Weekly Updates on Current Situation in Myanmar
(09-07-2023)
More than twenty-nine months ago on 1February 2021, the Myanmar military attempted an illegal coup, toppled the civilian government, and unlawfully detained State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other senior members of the civilian government, parliamentarians and activists. Since then, the Myanmar military has ignored the will of the people of Myanmar, placed the country in turmoil, and made people suffer with inhumane and disproportionate actions.
As of 7 July 2023, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), the military ruthlessly killed 3,757 people and arrested 23,759 people. Among the arrested, 19,389 people remain in detention, whereas 158 people have been sentenced to death, including 115 post-coup death row prisoners and 43 in absentia since 1 February 2021, when the military unleashed systematic and targeted attacks and violence against innocent civilians. Four democracy activists who were sentenced to death were executed by the military junta in July 2022.
Atrocities and violent crimes committed by the Military
Number of people from Tanintharyi and Bago regions being killed and arrested by junta
According to AAPP, from February 2021 to 5 July 2023, the junta forces have killed a total of 147 people in Tanintharyi Region. Of these 147 victims, 96 were killed by gunshots, while 44 were killed during detention. It was also reported by AAPP that among a total of 1,612 people being arrested in Tanintharyi Region, 555 were charged with prison sentences under specious charges.
AAPP also reported that from February 2021 to 6 July 2023, 244 people in Bago Region were killed by the junta. Of the 244 victims, 124 of them were killed by gunshots, while 94 of them were killed during the protest crackdowns. Moreover, of 1,958 people being arrested in Bago Region, 1,468 are still under detention. Among the still detained persons, 491 were given prison sentences under specious charges.
According to AAPP, these are the numbers that AAPP verified, and the actual numbers are likely much higher.
Numbers of women and students being killed and arrested by junta
AAPP reported that the junta’s violent and inhumane actions have killed at least 559 women across the country from February 2021 to 3 July 2023. Among 559, the highest number of fatalities, 262, occurred in Sagaing Region. It was also stated that a total of 4,724 women have been arrested across the country. The highest number of women, 1,220, were arrested in Yangon Region. Among the 4,724 women arrested, 3,649 are still detained in prisons.
Another report from AAPP stated that, from February 2021 to7 July 2023, a total of 125 students across the country were killed by the junta, 1,206 students were arrested and 716 are still under detention. Among the detained students, 138 students: 31 females and 107 males, were given prison sentences under specious charges. Among these 138, seven have been sentenced to death penalty. It was noted that of the 138 students, Yangon Region records the highest number of students with 65.
Raiding and attacking the villages in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region
According to AAPP, from 26 to 29 June 2023, junta forces in two military columns attacked Ah Lel Sho, Aing Pauk Gyi, Ywar Thit, Kan Thar Yar, Kun Taing, Nyaung Kan, Hta Naung Kaing, Yauk Thwar Aing, Ku Lar Lu, Inn Pat, Ywar Thit, Chan Thar Kone, Nyaung Pin Chan and Sel Gyi Villages in Khin-U Township, Sagaing Region. The junta also attacked Nyaung Kan, Chan Thar Kone (aka Aung Chan Thar) and Inn Pat Villages in Khin-U Township on 2 July 2023. Consequently, more than 6,000 locals from 14 different villages, as well as 3,500 locals from Nyaung Kan Village and 2,500 locals from Chan Thar Kone (aka Aung Chan Thar) and Inn Pat Villages have fled for safety. It was mentioned in the news that there were no clashes taking place in those areas when the junta conducted those attacks.
Raiding, attacking and looting the villages in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region
According to the reliable sources, on 27 June 2023, a military column of around 70 junta personnel raided Ngar Pat Chaung Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region, and set it on fire. As a result, over 120 houses were burned down and locals had to flee for safety.
On 6 July 2023, junta troops raided Tha Ma Yoe Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region. Before raiding the village, they killed seven civilians outside the village. According to a resident, many residents were trapped in the village, and at least five people, including a pregnant woman, were wounded after junta forces opened fire on residents trying to flee their homes. Then the junta troops arrested at least thirty villagers from the village and used them as human shields. According to him, the junta soldiers also took all mobile phones and cash from the detainees.
