Tom Fawthrop BNI editorial team — The Chris Gunness from MAP, the Myanmar war crimes accountability ngo, welcomed the UNGA position in the current session of (the United Nations General Assembly) in New York to reaffirm a rejection of the Junta’s credentials to represent Myanmar.

Director of the Myanmar Accountability Project Chris Gunness in his statement observed, “The decision by the UN’s Credentials Committee to reject the credentials of the military regime and leave the democratic ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, in his seat. The nine-member committee’s decision in favour of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) is all the more remarkable, as Russia and China, both close allies of the junta, are committee members.”

Since the failed military coup in February 2021, MAP has advocated with key delegations in New York to ensure that the junta is not recognized. We appeal to other organs of the UN, such as the Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court, to allow the NUG to represent Myanmar.

The new Credentials Committee, which is responsible for approving the diplomatic representation of all UN member states, was appointed on Sept. 5 with China, Russia, the US, Andorra, Grenada, Nigeria, Solomon Islands, Suriname and Togo as members. China and Russia are both allies of the Myanmar military junta.

The UN ambassador of Myanmar’s civilian government, U Kyaw Moe Tun, will remain in the position for the time being as the UN Credentials Committee has declined to meet. U Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed to his post before the Myanmar military ousted the National League for Democracy government on Feb. 1, 2021. Later that month, speaking from the floor of the UN, the ambassador condemned the military takeover and voiced support for the civilian NUG, which was formed by elected and ousted lawmakers along with representatives of the ethnic groups.

The significance of the UN Assembly position is that the Myanmar Junta is not a legally recognized government, which calls into question the any agreement signed by Myanmar-based UN agencies given they have no seat in the UNGA and no legal mandate to exercise functions of a government.

Given the challenge of the NUG to be the legal government, the UN headquarters decision, obliges UN agencies in Myanmar to exercise neutrality between the NUG and the military junta. However in Yangon the UN – the WFP,WHO and UNICEF have failed to exercise any willingness to have neutral relationship and engage with NUG- affiliated organisations.