Thank you for joining us at this press conference by Tom Andrews, who is a Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
And we'll begin with opening remarks by Mr Andrews and then open the floor for questions.
With that, I hand over to Mr Andrews.
Thank you very much and bonjour.
First of all, I want to thank you for participating in this news conference.
You could be forgiven if you came to the conclusion that Myanmar does not exist.
There's been a vacuum of attention focused on Myanmar and the crisis in Myanmar.
The world is obviously distracted by other crises around the world, but the fact is there is extraordinary developments in within Myanmar that we need to pay attention to.
And unlike some of the other very difficult situations in the world, there is a ray of hope in Myanmar.
There is the opportunity that we can turn this around, but we need to begin by paying attention.
The junta of Myanmar are like mushrooms.
They thrive in the dark and the more attention we can focus on this country, the greater the chance of success that we have.
As you probably know, being a journalist is a very dangerous proposition in Myanmar.
It's one of the most dangerous places for journalists to be in the world.
So they rely upon the media outside of Myanmar to shine light on the conditions in Myanmar.
So thank you for your attention.
As I mentioned in my remarks yesterday to the Human Rights Council, there is good news and there is bad news in Myanmar.
The good news has been generated by broad based, vigorous citizen opposition and the success of of opposition forces, resistance forces.
The junta now controls less than half of the country.
They have lost 10s of thousands of troops to defections, to casualties and to surrender.
They have lost hundreds of military outposts.
They have lost dozens of towns and villages.
They're they're, they're on their back heels.
Significant momentum is working against them and for the people of Myanmar.
Now, the bad news is, is that they have responded to this by attacking civilians.
There has been A5 fold increase in attacks, aerial attacks on civilians.
And the reason for this is, is that for them, it's dangerous for their troops to move around on the ground.
So instead they're taking the aerial air, the aircraft that they've been able to obtain from abroad and bomb villages, IDP centres and **** innocent civilians.
There has been a doubling of those who have suffered from landmines.
Significant increases in the laying of landmines is occurring and that has devastating impact not only for the people who are immediate victims, but the junta is placing these land mines in villages, in community centres, in, in temples, on fields, farming fields.
So the increase in the need for humanitarian aid and the increase in malnutrition in the country is linked to strategies by the junta designed to make life as difficult as possible, including the laying of landmines.
And, and Speaking of unconscionable, probably the the the community that is impacted the most is the Rainga community.
The Rainga are now being bombarded like other areas of the country.
Their villages are being bombarded by heavy artillery and by air strikes.
But unlike other areas of the country, they are not allowed to move to safety.
So they are sitting ducks as it were for this influx of, of, of bombardments from the military junta.
Now the military because they've lost 10s of thousands of troops.
A recent estimate projection that came across my desk is that they've lost over 60,000 troops since the junta, since the the this all began in 2001, since the coup.
And their conscription programme that they've announced is designed to, to force 5000 young people, now young men into military service per month.
In other words, 60,000 troops, new troops at the end of the year.
It's simply not going to work.
If you've seen the lines at the the Thai Embassy in Yangon, you'll see it doesn't work.
People I've spoken with are telling me, look, young people are either hot, going into hiding, they're trying to get visas or they're crossing the border in any way that they can, or they're joining resistance forces.
This conscription programme is kind of the formalisation of a forced recruitment process that has been going on for months now in which families, villages, village leaders are intimidated by the junta who are calling upon them, setting quotas for them to send young people into military service.
It didn't work then, it's not working now.
It is adding fuel to the widespread public opposition to this junta.
Imagine if you are a Rainga family with a young person or a young, a young Brainga man being forced to join the very military that is barraging your villages with these aerial attacks.
The very military that committed genocide against your community, sending hundreds of thousands of Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh.
I can't imagine anything as horrific as that kind of situation faced by by the by the Rohingya.
There are several things that I have recommended in my my formal remarks that I'm I'm very happy to expand upon.
But it seems to me that we as an international community need to do better, that the approach that we have taken is not working and that the success that we've seen inside of Myanmar is precisely because of the courage and tenacity of the people who live in Myanmar.
They need and they deserve the support of the international community, support that they are not getting, support that could make a significant difference.
Unlike some of these other conflicts in the world, there is a ray of hope in Myanmar.
There is the possibility that there could be success for human rights, for democracy.
