Sponsored by MIS Jobs Team, Japan;
Endorsed by The Japan Myanmar Friendship Association, Japan;
Supported by JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research 20K20058, Japan;
Principal Investigator by Kensuke Yamaguchi, Japan. 

The future of Myanmar belongs to the brave people of Myanmar, so many of whom have given their lives for the cause of freedom and democracy, and become symbols of hope and heroes in the hearts of their fellow citizens. Once Myanmar gained its independence, a famous declaration and agreement known as Pang Long was signed between the ethnic leaders of Myanmar, and General Aung San, the father of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on the 12^th of February, 1947. Five months later he and 11 other martyrs were gunned down in cold blood by terrorist leader U Saw and his accomplices. This martyr’s day is now celebrated on the 19th of July every year to commemorate those who died for democracy and freedom since 1947.

If one thing is clear from the history of Myanmar, it is that the people of Myanmar want freedom, democracy, and peace as attested by thousands upon thousands of martyrs who have given everything to bring about an end to dictatorial tyranny. Time and time again peaceful protestors and non-violent defenders of freedom and democracy have been met with brutal violence, atrocities, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the cruel military dictators of the Tatmadaw. The darkness and nightmares of the twentieth century carry over into this the 21^st century as the people of Myanmar face the terrors of yet another genocidal military dictator and regime. These 74 years of cruelty, death and destruction by the military dictators against the innocent and brave people of Myanmar will never be forgotten, nor will this history be rewritten. The sacrifices of thousands and thousands of brave men and women in Myanmar will not be in vain.

As is widely known, terrorist leader Min Aung Hlaing and his military junta forces have again brought darkness, death and destruction against the 54 million people of Myanmar by their attempted coup on the 1^st of February, 2021. Since then, failed coup and military terrorist leader Min Aung Hlaing and his cronies have killed over 1,000 innocent men, women and children in Myanmar who have done nothing wrong. Nearly 7,000 innocent men, women and children from all walks and professions, including especially medical personnel, activists, teachers, journalists and even elected civilian government officials such as President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have been illegally arrested by these terrorists. Over 2,000 innocent Myanmar people have been forced into hiding to evade illegal arrest warrants, issued by the genocidal military junta, for simply exercising their fundamental human rights to “freedom of expression.” The military dictators are the sworn enemies of democracy and freedom, as they will lose their monopoly over the people and resources of Myanmar. This has led to them discharging all types of battlefield weapons, purchased at the expense of the people of Myanmar, into civilian homes, villages, towns and cities across Myanmar, thereby killing the brave and innocent people of Myanmar, and forcing those still living to flee for their lives. Countries who have supported the military terrorists or accepted the money stolen from the starving people of Myanmar by the junta in exchange for weapons used to further torture and murder the people of Myanmar are accomplices in the current miserable state of affairs, and history will judge the actions of these nations harshly.

The people of Myanmar have spoken loud and clear that they will never accept military dictatorship or any other form of oppression or anything short of democracy and freedom. At the same time, the cruel military junta dictatorship have shown time and time again over the past 74 years of opposition from the people, that they will do anything to stay in power no matter how cruel, inhumane, or brutal.

On the 8^th of November, 2020, the people of Myanmar again showed their defining desire of freedom and democracy by casting their votes in the general democratic elections, which were transparent and free from fraud as attested by independent local and international agencies and whistleblowers. Yet, despite the clear outcome of these elections in which the champions of democracy and freedom won yet another landslide victory, dealing a crushing defeat to the military’s proxy parties, the military generals could not bear with the results, and decided to forcefully overturn the will of the people by producing a fake list of over 10.4 million supposedly ‘fraudulent votes’ based on zero evidence or legitimate proof. This fake list has been confirmed as fraudulent by independent poll watchers and organizations, and was simply used as an excuse to stage an attempted coup, which subsequently failed and plunged the country into the current chaos and disaster we are now facing. The military will never be able win the support of the people whom they have treated so cruelly, and will lose this fight against the people of Myanmar just as they lost the election.

It has now been over 6 months since the people of Myanmar have been plunged into this military junta reign-of-terror, and as a result over 6.4 million people are projected to be entirely without food by the end of November this year (according to the WFP). Additionally, the UNDP estimates that over half of Myanmar’s population (27 million out of 54 million people) will be forced into extreme poverty by the end of this year. Due to the violence instigated by the military junta, over 1.2 million people have been displaced in Myanmar, according to the UNHCR, and over half of the population could be infected by the third wave of Covid-19, dominated by the ‘Delta’ variant now sweeping the country (according to health experts), which is spreading unchecked and even being weaponized by Min Aung Hlaing and his junta to infect and kill as many people as possible. This is a true humanitarian catastrophe on a scale that hasn’t been seen for decades.