Raiding, arresting and looting the villages in Ayadaw Township, Sagaing Region
News reported that on 6 July, a military junta column from Ayadaw Township raided Ku To Kaing Village and arrested about twenty residents. According to local residents, the junta columns from Tha Ma Yoe Village, Wetlet Township and from Ku To Kaing Village, Ayadaw Township integrated near Ku To Kaing Village, and then moved on to Ngwe Twin Village of Ayadaw Township. The junta forces reportedly looted valuable items and cash from shops during their raids on both villages.
Raiding and arresting the villagers in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region
According to Irrawaddy news media, local residents said that more than sixty civilians, including three children, in Kantbalu Township, Sagaing Region were arrested by a combined force of Myanmar junta military and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias on 4 and 5 July. According to “KyunHla”, a local charity and information group, more than a hundred troops from Light Infantry Battalion-361 and the Pyu Saw Htee militia raided Inn Ma Village on 4 July and arrested thirteen residents who were returning to the village from farming nearby. Reportedly, three boys - aged 12, 13 and 15 years - were among the civilians arrested. A spokesperson of the Kantbalu people’s administration said that the Pyu Saw Htee militia looted the village during the raid. The junta column stationed between Pay Kone and Inn Ma Villages on 4 July and then returned to its base camp on 5 July. Five villagers from Inn Ma Village, including the three boys, were released on that day. According to the local residents, the fate of the other eight people arrested is unknown at the time of reporting.
According to the reliable sources, in the early morning of 5 July, Mait Ta Lin Kone Village in Kantbalu Township, was raided by more than fifty troops from the junta’s Light Infantry Battalion-363. They arrested forty-eight men between the ages of 23 and 60. According to local residents, thirteen of those arrested were released in the evening of 5 July and the remaining thirty-five were being held at the battalion’s base camp. At the time of reporting, the local residents have no information of what is being done to the thirty-five detained men.
Killing innocent civilians
According to the Irrawaddy news, junta troops killed seven civilians before a predawn raid on Tha Ma Yoe Village in Wetlet Township, Sagaing Region on 6 July 2023. The seven victims were vendors who had left the village before dawn to travel to a market and encountered junta infantry preparing to attack their village after they had left it. According to local volunteers who found the bodies of four women and three men on Shwebo-Monywa road between Tha Ma Yoe and Shwe Pan Kone villages, the bodies had multiple gunshot wounds. The body of Phoe Lwin, a 55-year-old fishmonger shot dead by junta troops was dumped under a bridge. Three female vendors: Hnin Hlaing, 57, Aye Nu Win, 40, and Nu Khine, 46 and a male trailer driver Lwin Moe, 27, were shot dead near Shwe Pan Kone village market. It was reported that one of the female victims was able to speak when the volunteers arrived at the scene at around 7.00 am, but unfortunately, she passed away due to severe blood loss. The body of another woman from Ku To Kaing Village was found near Tha Ma Yoe village’s pagoda and a male resident of Tha Ma Yoe Village was shot dead near the village after his trailer was forced to stop by junta troops. According to Myanmar Now news, local PDF officers and other sources stated that two more residents of Tha Ma Yoe Village: Phyu Phyu San, 30, and Thein Hlaing, 62, were both shot to death on sight by the junta troops while trying to run away from the approaching soldiers as the junta troops entered Tha Ma Yoe Village.
Killing two suspects of the murder of Lily Naing Kyaw
According to news from Irrawaddy news media, junta announced that two men suspected of killing Lily Naing Kyaw were shot dead by junta forces while attempting to escape. A statement said that on 6 July, Ko Kaung Zarni Hein and Ko Kyaw Thu were taken to North Dagon Township in Yangon, where they had allegedly hidden their weapons. It said that they were killed by “warning shots” as they tried to escape. They were arrested in June in Yangon for their alleged involvement in the killing of Lily Naing Kyaw, a prominent 58-year-old ultranationalist with close ties to the junta’s leadership.