There could be an end to this nightmare if the international community were to mobilise and focus its attention on this country and to take action that could make a difference.
Here's what I think needs to happen.
Number one, we need to take away the money that the junta requires in order to continue its reign of terror.
And that means sanctions, coordinated, focused, targeted sanctions.
Same with weapons #2 we need to take weapons away, stop the flow of weapons from the international community to the junta #3 we need to stop this idea of their legitimacy.
They'll do anything and everything possible to project legitimacy, and they do so whenever any member of the international community treats them as if they are a legitimate government.
And ladies and gentlemen, they are not.
And the fourth thing I would highly recommend is that we focus on accountability, that we make it clear that those who were involved in these atrocities will be held accountable.
And I've made some specific suggestions as to how that might take place.
Now, we've seen over the past year some positive signs.
There have been some sanctions, new sanctions, banking sanctions, for example, on the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank was announced by the United States last year.
Australia joined those sanctions this year.
That's extremely important to be cutting off access to revenue through the sanctions of the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank.
We need to have other entities.
Everyone in that Human Rights Council who spoke in favour of human rights in yesterday's session need to go to their country and say we need to join the world in establishing targeted strategic sanctions.
Right now you see sanctions popping up here and there, usually in reaction to something, some atrocity that occurs or an anniversary.
The international community should be focusing on the points in which we can make the greatest difference in applying sanctions and then coordinate the application of those sanctions on those points.
And for to tell you the God's honest truth, I don't know.
I don't know why, why that is so.
That's extremely important, the accountability.
I've suggested that we the the the countries who are members of the International Criminal Court, member states of the International Criminal Court can consider and I urge them to exercise under Article 14 of the Rome Statute to request that the prosecutor initiate an investigation of crimes in the country.
That being enabled by the National Unity government making a declaration that the that Myanmar should be subject to the jurisdiction of the court for crimes committed since 2002.
I think we should seize this opportunity.
I make three other points that I think is are important number.
The first of those 3, humanitarian aid is incredibly important and the problem that we have right now is that humanitarian aid is not going in the to the areas that need it most.
And I'm talking about the conflict areas, the areas outside of this of of SAC administered areas of the country.
This is the the fastest growing part of the country.
That is where most of the people growing numbers of people in the country that need humanitarian aid are.
There are 18.6 million people who are in need of humanitarian aid.
That is when I started as special rapporteur, that number was 1,000,000 in 2020.
We need to be and I was very impressed.
I was in Thailand just two weeks ago and I met organisations and networks that are providing aid directly to those areas that are most affected.
They're positioned, they have the infrastructure in place, they have the staff in place, they have the capacity in place.
They don't have the resources to get the aid to the people in desperate need.
We need to be focusing more of our energy and attention and resources on those CS OS Ng OS ING OS that have that capacity that are under resourced.
The other area I just want to talk about that's important is that we need as an international community to support those in Myanmar toward the transition to the new Myanmar.
The writing is on the wall.
Momentum is heading in the right direction.
What is important right now is to lay the groundwork for a democratic human rights respecting Myanmar that enfranchises the very rich and diverse community in Myanmar.
That process is underway.
The national unity government, ethnic resistance organisations, CS OS, other stakeholders are engaged in discussions.
We need to support that process and we need to provide the, the, the, the tools that are needed to establish that foundation so that when that moment arrives, and I'm telling you it's going to arrive and it may arrive very soon, we're ready.
And the need, the great needs that will be there for the people of Myanmar and the **** expectations that will, that will be there by the people of Myanmar will be able to be met.
We need to get that ready now because that day is, is coming.
Let me say one other thing about the Reyanga and I'll stop and, and, and entertain any questions or comments that you might have.
In addition to the crisis that they face in the country, there are nearly 1,000,000 people, Reyanga people still in the camps in Bangladesh.
They, they're not getting adequate food rations.
They're expected to survive on $0.32 per day.
And that, by the way, is after an A slight uptick in food rations last year, there was a cut of their rations about from from $12.00 a month down to 8.
It's now been brought up to 10.
That's, that's good news, but it's not enough.
And the children, the Reinka children in these camps are suffering from malnutrition, from stunted growth.
This is permanent damage.
Violence is increasing in the camps because of various terrorist groups that are that are operating there.
