Julie Bishop. File
| Photo Credit: Photo Credit: https://www.un.org

The United Nations (UN) special envoy for Myanmar warned that the Southeast Asian nation is in crisis, with conflict escalating, criminal networks “out of control” and human suffering at unprecedented levels.

Julie Bishop told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) in her first report since being appointed by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last April that “Myanmar actors must move beyond the current zero-sum mentality.”

A collective effort towards peace in Myanmar

The Army in Myanmar ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule, leading to increasing violence and a humanitarian crisis.

In the past year, three powerful ethnic armed militias have gained territory, keeping the government’s ruling military increasingly on the back foot in fighting that has forced hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes. According to the U.N., three million people are displaced across Myanmar and some 18.6 million need humanitarian assistance.

Ms. Bishop called for an end to the violence, stressing that “There can be little progress on addressing the needs of the people while armed conflict continues across the country.” The former Australian Foreign Minister said she has engaged with the government, including Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar’s capital, Naypyidaw, as well as Opposition representatives, ethnic armed organisations, women’s groups, human rights defenders and numerous countries. She gave no details about the meetings.

She said she has engaged with the current, previous and incoming ASEAN chairs in Vientiane, Laos; Jakarta, Indonesia; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The U.N. envoy said she has also visited Myanmar’s neighbours China and Thailand and will soon visit India and Bangladesh, “continuing to urge neighbouring countries to leverage their influence.” She said she will also return to Naypyidaw but gave no time frame. She gave no details about any of the meetings.

At the recent summit between the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, Ms. Bishop said Secretary-General Guterres backed strengthened cooperation between the U.N. envoy and the ASEAN chair “on innovative ways to promote a Myanmar-led process.” This includes “effective implementation” of a five-point ASEAN plan Myanmar’s rulers agreed to in April 2021 but have done little to fulfill. It calls for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties mediated by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and a visit to Myanmar by the association’s special envoy to meet all concerned parties.

“Any pathway to reconciliation requires an end to violence, accountability and unfettered access for the U.N. and its partners to address vulnerabilities among the marginalised, including Rohingya, ethnic communities and particularly women and youth,” Ms. Bishop said.

But instead she pointed to rising civilian casualties and the rule of law “so severely undermined that transnational crime emanating from Myanmar is proliferating.”

“The sheer scale of arms productions and trade, human trafficking, drug manufacture and trafficking, and scam centers means Myanmar now ranks highest among all member states for organised crime,” she said. “The criminal networks are out of control.” Ms. Bishop backed Mr. Guterres who stressed the urgency of forging a path toward a democratic transition and return to civilian rule.

“I share his concern regarding the military’s stated intention to hold elections amid intensifying conflict and human rights violations,” she said.

Ms. Bishop warned that “the Myanmar conflict risks becoming a forgotten crisis. The regional implications of this crisis are evident, but the global impact can no longer be ignored,” she said.

In this photo released by the Myanmar Army, a fire burns in the predominantly ethnic Rakhine village of Let Kar in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U township, western Myanmar.
| Photo Credit: AP

“Myanmar ethnic armed groups seized a popular beach resort town in the west of the country and launched dawn attacks on junta positions in the north,” a military source and residents told AFP on June 25.

Fighting is raging across swathes of the Southeast Asian nation as ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy “People’s Defence Forces” battle the military, which seized power in a 2021 coup.

In western Rakhine state Arakan Army (AA) fighters have battled security forces for days around Ngapali beach, home to upmarket hotels and resorts owned by military-backed businesses.

“Junta troops and police had retreated to an airport in the town of Thandwe, around two kilometres (more than a mile) away,” a military source, speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP.

“Hundreds of kilometres away in northern Shan state, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) launched dawn attacks on the military in the town of Kyaukme,” residents said.

One resident of the town, which sits on a vital highway to China, said they had heard artillery and gunfire around the town since the morning. “Most people from the town are hiding inside their houses,” another Kyaukme resident who works for a volunteer rescue team told AFP.

“The TNLA had restricted travel around Kyaukme,” they said, requesting anonymity for security reasons. The AA and TNLA are members of the so-called “Three Brotherhood Alliance” that launched a surprise offensive against the junta last October across northern Shan state.

Their fighters seized swathes of territory and several lucrative trade crossings with China, dealing the junta its biggest blow since it seized power.

In January, China brokered a ceasefire that allowed the alliance to hold on to territory it had captured, but both sides have recently accused each other of breaking the truce.

‘Continuous shelling’

The town of Thandwe, a few kilometres from Rakhine’s Ngapali beach and home to the local airport, was largely deserted as of Monday, a resident who fled that day told AFP.

“Almost everyone in the town has fled… Very few people are now in Thandwe,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons. “A rocket shell landed in the town yesterday. We also heard continuous heavy artillery shelling.”

A local hotel owner who was no longer in the town told AFP his staff said the military had carried out air strikes near the airport on June 24. His employees told him there were “some army and police trapped inside the airport building.”

AFP was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment and has contacted an AA spokesman. Thandwe airport has been closed since early this month as AA fighters launched attacks in the area.

Since launching its own offensive in Rakhine state in November, the AA has seized territory along the border with India and Bangladesh. State capital Sittwe is one of the few holdouts for junta troops in Rakhine.

The AA, which says it is fighting for autonomy for the state’s ethnic Rakhine population, has vowed to capture the city, home to an India-backed deep sea port and around 2,00,000 people.

Myanmar’s borderlands are home to a plethora of ethnic armed groups, many of whom have battled the military since independence from Britain in 1948 over autonomy and control of lucrative resources.