Despite the atrocities, crimes and genocide of this military regime, we, the people of Myanmar, will never give up, let go, or surrender our dreams for a Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar where freedom, democracy, peace, prosperity, stability, accountability, justice and self determination will flourish regardless of race, religion, culture, ethnicity, gender or background. We will continue to resist and give our lives if and when necessary until victory is achieved over these ruthless murderers. Nothing that the military junta may attempt to do to us will destroy our hope or courage. No weapon can destroy our thirst for freedom, as this hope is engraved in the hearts of everyone of us. The national heroes who participate in the peaceful and powerful Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) have helped bring the junta to a standstill, and is indeed more powerful than any act of terrorism or destruction by the junta. Nationwide protests continue strong despite lethal use of force by the junta against unarmed and peaceful civilians, and the coordinated boycotts, strikes and movements initiated by generation Z remain undaunted, and are one of the strongest tools in bringing the tyranny and crimes of these dictators to and end, once and for all. This clearly illustrates that the movement and hope for freedom and democracy can never be silenced or destroyed, and that indeed it will prevail in the end. In this struggle between young democracy, and ancient dictatorship, it is self evident that democracy will surely prevail; the light will swallow up and erase the darkness of authoritarianism. The people of Myanmar will prevail, and will never surrender again to be crushed under the boots of these terrorists.

Freedom fighters from ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), People’s Defense Forces (PDF) and Civilian Defense Forces (CDF) have arisen as national heroes to take back and defend our country from the occupying terrorist tatmadaw organization, and give their lives to protect their families, friends, neighbours, villages, towns and cities from the cruel military junta who engages in acts of terrorism against the innocent people of Myanmar on a daily basis. These brave heroes lay down their lives for the cause of democracy and freedom, and deserve the utmost respect and support, not only from all of the people of Myanmar, but from all countries of the world who believe in peace, prosperity, and democracy.

This is the darkest moment in the history of Myanmar, but this is also the first time in the history of Myanmar that we have had a “National Unity Government of Myanmar” comprised of stakeholders from every group and ethnicity, including members of Parliament elected in the 2020 general election, ethnic armed organizations, civil society organizations, and many political parties. Our biggest strength truly is “Unity in Diversity.” Above all else, the people of Myanmar are united as one against the reign of the military dictators, and the people of Myanmar will remain united to defeat and eradicate military dictatorship from the soil of Myanmar once and for all, and to build the Federal Democratic Union of Myanmar to bring lasting freedom, peace, stability, prosperity and democratic rights for all the people of Myanmar. The future of Myanmar has no place for military dictatorships – only freedom and democracy for all. Therefore, all democratic nations of the world must band together and do everything within their power to help the people of Myanmar achieve this new reality sooner rather than later. There is no time to waste. It is time for the allies of peace and democracy to come together and invest in the beautiful and prosperous future of Myanmar. We need strong material support on the ground from the allies of peace and democracy before more lives are needlessly lost. A friend in need is a friend indeed, and once we achieve democracy and peace, we will remain a loyal ally of those who stand for these sacred virtues.

We, the people of Myanmar, urgently and desperately need the international community of free and democratic nations to uphold the will and votes of the people of Myanmar by officially recognizing the democratically elected National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar as the sole legitimate representative of the people and country of Myanmar. The longer the hesitation to recognize and engage solely with the democratically elected National Unity Government, the more innocent civilians will be murdered by the junta. It is the responsibility of the international community to prevent further bloodbath, a civil war, and another military sponsored genocide by officially recognizing the will of the people and supporting the peace loving defenders of freedom and democracy in Myanmar.