The result of all this is that last year, 4500, people risked everything to get on very unseaworthy vessels, put their fate and the fate of their families into the hands of smugglers to take them to what they hoped would be something that would be that they would be able to survive.
Desperation drove those people onto those boats.
66% of those 4500 were women and children and the and these these journeys were perilous.
I was in Indonesia last year.
I met with many who had taken those journeys.
They, they described horrific conditions on those vessels.
569 people last year perished trying to escape the condition.
So imagine this, they've, they've escaped from these genocidal attacks.
They are, they're, they're faced in another very difficult situation and and they try to escape once again.
Let me conclude by saying this.
You know, there were, there are certain myths that you hear time and again and I heard them yesterday that this is an internal matter that the human rights issues that I have have raised are an internal matter within Myanmar.
Well, for the Rainga who are suffering so in camps in Bangladesh, this is not an internal matter.
For those countries in the region that are facing influxes of people literally running for their lives, this is not an internal matter.
I, I learned about when I was in Thailand, about the expansion of these cyber scam centres that are now situated on the border of Myanmar because of the lawlessness of Myanmar.
We're talking about 10s of thousands of people, 120,000 victims, human trafficking victims sent into these centres to operate these, these, these scams, these international scams.
And they're reaching the entire world, victims giving up billions of dollars, billions of dollars that are being used to fuel these atrocities as a result of these scam centres.
That's not an internal matter that's affecting all of us.
And then I mentioned yesterday, and I'll conclude with this, the US Department of Justice ran a sting operation that they announced a few weeks ago.
And that sting operation, they, it was a, it was a scheme to sell nuclear weapons materials.
We're talking about uranium, yellow cake uranium, and to sell them to the highest bidder.
Now they, the, the, the sting operation led to arrests.
The bad news is the source of those nuclear weapons materials was Myanmar.
So don't tell me that the crisis in Myanmar is an internal matter.
It is a matter for the region and it's a matter for the world.
It's a matter for all of us.
And I implore the world to pay attention to what's going on into me in in Myanmar, take action to address what's happening in Myanmar, and to be able to lay the groundwork for a new Myanmar and a new opportunity for peace and security in the region and the world.
Thank you and I'm happy to take any questions or comments.
We'll take questions from the room 1st and then move on to those of us online.
Please state your name and organisation before you ask a question.
Thank you for taking my question.
My name is Crystal Vogt, I work for Agence France Press here.
I had a question on the sanctions.
It seems that Russia shows that either sanctions are really coordinated on the very large scale or it doesn't really work.
So how do you see that for Myanmar?
They clearly have very important allies that would make sanctions more or less *******, the way we think.
And also I would like you to elaborate on, you were pointing out Singapore and the crackdown on weapon sales.
Do you see other actors that could do something similar that would really make a difference on the ground?
That's a very good question.
First of all, I know from the research that we're doing that the sanctions that have been in place are disrupting operations for the Hunter.
Secondly, we know that and you mentioned Singapore, I think it's a, it's a, it's a good example when I released my report last year, the billion dollar death trade Singapore.
And, and let's be clear, as you point out, Russia is the single largest source of weapons for the junta.
China comes in at #2 Singapore, when I filed that report, was #3 with $254 million worth of weapons materials.
And these are materials that were going into the country.
And then they were using them in manufacturing weapons, manufacturing factories inside of the country.
So Singapore immediately launched an investigation.
I and I made it clear last year that there was no evidence that they were either involved or aware that this was going on.
They asked for additional information.
They asked for assistance with their investigation.
I flew to Singapore, met with them, met with the Attorney General and other officials, provided them with additional material.
And I was very happy to report yesterday that there's been an 83% reduction in these materials coming from entities based in in Singapore.
So we know that they're having an impact, that these sanctions are having an impact.
We know that they're being disruptive and we know that countries like Singapore are, are responding in a very constructive way to calls for tightening the sources of weapons and money that the hunter has.
But it's, it's frankly just not enough.
As I, as I mentioned, we, we need to coordinate them and it's possible it is the, the, the sanctions on the banks that make the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank highly significant.
And as a result of that and, and, and I have not mentioned this to this point, but I will right now.
I am conducting right now a follow up investigation tracking closely these sanctions that are being applied to banks, including the main, the Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and the affiliated banks that they have, the networks that are in business with or connected to in some way.