Killing seven political prisoners
News reported that seven political prisoners have reportedly died after being removed from Kyaiksakaw Prison in Daik-U Township, Bago Region for transfer to another prison. According to the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network, among the political prisoners that have died are (1) Ko Khant Lin Naing, Vice Chairman of All Burma Federation of Student Unions’ Bago District, (2) Ko Aung Thura Hlaing, (3) Ko Gyar Gyi, (4) Ko Min Phone Mahar, (5) Ko Zin Wai Tun, (6) Ko Aung Myo Thu and (7) Ko Pyae Phyo Win. It was also reported that families of the deceased lost contact with them after they were taken from Kyaiksakaw Prison on 28 May, and were informed about their deaths on 7 July without showing the bodies. According to Ko Thaik Tun Oo of the Myanmar Political Prisoners Network, all of the seven being taken out of Daik-U Prison have died. Among them, family members have confirmed the deaths of three and local officials of his association confirmed the deaths of the others. According to family members, they were told that one of the prisoners had died due to illness, and one was shot dead as he attempted to escape during the transfer. It was reported that the seven were detained in late 2021 and early 2022, and were charged with incitement under Section 505 of the Penal Code and for alleged bombings under sections 50, 51, 52 and 53 of the Counterterrorism Law.
Torture and death of a CDM staff in prison
According to Myanmar Now news, Htay Lin Aung, a deputy staff officer with the General Administration Department in Nawnghkio Township, Shan State, who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the illegal military coup, died days after his arrest in northern Shan State on 8 March 2022, and his family has recently learned the news. His family completely lost contact with him after the arrest and has only recently received confirmation of his death in custody six days later. It was reported that the family made appeals to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other organizations that provide assistance to political prisoners failed to yield any information about Htay Lin Aung’s fate. However, his family was recently informed by a reliable source with knowledge of the case that he was beaten to death at the Kyaukme District Interrogation Centre for refusing to betray others taking part in the CDM. According to that source, his hands were tied behind his back and his head was covered with a cloth.
Arresting civilians arbitrarily
According to AAPP, in the afternoon of 2 July 2023, junta forces arrested Win Naing from Pulotontone Village, Aye Myint and his wife from Semaing Village in Kawthoung Township, Tanintharyi Region at their respective homes for allegedly having contact with the PDF.
On the night of 3 July 2023, junta forces arrested eight villagers namely Khin Nyo Myint, Myat Min Soe, Ei Ei Aung, Moe Gyi, Soe Naing Tun, Myint Kyaing, Sithu and Wutyi Soe from Aung Mingalar Village in Pauk Taw Su Village Tract, Letpadan Township, Bago Region for allegedly being members of PDF. Reportedly, the arrest was due to the attack onto Zee Phyu Kone Police Station and a nearby gambling ring, where Police and Pyu Saw Htee militiamen were present, in Letpadan Township on 1 July 2023. At the time of report, they are being detained at Zee Phyu Kone Police Station.
Airstrikes and heavy artillery attacks onto civilian areas
Irrawaddy news reported that junta’s shelling in Kawlin Township, Sagaing Region on 30 June 2023 killed three civilians, including an eight-year-old, and injured three others. According to residents, the shells came from junta troops based at the General Administration Department’s office in the town, around 30 minutes after being attacked by resistance fighters. According to the news, Daw Sann, and her eight-year-old granddaughter died on the spot. Her husband U Thar Htoo, 60, suffered severe injuries and is in critical condition. Their neighbor, Daw Zar Chi Oo, 43, was also killed. Two others sustained minor injuries and two houses were damaged by shelling. According to Kawlin residents, junta troops frequently shell at random and indiscriminately after their bases are attacked by resistance forces.
According to news, on 4 July 2023, at around 2 am, a junta warplane dropped three bombs onto a displacement camp in western Demoso Township, Karenni (Kayah) State and wounded three people including a three-year-old child. According to the Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG), all three victims of the airstrike were from the same family of internally displaced people (IDPs). A KnHRG spokesperson said that the three-year-old boy suffered serious head injuries whereas his father received a leg wound that needed surgery and his mother lost three fingers in her left hand. It was reported that the injured family had fled their home in Daw Ngan Khar village, eastern Demoso, when fighting between junta forces and allied resistance forces intensified in late February. The group also stated that the bombs also damaged two makeshift huts used as classrooms and several houses in the displacement camp.
Charges against the pro-democracy activists
According to news, on 30 June 2023, Eastern Yangon District Court sentenced Htet Paing Soe to serve 10 years in prison with hard labor under Section 50(j) of the Counter-Terrorism Law. He is a third-year student at the Department of Statistics in Yangon University of Economics (Ywar Thar Gyi) and a Vice Chairman of the Students’ Union at the University. He was arrested by the junta forces in Thingangyun Township, Yangon Region, on 21 April 2022.
