to the negotiation table, and a unconscionable shortfall of almost 90 percent of funding for the humanitarian needs of the country in 2022. Inaction must end now,” said Heidi Hautala, IPI Committee Chair and Vice-President of the European Parliament.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), as of June 2022, only 11 percent of the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Myanmar has been funded, “negatively affecting the breadth and quality of assistance delivered by humanitarians.”
“The utter failure of ASEAN’s 5-Point Consensus should be clear to all, yet there has been no effort made to change course. Meanwhile, the international community continues to ignore evidence indicating that a primary reliance on ASEAN has not and will not result in an alleviation of the plight of the Myanmar people. Reliance on ASEAN is not a strategy, but rather a disingenuous deflection of responsibility by international actors which must stop in order for solutions to the humanitarian crisis to be found,” said Charles Santiago, IPI Committee Member, Malaysian MP, and Chair of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR).
To address these and other issues, the IPI will hold its fourth hearing on the global response to the crisis in Myanmar on July 20, at 6 pm (Bangkok time), via Zoom.
Experts who have confirmed their participation at the hearing include:
– Matthew Wells – Deputy Director, Crisis Response, Amnesty International.
– Dr Ashley South – Research Fellow, Chiang Mai University.
– Salai Za Uk Ling – Deputy Executive Director, Chin Human Rights Organisation (CHRO).
– Adelina Kamal -Former Executive Director for the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), currently Associate Senior Fellow at the Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS).
Join the IPI Fourth Oral Hearing by Zoom by following the link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcOyvqjorHNeUbaXpzbMBClSV1ekKN_ci
Livestream: https://facebook.com/aseanmp
All previous hearings can be found at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbpyEyu66jrCv5HORbeIV4w/videos
Jun 15, 2022 | DFF, Statements
JAKARTA – Despite pledges to oppose the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Myanmar and hold the country’s abusive military to account, international actors have failed to take the necessary steps to force the junta to negotiate a political solution, failed to address the mounting humanitarian needs, and failed to bring about the necessary diplomatic coordination to prevent Myanmar from becoming a failed state, a newly established international parliamentary inquiry said today.
The International Parliamentary Inquiry into the Global Response to the Crisis in Myanmar (IPI), chaired by Heidi Hautala, Vice-President of the European Parliament, brings together members of parliaments from Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas to investigate the international response to the crisis triggered by the coup d’état in Myanmar and where it is failing. The members of the committee form a truly international panel that has come together because of their common concern to protect the rights of the most vulnerable.
“The response to the devastating crisis unfolding in Myanmar is going nowhere fast,” said Hautala. “As parliamentarians, we know that governments and international institutions can, and must, do more to end the current impasse. These hearings aim to shed light on where the response is falling short, and to provide information on the next steps that can be taken to put effective pressure on the Myanmar junta.”
The IPI is an initiative of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR). It will follow the format of tried-and-tested parliamentary inquiries conducted at a national level. In addition to requesting information from individual governments and international organizations, the IPI will accept both written and oral submissions of testimony and evidence from a variety of stakeholders.
“We are concerned that international institutions have not lived up to their own promises, and we are appalled that the situation in Myanmar is worsening the longer the international inertia continues,” said Charles Santiago, Chair of APHR. “We, as parliamentarians from all over the world united by a common purpose, will approach this inquiry unhindered by the type of geopolitical considerations that have resulted in the current deadlock.”
The violence, death, and suffering being caused as a result of the Myanmar coup continues to escalate and intensify in the absence of adequate international efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Myanmar people. In January, the U.N. High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, stated that the international response had been “ineffectual and lacks a sense of urgency commensurate to the magnitude of the crisis.”
“The Burmese people have clearly and courageously demonstrated their aspiration for democracy”, stated Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who will be participating from the United States. “They do not want a military government. The United States must stand unequivocally with those advocating for a Burmese democracy rooted in human rights and equality. We must also support the human rights of religious and political minorities, including Rohingya who have already suffered so much, and indeed all those facing oppression.”
The Committee is to gather evidence by sending requests for information to key agencies/institutions, opening a call for written submissions, and conducting public hearings in June and July.
The Committee welcomes evidence on the following points:
- How can international actors improve their response to the crisis in Myanmar?
- How can, and how should, governments engage and support the democratic opposition, civil society, and ethnic organizations?
- What has the UN contributed to resolve this crisis so far? What else can be done given the impasse at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC)?
- What has ASEAN contributed so far in resolving this crisis? What else can be done?
- What alternative mechanisms or actions could be considered to influence the situation in Myanmar?
- How can international actors, including governments, support justice for victims and provide redress for the junta’s crimes?
- To what extent is humanitarian aid reaching the people in need in Myanmar? What can be done to ensure effective delivery of aid?
- What protection is being given and what is lacking for Myanmar refugees?
- What may have triggered the coup? How did international actors contribute to the environment and situation in Myanmar that eventually resulted in the coup?
The Committee members of the IPI are:
- Mercy Barends (Indonesia)
- Taufik Basari (Indonesia)
- Amadou Camara (Gambia)
- Heidi Hautala (Chair) (European Parliament)
- Nqabayomzi Kwankwa (South Africa)
- Ilhan Ohmar (USA)
- Nitipon Piwmow (Thailand)
- Charles Santiago (Malaysia)
Click here to read our Media Advisory on the IPI.
For further information, contact Nicholas Bequelin at ipi@aseanmp.org
For updates follow us on social media with the hashtag #MPs4Myanmar and check our website www.aseanmp.org