I've written to dozens and dozens of banks around the world who have we have learned may have a connection.
And so we are in the process right now of engaging in research, both in terms of weapons and financing.
And we'll be making that.
Hopefully I'll be publishing that this year.
But but I can tell you right now that we know that disruption is occurring.
We know that these things are working.
We just need to build, build upon them.
Any other questions in the room?
If not, we'll move to Jamie Keaton from AP Online.
Good morning, Mr Andrews, thank you for coming to see us.
I just had a couple of quick questions.
I wanted to know if to speak specifically to the news today.
Of course it's coming out of Myanmar.
The there was a non sale.
There was no bidders that stepped forward at the court ordered auction of Aung San Suu Kyi's family home.
And I'm just wondering if you could give us your take on that.
Is there any sort of political message to be understood there or is it really just a family matter?
And then the second question is about Thailand's humanitarian corridor plan.
Could you say whether you think that's a good idea or is that just window dressing for the junta?
Thank you for that question.
I, I really don't have a comment on the first time.
I'm, I'm just not been, I'm not aware of, of any of the details surrounding that, that auction.
So I'm afraid I can't, I can't comment at this moment.
But the humanitarian corridor, to be perfectly frank, I, I, I don't think it's a good idea for two reasons #1A, that corridor puts humanitarian aid into the hands of the junta because it goes into the hands of the, the junta controlled Myanmar Red Cross.
So we know that the junta takes these resources, including humanitarian, and weaponizes them, uses them for their own military strategic advantage.
The fact of the matter is, is that the reason that humanitarian aid is in such desperate need is precisely because of the junta.
That's what's driving the need for humanitarian aid.
18.6 million people since the coup are in need of humanitarian aid.
So to put humanitarian aid into the hands of those that are driving the need for humanitarian aid, to me is not a prudent way to attempt to get humanitarian aid where it needs to be.
And secondly, and that's, that's, that's the other issue, humanitarian aid needs to go to areas that are in desperate need.
And those are the conflict areas in which the, the, the, the junta has absolutely no influence or control whatsoever.
So those are the areas we need to focus on.
That's where we need to be sending resources.
And the last thing we need to be doing is providing any additional resources to the military junta.
So I, I would, I would hope that humanitarian aid efforts are focused in those directions and not in the direction of the junta.
Nick from New York Times.
Yeah, thank you for taking the question.
You say sanctions are disrupting the military effort.
They don't appear to be disrupting the air strikes.
What is what is sustaining the capacity of Myanmar's Air Force to to continue this intensive bombardment by air?
And secondly, the fact that Thailand is providing aid that is weaponized by the hunter, What does that also tell you then about ASEAN's approach to dealing with the hunter?
You know, so much for the international community has deferred to ASEAN leadership in, in dealing with the hunter.
It doesn't appear to be producing anything valuable.
Thanks very much for that question.
I, I know that this is a sensitive issue.
I I was criticised yesterday by an ASEAN member for for criticising ASEAN.
I just think that it's self-evident.
ASEAN established the Five Point Consensus in April of 2001.
They did so as a result of a conference of of leaders of Myanmar in in Jakarta to try to stop the crisis.
This was a few months after it began.
Min on Lying was was there and Min on Lying agreed to the the five point consensus.
The first point was the cessation of violence.
And as I mentioned yesterday, the ink was barely dry in that document when Min on Lying flew back to me and more and dismissed the five point consensus as mere suggestions and proceeded to accelerate his campaign of ****** and mayhem.
Now it seems to me that after all of this time, after nearly three years, after the five point consensus was established, that it's fair and I think prudent to examine whether or not the five point consensus is working.
And I think it is self-evident that it's not, it has not stopped the killing and that we need to stop, take a deep breath and look at options to address the fact that the killing continues.
And it's, and I suggested yesterday and I've suggested to, with all due respect to those who are representing ASEAN countries, that engagement needs to be conditioned.
There needs to be a prerequisite for engagement with the junta.
We know that the junta uses any engagement as a propaganda tool to try to provide the this idea, this myth that it's legitimate, that it's being recognised as legitimate and respected by the international community.
So we need to condition engagement with the junta, it seems to me, on honouring the five point consensus.
Respect the five point consensus and start with point #1 and stop the killing.
