“Junitas are like mushrooms: they thrive in the dark,” says Tom Andrews. (document)
Geneva:
Myanmar’s military junta already faces an “existential threat” but the world can help end its “nightmare” rule through coordinated sanctions, the United Nations special rapporteur on Myanmar said on Wednesday.
Tom Andrews said mass casualties among junta forces, as well as defections, surrenders and recruitment challenges, had reduced troop numbers and posed an “existential threat to Myanmar’s military.”
“Those who bet that the junta would restore order and stability to Myanmar have lost their bets,” he said.
The military junta came to power in a February 2021 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, ending a decade-long experiment with democracy and plunging the Southeast Asian country into bloody turmoil.
The junta is struggling to suppress resistance to its rule by long-standing ethnic rebel groups and the new pro-democracy People’s Defense Forces.
“The military junta is the main driver of violence, instability, economic decline and lawlessness in the country,” Andrews said.
The former US congressman is the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
Special rapporteurs are authorized by the United Nations Human Rights Council, but they are independent experts and do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
Andrews said sanctions – restrictions on the flow of funds and equipment for military use – were disrupting the junta’s operations.
Andrews told a news conference in Geneva that Singapore has restricted sales of military equipment, with such transfers falling by 83% last year.
But he stressed that this was not the case with Russia and China, the junta’s first and second arms suppliers respectively.
However, Mr Andrews said more could be done to suppress the junta economically.
“We need fundamental changes in the way we impose sanctions. We have to do this in a coordinated, focused way,” he said.
Andrews is investigating the banking and financial ties between the junta and the rest of the world and hopes to release a report on the subject later this year.
He also warned of a lack of global attention to Myanmar’s fate as the world focuses on other conflicts.
“Junitas are like mushrooms: they thrive in the dark,” he said.
“It is important to lay the foundation for a democratic, human rights-respecting Myanmar.
“As an international community we need to do more to support people at home, but if we do that … we could be very close to ending this nightmare.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
