Geneva, A UN expert today emphasized the need for stronger international response to the crisis in Myanmar, highlighting the military junta’s increased attacks on civilians amidst its declining control due to significant battlefield losses and widespread opposition.
According to Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, addressed the Human Rights Council, detailing the junta’s dangerous escalation of violence, including a fivefold increase in airstrikes against civilian targets and the initiation of forced military recruitment.
Andrews condemned the international community’s engagement with the junta without setting conditions to halt the violence, labeling the junta as desperate, isolated, yet exceedingly hazardous. The recent months have seen intensified military aggression, pushing young people to flee, go into hiding, or join the resistance, unwillingly becoming part of the junta’s campaign of brutality. The Rohingya community, already victims of the military’s genocidal campaign, face ongoing bombardment, with at least 23 members, including children, killed in a recent attack on a Rohingya village in Rakhine State.
The report highlighted the junta’s increasing desperation as evidenced by mass casualties, defections, surrenders, and dwindling troop numbers, posing an existential threat to Myanmar’s military. Andrews criticized the junta’s role in driving violence, economic decline, and lawlessness in Myanmar, warning of the potential regional and global repercussions of the crisis. He detailed the junta’s violations of neighboring countries’ airspace, the refuge of international criminal networks within junta-controlled areas, and Myanmar’s emergence as a leading opium producer and hub for global cyber-scam operations.
The Special Rapporteur acknowledged steps by some governments, such as Singapore, to cut off weapons and financial supplies to the junta, noting a significant reduction in weapons transfers from Singapore-based entities. Andrews called for greater international support for those delivering aid to displaced and vulnerable individuals and urged for strategic coordination among states and UN bodies to support Myanmar’s transition to a political framework rooted in human rights, equality, and justice.