Myanmar Update: Recognition for the NUG and Support for the CDM
For this update, I want to telescope out and look at what is happening among our policy makers and legislators in the U.S. in response to the National Unity Government (NUG)’s search for recognition and establishment among international bodies. At the same time, there’s a question of who is doing what exactly to support the Burmese people and the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM). These are not two unrelated elements. And last, I’m offering merchandise to support the International Campaign for the Rohingya.
Recognize the NUG
“[D]emocratic countries should expressly stand with the people of Myanmar in their struggle for democracy” - Scholars for Myanmar Open Letter
The first issue that comes to mind is the NUG’s reluctance to include Rohingya representation as part of its structure. In an exchange earlier this month, Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations did not commit to this inclusion before the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs questioning at the Unfolding Crisis in Burma hearing.
California Representative Ted Lieu was very clear in his response to Kyaw: “I cannot support your National Unity Government, and I will oppose efforts for the United States to support your National Unity Government until you commit to having at least a representative of the Rohingya people and you commit to stopping the genocide of the Rohingya people.” Maung Zarni has written movingly about how painful this is for him in his opinion piece “Purge genocide culprits from democratic leadership: Myanmar”; he iterates a number of points of concern but primarily that the NLD enablers of the genocide against the Rohingya should be removed from the NUG.
As Representative Lieu posted on Twitter: “UN found the prior government in Myanmar engaged in the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya with the genocidal intent. An estimated over 25,000 dead and 18,000 women and girls were raped. The new National Unity Government does not include any Rohingya. We cannot support it until that is changed” and it is telling and disappointing that the NUG is not willing to include the Rohingya.
The inclusion of the Rohingya in the NUG would not only lend it credibility and garner support, but it would be a move in the right direction for Myanmar overall. One could see where once established, the NUG could repeal the 1982 Citizenship Act and begin some kind of social integration of a maligned group that for far too long has been ostracized and repressed.
To be clear, there are other minorities across Myanmar that have faced persecution. But out of the 135 or so minorities, it is only the Rohingya whose position has been threatened under repeated legal (and immoral) shifts of goalposts as well as the more violent manifestations of that persecution.
There is also a shift, though, in support for the Rohingya within the protest movement. As reported in Nikkei Asia in March, “Many young protesters are now using social media to say they regret how they acted in the wake of the Rohingya crisis in 2017, when hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled the country, by failing to explicitly criticize the government and military.” It becomes clear that further exclusion of the Rohingya from the NUG is, to traffic in understatement, counterproductive.
To be clear, though, the NUG is and hopefully, will remain the voice of Myanmar. They have built a strong and effective coalition and from what I have been able to see, really do represent the will of the people of Myanmar, Rohingya included.
The next couple of months are critical to how Myanmar comes out of this. I do not believe that if the military falls, the country will descend into civil war. This is a peculiar argument put forth by Bilahari Kausikan, Singapore's former Permanent Secretary of the Ministry oF Foreign Affairs who wrote, at Global Brief back in April a rather reductive op-ed piece “Five Hard Truths About Myanmar.”
He seems to overestimate the Tatmadaw’s importance in Burmese civil society and believes that any removal of the military from future government configurations would result in a breakdown of that society. This is nonsense. If anything, the inclusion of the Tatmadaw has continued to exacerbate social unrest, particularly among the ethnic minorities in rural areas. He gives the Tatmadaw far too much credit and seems to overlook that just because “the Tatmadaw is very largely a self-referencing and highly privileged state-within-the-state” (and brutal and willing to use force upon request and at will), that somehow the fabric of the state will unravel.
My rebuttal is simple: the Tatmadaw are terrorists. They are not holding the state together anymore than any totalitarian regime elsewhere does. They are ruling it, sure. But they are also plundering it and driving it into further economic and social ruin. Kausikan also underestimates the buy-in to supporting the NUG that the U.S. has. However, as we have seen, there may be some obstacles to the U.S. fully backing the NUG.
The reason Kausikan’s article registered with me is that it gives a specific perspective that may be shared throughout Southeast Asia among ASEAN nations. If so, it is disconcerting because in its criticisms of “the West”, it also seems to support an almost laissez-faire approach by Myamar’s neighbors, or rather a lack of approach that would prove unwieldy, at best, and potentially destabilizing, at worst.
If Kausikan’s analysis is indicative of greater diplomatic assessments, then essentially, one could level the accusation at ASEAN that he leveled at both the U.S. and China; that no one particularly cares about Myanmar. This is, of course, ridiculous, but anyone who has spent time with certain diplomats knows that many of them may not be the most astute observers. A degree from Columbia and diplomatic posts do not a deep understanding of social movements guarantee.
Additionally, I am really hoping that the U.S. does fund the NUG the one billion dollars on the table. Should the inclusion of the Rohingya be made a condition? As much as my heart says yes, my pragmatic brain says no; there are lives on the line and the soul of a country at stake. Once the NUG is established, then it will be time to lobby for inclusivity.
Funding CDM
“If Western inaction on the recognition question is at least comprehensible – if not easily defensible – the lack of support for the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) is not.” - Philipp Annawitt
We now enter the realm of the no-brainer. If nothing else, the resistance to the junta is in dire need of funds. There is a general strike that is threatened to weaken as more and more people are forced to go back to work to put food on the table. The Tatmadaw knows this and pretty much just biding time. While their campaign of terror continues and armed resistance mounts, the CDM is running low on funding and given restrictions on various supporting organizations, there is an ensuing gridlock on more robust access to cash to continue the strike and other areas of CDM.