Violation on rights to privacy and freedom of expression
According to Myanmar Internet Project, during the month of June, the junta has conducted the following violations among others. On 2 June 2023, at the junta’s KyonePyaw Checkpoint, Ayeyarwaddy Region, the junta soldiers searched the mobiles, wallets and bags of the male travelers. In Min Kin Township, 3 June marked the one-month period since the MPT mobile connections were cut. On 10 June 2023, the junta revoked the license of Irrawaddy News Media. On 23 June 2023, the junta announced that it has arrested a total of fifty individuals who posted or commented against the junta on social media within the period of 14 to 21 June 2023. On 27 June, mobile phone and internet connections around Loikaw Township were cut. It was also reported that many individuals shared on their social media accounts regarding their experiences where they have been encountering difficulties in re-registering mobile SIM cards.
Activities of the National Unity Government
On 30 June 2023, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) issued an announcement 1/2023 and in accordance with the Federal Democracy Charter, assigned U Aung Kyaw Moe as Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government.
On 4 July 2023, the National Unity Government published a Weekly Press Update 26/2023. In the Press Update, articles related to the activities of the NUG have been included. Those articles included the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Investment announcing that the Certificates of the Loan Security of the military council are unsecured debt, Ministry of Defense’s Deputy Minister sending a message on the second anniversary of the formation of the People’s Defense Organization, Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration conducted a State-level Basic Investigation Course Batch No. 1/2023, Ministry of Labour issuing a warning to entrepreneurs to avoid violating labour rights in collaboration with the military council, Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun delivering statement at a conference on the release of the 2023 World Drug Report, and NUG condemning massacre in Pale Township by military council.
On 7 July 2023, the Ministry of Human Rights of the National Unity Government issued a statement regarding the Interactive dialogue with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights situation in Myanmar under agenda item 4 of the 53rd Regular Session of the Human Rights Council. In the statement, the NUG welcomed the interactive dialogue and the OHCHR’s report on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. Through the statement, the NUG also fully supported the High Commissioner's call on the Security Council to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court, and his call on the international community to cease and prevent the supply of arms, cash and aviation fuel to the junta as well as other means enabling it to wage war on the people. The Ministry also demanded in the statement that with the United Kingdom holding the presidency, the Security Council should formally place Myanmar on its agenda as a threat to international peace and security and adopt a follow-up resolution to 2669 (2022) that urgently addresses the junta's compliance failures with Chapter VII measures. It also reiterated the High Commissioner's words which said “the Security Council must exert maximum pressure to end this crisis”.
On 9 July 2023, Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, Union Minister of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education of the National Unity Government met with Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations Ambassador Robert A. Wood at the US Mission in New York. During the meeting, discussions related to the next steps in the United Nations Security Council, particularly putting more pressures and taking measures against the terrorist military in accordance with the UNSC resolution 2669, were made.
Actions and Remarks by the International Community in response to the Military Coup d’état
On 30 June 2023, International Labour Organization issued a press release regarding the assessment of child labour in the Yangon Region, Ayeyarwady Region and Kayin State. It explained that a new report assessing the situation of working children in Myanmar shows the extent to which children are working to support their families and the high incidence of hazardous work they engage in. It said that more than 70 per cent of working children interviewed in an assessment by ILO Myanmar‟s Asia Regional Child Labour Project (ARC) in the Yangon Region, Ayeyarwady Region and Kayin State were working primarily due to financial challenges in their households. School closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the political crisis had also driven children to work, further exacerbating child labour. Even after schools re-opened, many children did not return to school due to safety concerns resulting from the political instability in the country. It informed that a third of children interviewed in the three areas were in domestic work with others primarily in agriculture, manufacturing, and wholesale and retail trade – many of whom were working long hours for low pay. The assessment also found that children were often performing hazardous work and dangerous tasks. Almost 90 per cent of children interviewed who were working in construction sector carried heavy loads and over 80 per cent worked long hours under the sun without a break. Many interviewed children reported that they experienced accidents and injuries, with minor injuries being the most frequent, followed by bruises, bumps and swelling. According to Donglin Li, Liaison Officer and Representative, ILO Myanmar, more than half of working children in this assessment said they wanted to have an education if given the chance, reflecting the extent to which work has interfered with their aspirations to go to school. This situation has only been made worse since COVID-19 and the nationwide conflicts caused by political crisis. Communities and employers in the three regions appeared largely unaware of the laws relating to the minimum age for employing children.
