Today marks the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Today is the day we celebrate and recognize the contribution of people with disabilities to the community and society. The World has so many things to learn from these brave people, and their courage, their values and resilience to adapt and overcome great challenges. They do the impossible to turn a disability into an ability. So many people with disabilities have shown the world that they are indeed able to help make this world a better place for all. We must embrace and uplift those abilities which came from disabilities. Advancing technology of the 21st century must make more contributions to the lives of persons with disabilities so that they can more easily make a change in their worlds. Unfortunately Myanmar has been ruled by the most brutal military generals with no regard for persons with disabilities. Instead, they produce more needlessly disabled people from their many attacks on innocent civilians and quiet villages. They use modern and heavy battle equipment to disable the people of Myanmar. Not only do they utilize these bombs, heavy artillery, and barrage of bullets, but they also weaponize starvation, poverty and diseases to disable and murder the innocent and peace loving people of Myanmar. They use fear, intimidation, torture, rape, forced labour, extrajudicial killings, pain, suffering, and destructions as weapons to disable the entire nation of Myanmar. As a result, our health care services, education and economic systems and all basic services to the people of Myanmar have all but entirely crashed to the ground. Our society now faces greater and darker disabilities and dis-functioning of basic life and necessary services.

Today as we stand in solidarity on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we embrace those disabilities, abilities, experiences, and unique expertise of these courageous people, and at the same time we call on the international community to help us end this horrible reign-of-terror against the people of Myanmar by the military junta which is causing untold numbers of new disabilities. We implore the international community to completely reject and place sanctions on this brutal military junta in Myanmar financially, economically and diplomatically.

Sincerely,

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