At the present, we need immediate and strong humanitarian support and assistance for Covid-19 prevention and treatment, along with vaccines and oxygen. Covid-19 respects no borders, regardless of how well guarded, and this national Covid-19 humanitarian crisis in Myanmar will surely lead to another global humanitarian crisis, and threaten the health and wellbeing of countries around the world, if left unchecked. Therefore, the UN Security Council must take a responsible lead to prevent the Covid-19 crisis in Myanmar from becoming a regional and global threat, and address the Covid-19 breeding ground that Myanmar is fast becoming. The military junta have been actively attacking and hunting down medical personnel who are giving their utmost to help fellow citizens control and prevent Covid-19. This is a clear act of terrorism against medical personnel that comes in the midst of a global pandemic, and is unacceptable directly against the UN Security Council resolution 2565 which calls for global ceasefire and protection of medical personnel, who are on the front lines of this fight against Covid-19, from being attacked. Moreover, the military junta in Myanmar has shown that they have no respect for ASEAN, or the ASEAN 5 Point Consensus regarding Myanmar, and they have shown nothing but disrespect for the international community. This is why the junta is weaponizing the unchecked Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to their other weapons, and attempt to oust the democratically elected government of Myanmar which had already brought Covid-19 under control before the failed coup attempt. In fact, Myanmar was one of the few countries who had already started an aggressive vaccination programme, and had it not been for the failed coup, over 20% of our population could have already been vaccinated by this time. It is therefore clear that this failed coup is directly responsible for the current uncontrolled third wave of the Covid-19 delta variant surging across the country, and the daily lines of people queuing for oxygen, cemeteries, crematories and pharmacies. This junta has caused unspeakable pain and suffering, death and destruction against the people of Myanmar.

The UN is responsible for assisting the wellbeing of the nations and people of the world. Therefore it is imperative that the international communities of which the UN is comprised to come together in further coordinated, targeted and strong sanctions and actions against the military regime and cronies which are bringing death and destruction to the global citizens of Myanmar. Cash and weapons flows into the hands of the military junta and their cronies must be completely cut off, as failure to do so will translate into more extreme pain, suffering, death and destruction against the innocent people of Myanmar. Therefore, the international communities and responsible governments of the world must unite and do everything in their power to end these acts of terrorism, crimes against humanity, war crimes and bloodbath in Myanmar. For 

the past 74 years these military dictators have misused and misappropriated aid and development funds destined for the people of Myanmar to fund their own ambitious projects and weapons, and these generals have stolen not only our freedom and democracy, but also our aid, wealth, and natural resources.

A few days ago, failed coup and terrorist military leader Min Aung Hlaing declared himself the Prime Minister of Myanmar, by voting himself into office in opposition to and total disregard for the 37 million eligible voters in Myanmar, who had already cast their votes in the free and fair democratic general elections on the 8^th of November, 2020. How is it that one vote can be more important and overrule 37 million votes of the people? Is this democracy? Indeed the failed coup leader and his military junta have proven time and time again that they are the sworn enemies of democracy, and yet we, the people of Myanmar, have proven time and time again throughout history that we are a democratic and peace loving people. It is therefore apparent that no country in the world should lend its support to this genocidal junta, or else such country as lends its support to the military junta and its leaders shall be seen as directly supporting ethnic cleansing, genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, atrocities and acts of terrorism. Normalization of this brutal oppression of the people of Myanmar by the cruel junta will never be tolerated nor accepted. The killing of innocent civilians, men, women and children – good people from all walks of life and ethnicity – forced starvation, illegal mass imprisonment and displacement, and weaponizing of chemicals and disease against innocent civilians shall never be acceptable or normalized.

We, the people of Myanmar, believe in freedom and democracy; peace and prosperity; equality and self-determination; inclusion and federalism; and we have made our demand clear and our resolve determined to eradicate military dictatorship, once and for all, from the blood stained soil of our precious home land, and to replace the ‘tatmadaw’ military institution with an inclusive federal army under the control of the democratic civilian government of Myanmar. We, the people of Myanmar, will draft an inclusive and permanent constitution based on federal democratic principals and values, with universal human and civil rights for all within the borders of Myanmar. This constitution and governance will belong to the people, and be comprised of the people to serve the best interest of the people of Myanmar as a whole, not only for this generation, but for all generations to come. We, the people of Myanmar, will build a successful federal democratic union where the parliamentary, executive and judiciary branches shall function independently, and where democratic power sharing will be based on equality and self determination. The rights of all the people of Myanmar shall be equally protected, respected and promoted regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, culture, gender, status or background. Together we will defeat this dictatorship and the darkness it brings, and the light of democracy will instead flourish in its place. Hope will fill the room of hopelessness; freedom will prevail over tyranny; and good will prevail over evil.

We will never surrender; we will never rest; and we will never give up until this genocidal military dictatorship that brings only pain, suffering, death and destruction has been eradicated from the face of the earth. We will then build up together a glorious future where peace, prosperity, freedom, democracy, stability and equality await us. With every day that passes, the military junta are slowly losing their grasp on the people of Myanmar, and we, the people of Myanmar, are winning.

Thank you for having me, and May God bless you! May God save and bless Myanmar!

Sincerely,

H.E. Dr. Sasa
Union Minister of the Ministry of International Cooperation & NUG Spokesperson