Written evidence from Dr Ronan Lee, Visiting Scholar, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London (MYA0023)

Background

1. I am a Visiting Scholar at Queen Mary University of London’s School of Law. My research addresses Asian politics, genocide, hate speech and migration and is specifically focussed on Myanmar and the situation of the Rohingya community there. My scholarship since 2010 has involved extended fieldwork in Myanmar and Bangladesh. My research has been published in book form as ‘Myanmar’s Rohingya Genocide: Identity, History and Hate Speech’ and as articles in various peer reviewed journals. Prior to academia, I was a Queensland Member of Parliament and a Parliamentary Secretary in portfolios including Attorney-General and Justice, Main Roads and Local Government, and Communities, Seniors and Youth.

Factual information

2. It has been almost four months since Myanmar’s military launched a cout d’état aiming to seize state power. Since then, the military junta has arrested members of the country’s civilian administration and its elected Members of Parliament as well as numerous activists, journalists, and others they regard as opposing the coup. The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma) estimates by May 17 2021, 5210 people have been arrested since the coup was undertaken, with 4120 currently detained or sentenced and a further 1699 evading arrest. 802 people have been killed by the military since February 1.

3. The coup is deeply unpopular among Myanmar’s people, and has generated significant and nationwide resistance that crosses ethnic, religious, economic, and political boundaries. Previous instances of military rule in Myanmar have been characterised by arbitrary brutality, conflict with minority groups, breathtaking economic ineptitude and exploitation. The indications are that this iteration of military rule will be similar to the past, and already Myanmar’s economy has contracted significantly as a result of the military’s decision to launch a coup. Myanmar’s people are desperate to avoid a return to military rule. There is a nationwide general strike and active civil disobedience that has crippled the bureaucracy and greatly affected the banking and transport sectors. Myanmar’s people are making clear that they simply do not want to and will not work for a military regime. The Myanmar military has united a diverse country against them to an extent never before seen. Anti-coup activism is increasingly been seen as a once in a generation chance to permanently rid Myanmar of military rule, rewriting the military-drafted Constitution which entrenched military privilege and enabled the military’s recent power grab.

4. The military has responded to anti-coup resistance by using extreme violence and extensive arrests, but despite this people continue to strongly resist military rule. There is no significant population within Myanmar that accepts the military’s seizure of power as necessary or legitimate. And there is little to indicate that Myanmar’s population, having resisted the military’s coup and extreme military violence for almost four months, are likely to change their minds about the utility of military rule anytime soon or as a result of further arrests or military violence.

5. A big problem for Myanmar, and for its region, is that the military’s leadership are not hearing this message, and history tells us they will be prepared to further escalate their violence and repression in an attempt to consolidate their coup. We also know that the Myanmar military is comfortable using mass murder of civilians, sexual violence, and forced deportation as tactics to achieve their goals. This was what the military did to Myanmar’s Rohingya community during 2017. There was no meaningful international response to the military’s genocide against the Rohingya, and this certainly contributed to the military’s sense of impunity and emboldened their leadership to believe they could undertake a coup while avoiding international sanction.

6. Unless they are brought to heal through domestic opposition or international action, the consequences of how Myanmar’s military can be expected to act in the future will be devastating domestically and regionally. Soldiers have already killed more than 800 people and created more than 4,000 new political prisoners. The military has deployed fighter jets against rural ethnic minority targets, and in urban settings soldiers have used rifle-grenades and heavy weapons against protesters. The death penalty has been returned as a punishment for civilians.

7. Popular resistance to military rule is likely to continue indefinitely and certainly can continue to the point when Myanmar’s economy and state apparatus will collapse. State failure is a realistic consequence of continued military rule in Myanmar.

Recommendations

8. Myanmar does not need another statement of sympathy from the international community, it needs meaningful actions to support the democratic aspirations of its people as they seek to get the military out of their politics permanently. The UK’s response to the Myanmar crisis should be guided by the objectives of supporting the democratic aspirations of Myanmar’s people, and rejecting the legitimacy of military rule.

9. The UK must take steps to demonstrate to the military that their impunity is ending and that they will be held accountable for their crimes. An important first step would be for the UK to formally join the case brought against Myanmar by The Gambia at the International Court of Justice. The international community’s failure to protect the Rohingya when they were genocidally deported from Myanmar by the military in 2017 served to embolden military leaders, and certainly contributed to their decision to undertake the recent coup. But there is now an important opportunity for the UK to make clear its opposition to genocide, while simultaneously demonstrating a willingness to hold Myanmar’s military accountable for its actions.

10. The UK government’s recent decisions to impose economic sanctions targeted at Myanmar’s military are welcomed and should be expanded and strengthened. The UK government should alter its purchasing policy to ensure the UK government does not trade with businesses that continue to trade with Myanmar’s military and companies and individuals associated with it.

11. With Myanmar’s military continuing to violently target civilians, it is beyond belief that there is not yet a global arms embargo to prevent the military obtaining further weapons. The UK government should take strong steps to build international support for a global arms embargo.

12. Another positive step the UK can take to support the democratic aspirations of Myanmar’s people would be to make clear it believes the military does not represent the country’s legitimate government. This could be achieved by acknowledging the civilian-led National Unity Government as the legitimate reflection of the people’s democratic aspirations. However, UK support for the National Unity Government (NUG) would need to be contingent on the NUG’s willingness to itself respect the citizenship and human rights aspirations of all Myanmar’s people including Myanmar’s Rohingya community.

18 May 2021