April 4, 2024
Thank you, Madam President. And thank you, Assistant Secretary-General Khiari and Director Doughten for your briefings. I also wish to thank the United Kingdom for requesting this open session on the worsening crisis that the Myanmar military is imposing on the people of Myanmar. I also welcome the representatives of Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia to this meeting.
Madam President. We condemn the military regime’s ongoing atrocities and human rights abuses. We are horrified to hear continuing reports of village burnings, torture, and beheadings, and other brutal acts committed amid the conflict.
The situation in Myanmar presents a growing threat to international security, particularly for those in the Indo-Pacific.
Myanmar has become the world’s largest opium producer, a hub for transnational organized crime, and a driver of several major refugee crises.
We will draw attention to three important issues today: the Myanmar military’s devastating air strikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure; the multi-generational consequences of unexploded ordnance littering the country; and the urgent need for full, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access.
First, in the past five months, Myanmar military air strikes on civilians have increased five-fold. Between November 2023 and early March 2024, the military carried out 588 air strikes across Myanmar, 34 percent of which have harmed civilians.
This is in addition to the airstrikes, shelling, and arson by the regime that have destroyed homes, schools, healthcare facilities, and places of worship since the military illegally took power three years ago.
Therefore, I want to remind my colleagues on the Council of the General Assembly’s calls for measures to restrict the flow of arms and ASEAN’s repeated calls for greater UN support.
We again call on the Council to take measures to restrict the military’s access to jet fuel to impede its ability to carry out air strikes. It is time for this Council to take action.
Second, unexploded ordnance from years of conflict and the increasing use of landmines by all sides of Myanmar’s conflict have led to the nation becoming one of the most explosive-contaminated countries in the world.
An average of three people are killed or injured every day by landmines and unexploded ordnance in Myanmar, compounding an already tragic situation.
Just yesterday, UNICEF reported that the number of civilian casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war more than doubled in the last year.
Without a comprehensive approach and global action, the number of victims of these appalling circumstances will grow each year for decades to come. We urge all stakeholders in Myanmar to immediately allow demining and clearing of unexploded ordnance.
Finally, humanitarian assistance to the vulnerable people in Myanmar must increase.
The United States has contributed nearly $2.4 billion since 2017 in response to the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the region. We strongly appeal to other donors to increase support for these critical humanitarian response plans.
Funding is important, but it only makes a difference if humanitarians can access those in need. We therefore urge that humanitarian actors be granted unhindered access, and that appropriate steps be taken to ensure the independence, safety, and security of humanitarian and medical personnel.
The United Nations has not had a permanent resident/humanitarian coordinator in Myanmar in over three years, and it has now been 10 months since the last UN Special Envoy on Myanmar departed the role. Since then, the situation has only worsened. We look forward to the Secretary-General’s appointment of a Special Envoy to Myanmar without further delay.
With 2.8 million internally displaced persons and nearly 5,000 civilians killed, the situation requires senior UN leadership to alleviate the suffering and restore a path to inclusive democracy.
This Council took an important first step to improve the lives of those in Myanmar with Resolution 2669 in 2022.
However, the military has disregarded this resolution and ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus as it perpetuates further violence against the people of Myanmar. This disregard only heightens the need for the Security Council to take additional measures to safeguard peace, prosperity, and security in Myanmar and the region.
We must use all tools at our disposal to support ASEAN’s efforts. We look forward to further discussions to address these concerns.
Thank you, Madam President.