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Who should represent Myanmar at the UN General Assembly?
The world and the UN are clearly witnessing that Myanmar’s military is killing its own people, destroying the country and has been unable to contain the pandemic.
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This screengrab of a handout video made available on the United Nations' YouTube channel shows Myanmar's ambassador to the UN, Kyaw Moe Tun, making a three-finger salute as he addresses an informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Feb. 26. (AFP/UN)
M
yanmar’s political, humanitarian and health crisis is surging terribly under the military dictatorship and its lack of capacity to contain the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic. In tandem, the time is fast approaching for a diplomatic battle over the representation of Myanmar at the United Nations General Assembly.
The country has rapidly descended into chaos since the military toppled the democratically elected civilian government and seized power in a coup. The military has viciously attacked, killed and abducted its own people – peaceful protestors in opposition to the military dictatorship, those who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
Myanmar has sharply descended into devastating and horrible situations, and the future and lives of the people has fallen into darkness. In the six months following the coup, over 1,000 civilians have been killed, with thousands arrested and detained.
The country’s blood-spattered turmoil has led to a political, humanitarian, security and economic crisis. To make matters worse, the country has been hard hit by a third COVID-19 wave. The people who have suffered under the coup are now severely affected by the nationwide health crisis.
Due to the military’s slow response and its inability to manage and deal with the outbreak, many infected with COVID-19 have died because of a lack of sufficient medical treatment. Having only home treatment or teleconsultations with medics, people are struggling to combat COVID-19 and desperately looking for much-needed medicine, medical supplies and oxygen.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), there had been 365,759 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 13,945 deaths in Myanmar as of Aug. 20. This is highest rate of deaths from COVID-19 in the country since the beginning of the outbreak. However, the actual death figures could be much higher. Judging from the condolence posts on social media, the death toll is far higher than the official figure.
Since the military illegally seized the country, the healthcare system has completely collapsed. Following the coup, 67 medical professionals have been detained, nearly 600 have arrest warrants and 7 have been killed. COVID-19 vaccination plans, which were being carried out by the civilian government, were also destroyed. Besides lacking the capacity to run the healthcare system, the military is not able to manage the screening process for the outbreak, the COVID-19 testing system or medical resources and treatment.
