U.S. urges U.N. Security Council to pressure Myanmar to return to democracy

A senior U.S. diplomat told the U.N. Urges the Security Council to pressure Myanmar’s military to stop violence and restore democracy, warning that with the spread of COVID-19 and hunger, the longer we delay, the more people will die.

Deputy US Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said Myanmar is grappling with a surge in COVID-19 cases and a growing health catastrophe as a direct result of military brutality and administrative failures since the coup six months ago.

The violence and the army action that followed has also displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and an additional 2.8 million people could face food shortages, he said.

His appeal for Security Council action came two days ago following a call by Tom Andrews, UN Special Investigator on Human Rights in Myanmar, to the Security Council and 193 UN member states to push for an emergency COVID ceasefire had gone. Infections and deaths.

Andrews warned that many people were killed unnecessarily in Myanmar and that many more would be killed without U.N. action.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the United Nations must act immediately to prevent attacks, harassment and detention of military junta … so that doctors and nurses can provide life-saving care and help international organizations provide vaccination and related medical care can do.

Myanmar will not attend ASEAN

DeLaurentis told an informal council meeting that Myanmar’s military said it did not plan to fulfil commitments made in April at a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN. Has been Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, belongs to a 10-member regional grouping.

At the ASEAN Summit, the leaders issued a five-point action plan that calls for prevention of violence, constructive dialogue, the appointment of an ASEAN special envoy as a mediator, humanitarian assistance and a mediator’s visit to Myanmar.

But a day after attending the summit, Myanmar’s junta leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, said he would consider five points on when the situation in Myanmar would stabilize. In May, he reportedly told Chinese television that He did not see that the five points could be implemented.

Gum San Nsang of the Kachin Political Interim Coordination Group, which advocates for the rights of Kachin ethnic groups in northern Myanmar, said in a virtual briefing to the council that while we consider ASEAN’s five-point consensus as a significant step forward, the current health crisis immediately intensifies.