That is my recommendation and I and I understand that there is sensibilities here.
I respect that and I respect anyone and everyone, including all ASEAN states for trying to address this question and this and this this issue.
They have tried time and time and time again to make progress, but the fact is the killing continues.
Now with with respect to the bombardment, as I mentioned in the billion dollar death trade and as I will expand upon in a in a a future follow up document, these aircraft are are coming from the international from from abroad.
Russia is the single largest source of these types of weapons.
China coming in at number at #2 I was, I was criticised again for, for that report.
In fact, China actually criticised me for, in their words, vilifying normal arms trade.
What I'm vilifying are war crimes, crimes against humanity.
And I'm pointing out the fact that if we know, and we do know that these weapons are being used to **** innocent people, including those in IDP centres, then we need to stop it.
We need to stop empowering literally the junta from killing innocent people with the sophisticated weapons of war.
Most of the attacks coming from the junta right now, the overwhelming majority are not military targets.
They're civilian targets, civilian targets.
And these, these heavy artillery and these aircraft jet fighters as well as helicopter gunships are, are what are creating all of this mayhem and, and, and, and killing people.
It's a tough, tough, it's a tough nut to crack.
We've seen important progress.
Singapore are a perfect example, but not so much when it comes to the leading supplier, Russia.
But here's the thing, Russia is not giving these weapons to the junta.
They're selling the weapons to the junta.
So if we can restrict and cut access to revenue of the junta through these targeted sanctions on banking institutions by shutting down the variety of ways that they're getting access to these weapons and by virtue of the money that they're obtaining, then we can stop their ability to buy these weapons.
But that's, that's, that's it's a big challenge.
And in order to meet that challenge, we need to have a fundamental change in how we're applying these sanctions.
We've got to do it in a coordinated, focused way.
And I'll tell you something I'll finish with with this.
I don't know why this is so difficult.
I don't know why it's so difficult for countries to who, who care about human rights.
And I, you know, they, they spoke eloquently yesterday on the floor of the Human Rights Council.
Why those countries can't sit down in a room together and talk about where they think, analyse what they believe will be the most effective approach.
What are the, the, the, the targets that will have the greatest impact in terms of sanctions, monetary sanctions, weapon sanctions, and then work together to coordinate their sanctions in applications and enforcement on those targets?
I don't know why that is so difficult, but I can tell you something.
If, if, if the international community, if everyone who spoke yesterday in support of human rights and support of the people of Myanmar, if their nations were to do that, I think it would make a significant difference.
Miss Sanders, is there are there any other questions?
Yes, Crystal, just just one question on you.
You started with with a note of optimism.
I was just wondering where, where you where you find that little grain of optimism and and what makes you think that things could change actually quite quickly?
That's I think what you said.
It's a very good question.
It's from the people of, of, of, of Myanmar, from within Myanmar.
They're making extraordinary strides and gains.
There's a, a broad based opposition movement, you know, and I talked to people, the people of Myanmar overwhelmingly opposed.
If the, you know, this myth that the you need to have the hunter, the military as a unifying force in, in the country that without them they would be chaos.
Well, it's just the opposite is is true except for this that the junta is unifying the country against it.
There's no question about it.
And and people tell me that they will not buy anything that is even indirectly associated with the junta.
There's a citizen sanctions are being applied in that country to to to the junta.
And there's also various forms of civil disobedience that continue in the country.
There are pop up demonstrations in various parts of the country at various points to, to give people a greater hope and visibility that there is an opposition movement that's, and then there's the the resistance forces and the significant gains that they have made.
Literally hundreds and hundreds of outposts have been captured.
Thousands, 10s of thousands of of troops have been, have been lost to the junta.
So the hope is coming from inside of the country, the hope is coming from some of the some steps that have been taken by some countries, including Singapore.
But we need as an international community to do much more to support the people inside of the country.
And if we do, I believe we are near, we are close.
And this is the other point of optimism that we could be, we could be very close to ending this nightmare with the people of Myanmar that that, that their progress has been significant.
And what they need now is the international community to, to, to translate that that progress into success.
Are there any other questions for the special rapporteur?
Don't see any hands up online, nothing more in the room.
Also, if there are no more questions, we'll we'll now close this press conference with Many thanks to the special rapporteur and thank you all for joining us.