On 3 July 2023, UNFPA released a statement appealing funding assistance to support the women and girls in Myanmar after Cyclone Mocha. In the statement, it explained that Cyclone Mocha was one of the most powerful storms ever to hit Myanmar, affecting an estimated 3.4 million people. It stated that many who were already displaced in camps and displacement sites, stateless people, women and children, and people with disabilities have lost their homes and access to basic services and clean water. It informed that health facilities and safe spaces for women and girls that are supported by UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, have been extensively damaged or destroyed entirely by the storm. It also explained that reaching people in need was already a challenge in parts of both Rakhine and the northwest due to ongoing conflict and restrictions on movement and supply transportation, and now roads and bridges have been destroyed by flooding. With the scale of the needs in Myanmar, it was underlined that UNFPA urgently requires funding to support sexual and reproductive health services, including gender-based violence response and mental health and psychosocial support, rehabilitating health facilities, deploying trained midwives and other critical cadres and procuring essential medicines, clean delivery kits and dignity kits.
On 3 July 2023, the UNICEF released a Myanmar Humanitarian Situation Report No. 4 for the period from 1 May to 30 June 2023. In its highlights, it informed that as schools reopen amid the devastation caused by Cyclone Mocha, more than 300,000 learners require educational support, and an estimated 1,246 schools are heavily damaged across Rakhine and the Northwest. With the compounding effects of the conflict and the impact of the cyclone, the humanitarian community is concerned about increasing reports of psychosocial distress among the affected population as worsening living conditions heighten anxiety due to the lack of access to basic services. UNICEF and partners delivered humanitarian WASH services and supplies to 233,848 individuals, 1,013 of them with disabilities and continues to disinfect water sources, rehabilitate sanitation facilities, and dewater the rainwater harvesting ponds flooded with seawater during the cyclone. During the reporting period, UNICEF and partners provided critical primary health care services to more than 98,000 people, reaching almost 4,000 children aged 9 to18 months with the measles vaccine. With the resumption of routine immunization across the country, UNICEF and partners are supporting catch-up vaccination for 1.6 million children who missed their doses.
The office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a press release on 6 July 2023 entitled “Myanmar Continues its Deadly Freefall into Even Deeper Violence and Heartbreak”. According to the press release, on 6 July 2023, the Human Rights Council took up the situation of human rights in Myanmar, holding separate interactive dialogues with the High Commissioner for Human Rights and with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. According to the press release, the High Commissioner Volker Türk said that with each successive update, it was almost impossible to imagine that the people of Myanmar could endure more suffering. Mr. Türk also underlined that a junta imposed by generals for the last two and a half years meant civilians lived at the whim of a reckless military authority that relied on systematic control tactics, fear and terror. Mr. Türk stressed that more than one million Rohingya remained in neighbouring Bangladesh, living in the world’s largest refugee camp in deplorable conditions. He informed that according to the indication of the credible sources, as of 05 July, 3,747 individuals had died at the hands of the military since they took power, and 23,747 had been arrested, with the true number of casualties likely to be far higher. He emphasized that since the coup began, the military had scorched at least 70,000 homes across the country and over 1.5 million people had been forcibly displaced with minimal access to humanitarian aid. According to the press release, during the interactive dialogue, some speakers said while referring to the report demonstrating the intentional obstruction or denial of humanitarian access in Myanmar, overwhelmingly by the military, may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. Urgent action was required to meet the essential needs of all individuals, including food, healthcare, and the protection of their human rights.
The press release also informed the statement by Thomas H. Andrews, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, who said that the people of Myanmar needed and deserved action by Member States that supported their heroic efforts to save their country and denied the junta. He highlighted the three things that the junta needed to sustain its brutality and oppression: weapons, money and legitimacy. He underlined that the junta had imported more than $1 billion in weapons and weapons-related materials since the military coup. He stressed that if the shipment of these materials was stopped, the junta’s capacity to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity would be significantly disrupted. The Special Rapporteur urged Member States to undermine the junta’s capacity to continue its attacks against the people of Myanmar by denying it weapons, money and legitimacy. In the discussion, some speakers among other things, thanked the Special Rapporteur for his disturbing update and reiterated support for his mandate.
