Global Plea: 9 UN Security Council Members Demand Ceasefire
The military of Myanmar conducted “indiscriminate” bombings against civilians, which nine members of the UN Security Council denounced. On Monday, an envoy addressed the council as part of regional attempts to carry out a peace plan that has, thus far, mainly failed. Adopted in April 2021, not long after the military took control in a coup that precipitated a civil war, the plan asks for an immediate end to hostilities in Myanmar, consultations between all relevant parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, the supply of humanitarian aid via ASEAN channels, and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet with all relevant parties.
The Significance of the Joint Statement
On behalf of the ten-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, veteran diplomat Alounkeo Kittikhoun, a former UN ambassador and special envoy to Myanmar from this year’s ASEAN chair, Laos, spoke during a secret council meeting. Based on a private meeting, a council diplomat familiar with the discussions said Kittikhoun pledged to carry out ASEAN’s “five-point consensus” for peace in Myanmar by ongoing “quiet diplomacy.” The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity. The strategy has been disregarded by Myanmar’s military leadership thus far, which has caused the country’s humanitarian crises and violence to worsen quickly. In a statement made by the British UN Ambassador Barbara Woodward prior to the council meeting, nine of the fifteen council members expressed support for ASEAN’s appeal for Myanmar’s military forces, “in particular, to cease its attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.”
Concerns Over Escalating Violence
After the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in February 2021, the pro-democracy opposition movement is armed and receiving support from warring ethnic minority groups. Following a significant attack by the three armed ethnic minority groups in late October, which resulted in the seizure of towns in the northeast of the nation as well as important border crossings for commerce with China, the military increased bombing. Nine nations that make up the council: Ecuador, France, Japan, Malta, South Korea, Slovenia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They stated that more than 18 million people still require humanitarian assistance three years after the military takeover, and that 2.6 million people are still displaced. Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith informed reporters during an ASEAN ministerial meeting on January 29 that Thailand was proceeding with plans to provide further humanitarian aid to Myanmar. The nine countries restated the council’s request for better access for humanitarian aid.
Humanitarian Implications
The coalition of fighters from ethnic minorities includes the Arakan Army. More than 100 members of Myanmar’s Border Guard Police entered Bangladesh on Monday, according to a Bangladeshi official, after fleeing fighting with the Arakan Army in Rakhine over the previous two days. This is the first time that Myanmar forces have been known to leave the nation since the ethnic minority armies’ offensive started. Concern over the situation in Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, where over a million Rohingya Muslims fled beginning in August 2017 after the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar conducted a bloody “clearance operation” against them in response to attacks by the rebel Arakan Army, has grown among them. The nine council countries voiced growing concern about the ongoing limitations on the freedom of movement and denial of access to medicine and medical treatment suffered by the Rohingya in Myanmar, who have been subjected to systemic discrimination for decades. They called for the execution of the first-ever Security Council resolution on Myanmar, which was enacted in December 2022 and demands the immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate release of all detainees who have been “arbitrarily detained,” including Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint.
In conclusion, though there was widespread concern over the worsening situation across the nation due to the military battling on several fronts, the possibility of atrocities in Rakhine, and the requirement for improved humanitarian access, there was no consensus at the conference on Monday over the next measures. In order to stop Myanmar from obtaining jet fuel, the United States sought for an enforceable Security Council resolution. Sanctions on the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar was imposed in 2023 by the US, UK, EU, and other parties. However, according to a Jan. 31 study by Amnesty International, fresh information indicates that the military in Myanmar may be employing novel strategies to circumvent the sanctions. According to the human rights organization, 2023 was the worst year for airstrikes in Myanmar since the takeover. It also claimed that at least seven aviation fuel shipments to Myanmar were directly connected to a storage facility in ASEAN member Vietnam.