Complicated by the COVID pandemic, if there is a perfect storm for devastation, Myanmar is it. Let alone the brutality of the military regime, the additional scourge of the Coronavirus is a critical element that does not recognize borders It is in the interest of the international community to support the CDM for humanitarian reasons that should not have to be enumerated.
As for who is doing what to support the Myanmar people, I refer you to the list below for starters. Fundraisers and protests have taken place across the U.S. and other nations, so there is certainly enough popular support internationally. However, the response of governments, including our own, is lagging. While I applaud censure and sanctions and policies – however conceptual as opposed to substantial – put forward by the U.K. and the U.S. - there is much more that needs to be done at higher levels of response.
Lastly, I am raising funds for the International Campaign for the Rohingya . The organization arose from the U.S. Campaign for Burma and has doubled with No Business with Genocide in advocacy and activism. For more information, you can check out their sites. If you’d like, though, something for your efforts, like a huge 15 ounce mug to sip your bevvy out of, I’m dedicating all sales of said mug (and prints/posters) to the International Campaign for the Rohingya. 100% post-ArtPal and PayPal and transfer fees! I can also tell you that ArtPal moves pretty quickly with getting the merch to you.
I’ll be honest, I like mine! And it makes the perfect gift (if nothing else, you can use it as a conversation starter about Myanmar and garner new supporters)!
You can order yours here.
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| Click to see it full screen. 15 ounces of your favorite hot beverage in a politically charged mug. Get the conversation started! |
Sources/Further Reading
Annawitt, Philipp. "Time for West to fund Myanmar civil disobedience". Asia Times. https://asiatimes.com/2021/05/time-for-west-to-fund-myanmar-civil-disobedience/. May 25, 2021.
Bhuiyan, Hamayun Kabir. "Appeal for Rohingyas to be included in Myanmar national unity government". https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/rohingya-crisis/2021/04/19/appeal-for-rohingyas-to-be-included-in-myanmar-national-unity-government. Dhaka Tribune. April 19, 2021
"COVID-19, Coup d'Etat and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and Their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar". UNDP - Asia and the Pacific. https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/covid-19-coup-d-etat-and-poverty-impact-on-myanmar.html. April 30, 2021.
Hussein, Rikar. "Some Exiled Rohingya See 'Rare Opportunity' in Myanmar Coup. VOA News. https://www.voanews.com/extremism-watch/some-exiled-rohingya-see-rare-opportunity-myanmar-coup. March 18, 2021.
Ibrahim, Dr. Azeem. "People of Myanmar, Including Rohingya, Unite Against Common Enemy". https://www.rohingyapost.com/people-of-myanmar-including-rohingya-unite-against-common-enemy/. The Rohingya Post. April 13, 2021
Kausikan, Bilahari. "Five Hard Truths About Myanmar". Global Brief. https://globalbrief.ca/2021/04/five-hard-truths-about-myanmar/. April 2, 2021.
Lau, Jessie. "Myanmar's Women Are on the Front Lines Against the Junta". Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/12/myanmar-women-protest-junta-patriarchy-feminism/. March 12, 2021.
Lusan, Nu Nu and Fishbein, Emily. "Ethnic groups step in as Myanmar COVID response falls apart". Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/10/ethnic-groups-step-in-as-myanmars-covid-response-falls-apart. May 10, 2021.
"Myanmar approaching point of economic collapse: UN report". UN News. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/04/1091002. April 30, 2021.
"Myanmar coup sparks unprecedented unity of ethnic groups". Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Myanmar-Coup/Myanmar-coup-sparks-unprecedented-unity-of-ethnic-groups. March 2, 2021.
Nachemson, Andrew. "Myanmar diaspora in US rally, raise funds in battle against coup". Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/24/myanmar-people-in-us-protest-raise-funds-to-battle-coup-leaders. May 24, 2021.
Paing, Nay. "Recognize the NUG, 100 Myanmar Scholars and Professionals Urge World Leaders. Coconuts Yangon. https://coconuts.co/yangon/news/now-is-the-time-to-recognize-the-nug-100-myanmar-scholars-and-professionals-urge/. May 20, 2021.
Saldinger, Adva. "Experts outline actions US should take to respond to Myanmar coup". https://www.devex.com/news/experts-outline-actions-us-should-take-to-respond-to-myanmar-coup-99836. DevEx. May 5, 2021.
Scholars for Myanmar. https://scholarsformyanmar.eu/index.html.
Scholars for Myanmar Open Letter: https://scholarsformyanmar.eu/letter.html.
Tribune Desk. "US lawmakers push back Myanmar's unity government over Rohingya issue". Dhaka Tribune. https://www.dhakatribune.com/southeast-asia/2021/05/09/us-lawmakers-push-back-myanmar-s-nug-over-rohingya-issue. May 9, 2021.
Zarni, Maung. "Purge genocide culprits from democratic leadership: Myanmar". Anadolu Agency. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/analysis/opinion-purge-genocide-culprits-from-democratic-leadership-myanmar/2233808. May 8, 2021.
Information and News Organizations and Ways to Get Involved and Help:
Campaign for Myanmar just launched and I recommend checking their site out for a wealth of up to the minute information and action items you can pursue.
U.S. Campaign for Burma Twitter feed
International Campaign for the Rohingya
There may be duplications, but here is more:
The Coup in Myanmar: Resources to learn more and What you can do
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