Today is a day which should need no explanation. Today, over fifty million Myanmar people grieve the anniversary of the 2021 military coup d’état. For those who have lost their homes, the property, their livelihoods, their freedom or their loved ones; for those who languish in prisons on false charges, who watched helplessly as COVID-19 tore through the cities with neither doctors nor oxygen, who have seen the smoke and heard the screams of their fellow villagers being burned alive, who have fled to the jungles and mountains with no food and no shelter, who have fled to foreign lands where they exist with no legal protections, for these people, today is a reminder of the darkest and most infamous day in Myanmar’s history.

And yet for so many around the world, this day would have passed unnoticed and unmarked. The crisis in Myanmar was at first interesting, then shocking, and has now become banal. The torture, rapes, and murders that the Myanmar people suffer every day have become a sick “new normal”. Image after image of bloodied bodies lying in the street wash into one an other, increasingly frequent news reports of journalists and activist being detained, tortured, and executed become a continuous background hum as the 24 hour news cycle moves on. As the military’s violence and depravity grows, their crimes become more grotesque and abhorrent. The images of charred, twisted, and mutilated bodies have turned international audiences away, denying the military’s crimes to save themselves from a terrible truth the people of Myanmar have no choice but to endure.

If on no other day, then today of all days, I must implore all free peoples of the world to cast their gaze back to Myanmar. Do not hide from the horrific scenes and reports, do not allow yourselves to grow tired and apathetic. Every life lost is a life, a person, someone who mattered to someone else, someone others depended on and loved and trusted. Even a single such life cut short is a crime against all of mankind and yet over a thousand lives have been taken by the military directly, and countless more have died of disease, starvation, and exposure as a result of their actions. Should we not be one thousand fold more outraged today than we were one year ago? Why then do we see only one thousandth as much attention and coverage? How can the plight of Myanmar have slipped from international awareness when the crisis has only escalated?

As the world reeled from the COVID pandemic, struggling to contain the first truly global pandemic in a century, Myanmar acted quickly and managed to keep the virus at bay until August of 2020 and decisively winning the battle against the virus by December that year. During which time Myanmar also managed to hold free and fair democratic elections. The second such elections since the military coup of 1962. Government is a difficult task, and governing during a pandemic and the associated economic decline were certain to be a challenge, but the elected representatives of the Myanmar people stood ready to do their duty. None could have predicted in the halcyon days of January 2021 that Myanmar faced a much greater threat than plague and economic disaster. In an act of unfathomable greed, selfishness, and complete disregard for the nation and people they were sworn to protect, the military seized power. They imprisoned duly elected officials with no legal justification, and attempted to take control of the state.

They did so for nothing but a single-minded obsession with maintaining their personal power and wealth. The military had no plan, no political expertise, and no possible hope of leading the nation through the COVID crisis and driving an economic recovery. It surprised noöne when that the military’s proposed vaccination rollout was a farce, preferencing soldiers, government workers, and the wealthy. Predictably, a few months into the coup COVID infection rate shot up to nearly four times their highest rate under the democratic government. What shocked and appalled local and international observers alike was the military’s response – seize all the oxygen supplies in the nation at gunpoint for the exclusive use of the military. Combined with the military’s attacks on doctors, occupation of hospitals, and seizures of medication, this ensured the maximum possible impact of COVID on the civilian population. 

The military’s indifference to the welfare of the people was clear from the coup itself. Only the most callous and psychotic tyrant would stage a coup when the nation is at its most vulnerable, and do so with no capacity or desire to help the people. And yet, despite this, the true depths of the military’s depravity would continue to shock and horrify a people who once thought themselves inured to the military’s barbarism.

The military’s economic management has been no less abysmal. As all other ASEAN countries rebounded from the economic lull of 2020, Myanmar is expected to have lost 12% or more of her GDP over 2021. Not only is this the first economic reduction in Myanmar in twenty years, but it comes at a time when our neighbours and partners are prospering, putting us in a weak position internationally. Making matters worse, the military’s trademark heavy handed and shocking crackdowns on unarmed civilians coupled with human rights abuses around the country have driven much foreign investment away with Chevron and Total – two of the military’s largest foreign investors – announcing a withdrawal from the Myanmar market last month. A morally responsible withdrawal for which we thank them.

While economic concerns may seem insignificant in comparison to the overthrow of a government and the unchecked spread of COVID, we cannot be as myopic as the military. Myanmar, has often been described as a poor country. But this is not so. Myanmar is a country rich in natural resources, and yet inhabited by poor people. Such has been the fate of the tens of millions condemned to a life under the junta. Lifting a population out of poverty is a slow and arduous process, but much progress had been made in bringing food security, housing, medical care, education, and infrastructure to our people. In recent times our nation’s growth and development was impressive, but sadly the junta have dragged the country back by years. As it stands, food stores have been ransacked, fields have been burned, factories lie in ruins and ashes. Every ninth person in Myanmar is experiencing food shortages and this is only expected to rise as the crisis continues. Even after our victory over the military it will take years to fully rebuild following their wanton devastation. The military are leaving the nation with a financial, social, developmental, and moral debt which our people will once again have to bear.

