DEAR ALL INTERNATIONAL MEDIA OUTLETS:

Burma (also known as Myanmar) had a coup d’etat in February 2021 and has been locked in a civil war ever since. However, there has been very minimal media coverage on it.

The military has tortured, killed and arrested thousands of anyone they deem threatening, anyone from politicians, doctors and innocent civilians. Such crimes against humanity by the military are frequent, indiscriminate and arbitrary. People in Myanmar live in constant fear, their lives and safety are threatened by airstrikes, exuberant inflation, lack of medical access and more. Basic needs are hardly fulfilled as people live from hand to mouth and the economy is only a mere shadow of what it has been. 

Even before the war, people would pawn their cooking pot to get the money for transportation to work and using the day's wages, return home from work and buy the pot back to buy and cook the day's dinner. Can you even begin to imagine what the people in Myanmar are going through right now? 

WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR: MORE GLOBAL MEDIA COVERAGE

Why does media coverage matter? To call for:

1. More and stringent sanctions upon the military’s and its supporters’ assets by the UK, US, Australian, Thai and Japanese governments 
   Call upon governments to refrain from supporting the military whether politically or in terms of resources (e.g. India provides fuel to the Burmese military) 
2. More pressure on the specifically aforementioned governments to support the opposition 
3. Call for the Chinese and Russian government to withdraw support of the Burmese military
4. Worldwide, legal recognition of the opposition, National Unity Government

We cannot allow such atrocities to continue. In order to fight for democracy, we must not forget Myanmar; we must continuously and tirelessly champion its right to democracy; it’s right to freedom. 

Now is the time to act before more lives are lost and an undemocratic Myanmar solidifies a non-democratic Southeast Asia. With more support, the shadow government and ethnic groups will be able to triumph and ultimately stop the numerous human rights violations and bloodshed. 

For more information from both reliable local news sources and very limited international media, please refer below: 

Irrawaddy: 

https://www.facebook.com/theirrawaddy

Khit Thit: 

https://www.facebook.com/khitthitnews

 

Amnesty’s Short Report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-east-asia-and-the-pacific/myanmar/report-myanmar/

NYT’s Most Recent Comprehensive Coverage: 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/31/world/asia/myanmar-military.html

Petition's picture credits to NPR: https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/2021-04-01/u-n-official-warns-of-bloodbath-in-myanmar-if-coup-isnt-reversed