During the 53rd regular session of the Human Rights Council, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar presented the Conference Room Paper as well as the infographic named “The Billion Dollar Death Trade: The International Arms Networks That Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar”. Through those documents, he explained how one billion USD in international arms used against the people of Myanmar, sources and types of arms, ineffective sanctions on arms procurement, types of arms, associated materials and impacts they bring on the people of Myanmar, and recommendations. In the conclusion of the Conference Room Paper, it stated that while the brutal military junta is ultimately responsible for the crimes that are being inflicted on the people of Myanmar, they are facilitated by those who aid and abet the military by supplying the means to carry out their attacks. It said that much more must be done to cut the military’s access to these arms and materials. It added that jurisdictions in which networks aligned with the Myanmar military are operating must act to stop those networks. In the recommendation session, various recommendations were advised to different stakeholders, including member states that support human rights in Myanmar; UN Security Council; Singapore and Thailand; China, Russia and India; Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea; Banking Institutions, particularly those in Singapore and Thailand; and Australia.
According to the press release by European Commission on 6 July 2023, the EU has released an additional €12.5 million to address the humanitarian needs of people in Myanmar, as well as those of Rohingya refugees and their host communities in Bangladesh and the broader region. It was stated that food insecurity in refugee camps has reached alarming rates due to a massive funding gap that resulted in a reduction of food rations distributed to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. It explained that the situation is expected to become untenable by the autumn if no additional funding is mobilised by the international community. It stressed that the humanitarian situation is also worsening in Myanmar due to an escalation of the conflict and to the consequences of Cyclone Mocha, which hit the country in May 2023. It informed that this new EU funding aims to respond to these pressing needs with an allocation of €7 million to ensure critical food assistance in Bangladesh; €4.5 million to provide food and health assistance in Myanmar and mitigate the consequences of the current funding gap; and €1 million to respond to the increasing protection needs of displaced people and refugees throughout the region, including in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and India.
According to the news release from the U.S. Department of State, on 7 July 2023, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel J. Kritenbrink made a special briefing on the State Secretary Blinken’s upcoming travel to Indonesia for the ASEAN Ministerial Meetings. At the briefing, he said that, during Secretary Blinken’s participation in the U.S.-ASEAN Ministerial Meeting, the 13th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the 30th Annual ASEAN Regional Forum in Jakarta, Secretary Blinken will address economic cooperation, the fight against climate change, the ongoing crisis in Burma, and Russia’s war against Ukraine. He added that the Secretary and foreign minister will also discuss ways that two nations can address the crisis in Burma, build economic ties through APEC host year and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, and further strengthen the robust people-to-people connections. He also mentioned that on the issue of Burma, one of the key issues discussed at the ASEAN-related meetings both in ASEAN’s own ministerial meeting and then in the U.S.’s engagement with ASEAN and, in the context of the EAS ministerial meeting and the ARF. He also underlined that the U.S.’s approach is going to continue to be what it has from the very beginning, following the really unfortunate coup and its violent and bloody aftermath. He informed that the U.S. continues to support the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus and it supports ASEAN leadership on this issue and the U.S. will continue to make clear the depth and the strength of America’s concern as well. He mentioned that the U.S. does expect its friends and partners in ASEAN to stick to their Five-Point Consensus, to continue to downgrade Myanmar’s representation in the ASEAN ministerial meetings, and look forward to finding ways to increase pressure on the regime to compel the regime to end its violence and return to a path of democracy.
According to the news from Jakarta Globe, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi of the ASEAN chair Indonesia, said on 7 July 2023 that Indonesia has had 110 engagements with the key stakeholders in Myanmar, and is now moving towards the second building block of an inclusive national dialogue for a durable peace in Myanmar. Retno Marsudi stated that Indonesia has approached and had in-person engagement with Foreign Ministers of both National Unity Government (NUG) as well as the junta State Administration Council (SAC), among others. She added that AHA Center has been preparing assistance for 400 households or around 1,450 internally displaced people and Sagaing and Magway regions will be next in the priority list. She also informed that AHA Center provided $1.6 million worth of assistance to help the victims affected by Cyclone Mocha.
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Date: 09 July 2023
Permanent Mission of Myanmar to the United Nations, New York