Our people are no strangers to hard work and difficulty. They know the boot heel and the whip lash all too well, but they also know the light and warmth of freedom and democracy. The military’s greatest folly is that they gave our people a taste of freedom and progress; now we will settle for nothing less. In the last nightmarish year, our people took to the streets to practise their democratic rights, to voice their desires, and needs. Our people demanded, without force or violence, that which is theirs by right. For this they endured the cruelty and indifference of a murderous military hell-bent on taking power and silencing any dissent. For as long as they could, and longer than 

anyone could have asked of them, our people endured this abuse with grace and civility. Protesting creatively to raise awareness while doing no harm. But the military would not be placated. Their reign of terror intensified. They began raiding homes in the middle of the night, firing live ammunition indiscriminately into houses or at any innocent passers by. They began to use machine guns, grenades, mortars, and other weapons of wholesale destruction.

With no training or equipment, our brave people took it upon themselves to protect their fellow countrymen. They began to form organised resistance groups. Some fighting back to protect civilian areas from military incursions; some focusing on moving and protecting the vulnerable, organising shelter, food, and medical care; and others still focused on driving military defections to weaken the army not by killing, but by saving families from a life in the military’s abusive sphere of power.

Our people’s achievements are beyond imagination, and while this day is a day of solemn remembrance, we can rightly celebrate their achievements and victories as we mourn and honour the fallen. For it is only through their ingenuity, bravery, and sacrifice that Myanmar has withstood the military’s campaign of terror and destruction. Their determination is a shining inspiration to the rest of the world, and we have already seen other oppressed peoples take note. Myanmar’s eventual victory over the brutal and repressive military regime will certainly embolden all subjugated peoples to demand their God-given rights, and demand a government that serves them, instead of a government which demands to be served.

There is no doubt that this realisation strikes fear into the hearts of many despots and military regimes the world over. It is in their interests to silence the Myanmar people, and drive the crisis from the attention of the world. In this cause they must fail. For peace, freedom, and democracy to flourish in the world – which is our dearest wish – the world must know and care about every violation of human rights, every suppression of civilian populations, every erasure of liberties and democracy, every crime against humanity. Today, one year after the coup, we must bring the attention of the world to the crisis in Myanmar. If we succeed in quelling the military coup, it will begin a wave of democratic movements the world over. Should we fail, we will surely see the erosion of freedom and democracy across the globe.

The military have committed such a litany of crimes against humanity that today, anything short of total condemnation would itself be a transgression against the core values and principles of civilised people everywhere. Yet with the eyes of the world fixed elsewhere, the international community has grown ignorant and indifferent. Governments and companies do not fear pressure or scrutiny as they once did and the military continue to benefit from international supporters, and from those who do nothing to end the senseless carnage. This is the military’s only hope. Through international indifference and apathy they prolong the conflict, wreaking havoc across the nation unchecked and unchallenged. Sympathetic powers can provided them with arms and materiel and with no fear of punishment or sanctions from the West, the military continue their murderous rampage.

Why then has the international community’s attention lapsed? I believe it is due to a sense of powerlessness. People disengage from the ongoing crisis because they feel that they, as individual people, mere citizens, have no power to do good. To help turn the tide. But if anything can be learned form the last year it is that each and ever person has the capacity to contribute to the cause of democracy. Indeed democracy itself empowers everyone, rich or poor, to put pressure on the government to act in accordance with the will of its people. Everyone in every nation can play a 

part in pressuring governments and companies to cease their support for, dealings with, and tolerance of the genocidal junta. 

Far from powerless, the citizens of the international community must understand their true power. If 50 million unarmed Myanmar civilians can make the military doubt their own strength, then to the combined weight of the international community, the Tatmadaw is but a nuisance fly. Without foreign investment, political support, weapons, vehicles, fuel, and assurances of safety and security, the military will crumble within weeks if not days. The attempted coup is on life support, kept alive only by friendly or indifferent governments and companies. Now is the time to unite, to rise up and demand action from governments, civil society groups, private enterprise, and international organisations. Our people have suffered for 365 day too long, I pray they do not suffer one day more.

I have often spoken of the plight the Myanmar people. I have repeated many times that over a thousand of our people have been slaughtered, that thousands more languish in prisons, that many in our country are without food or shelter, that COVID-19 continues to waste away at our population, that our people live in constant fear of violent attacks, rapes, murders, bombings, indiscriminate gunfire. I have repeated these things at every chance in the hopes that the international community will not forget. For the Myanmar people, these are a reality they cannot forget. The suffering, the fear, the hardships are a truth they have lived for every hour of every day for the last twelve months. 

But all the difficulties, the fear, the physical pain, the hunger, they are as nothing when compared to the deep abiding grief which grips our nation. Grief is the heaviest burden we can bear and there is nothing that we can do or say to lift the tremendous weight from their shoulders nor heal the scars from their hearts. But everyone has the power to at least help the Myanmar people to withstand this terrible strain, to put one foot in front of the other and continue the difficult march forward towards freedom. 

Once again I implore everyone in the international community to take action. Everyone has the power to make their voice heard. To pressure their representatives, to vote with their wallets, to stage demonstrations, and to prove, as Myanmar is proving, that democracy does work, and the will of the people cannot be subverted. Our nation has passed more than half a century under the military boot heel. We have spent the last year subjected to every imaginable iniquity and indignity by a maniacal military that has set aside all pretence of restraint and humanity, and given in to its basest urges. In the name of humanity itself, I urge and beseech all people of all nations to harness the power of democracy, to pressure your elected officials and corporations, to cease supporting our oppressors, and not to turn a blind eye to our suffering. Every day the crisis continues is a day we can ill afford. Today, as we mark a full year of murder and destruction, I pray that the people of the world will spare a moment to help bring the nightmare to an end.

Sincerely,

H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of Ministry of International Cooperation
Spoke Person of Nation Unity Government
Former Special Envoy to United Nations