China, Russia, India enabling Myanmar’s military rule: Report

Support from China, Russia and India is enabling Myanmar’s military to sustain itself and carry out human rights abuses despite its failure to consolidate power following last year’s coup, a group of international legislators has said, according to Al Jazeera report datelined Nov 03.In a report published on Wednesday, the parliamentarians said this “steadfast and uncritical” support, particularly from Beijing and Moscow, for Myanmar’s military has come amid an “utter” lack of progress on a peace plan proposed by the country’s neighbours in the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

It is now time to abandon the ASEAN plan and take stronger measures to shore up support for Myanmar’s democratic opposition, said the group of eight legislators, who with the help of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) conducted a four-month long inquiry into the international response to the February 2021 coup.

Most importantly, they said, countries that profess support for democracy must immediately recognise Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG) as the legitimate authority in the country and provide funding for the NUG and the ethnic armed groups with which it has allied itself.

These actions should be taken urgently, they said, noting that the military has not been able to consolidate its power 19 months after the coup. Wide swathes of Myanmar are contested between the military and forces allied with NUG and other ethnic armed groups, with the continuing violence precipitating a “near collapse of the economy and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis”, they said. Some 1.2 million people are now displaced in the country, while security forces are reported to have jailed at least 15,000 people for political crimes and killed at least 2,371 other dissidents.

‘Most potent enablers’

The legislators’ report noted that while international condemnation was swift in the wake of the power grab, with the United States and the European Union imposing sanctions that have isolated Myanmar’s military, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing continues to hold on to power with the backing of his international allies, Russia, China and to a lesser extent, India.

“The support and legitimation granted by these governments have enabled the junta to sustain itself and carry out its numerous human rights violations and abuses, despite its failure to consolidate its coup,” the report said.

“This support has intensified in 2022, as junta allies increasingly see their interests in Myanmar tied to the SAC’s success,” it said, referring to the military’s State Administration Council.China and Russia have blocked any substantive action against Myanmar’s military at the United Nations Security Council, it noted, while the country’s security forces have reportedly used Chinese and Russian-supplied weapons to perpetrate human rights violations.