Ask the Minister of International Development Honourable Karina Gould and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to support the people of Myanmar with a reliable supply of oxygen and vaccines!

On February 1st, 2021, the Myanmar military junta, also known as the Tamatdaw, unjustly seized control of the Myanmar government from the people of Myanmar after a decade of democratic rule. In the months since, the people of Myanmar, civil society groups, and civil servants including doctors and nurses have peacefully protested against the dictatorial rule through strikes, boycotts, and by refusing to work for the military junta.

The military junta has reacted by imprisoning democratically elected politicians and political activists. Furthermore, the junta has committed serious crimes against humanity, having killed and assassinated unarmed protesters as young as seven years old. As of July 16, 2021, the junta has arrested, charged, or sentenced 5277 and killed 912 individuals (AAPP).

On July 15, 2021, a New York Times article published by Hannah Beech confirmed the calls of many Myanmar citizens speaking out on social media about the junta’s mismanagement of the healthcare system amidst a disastrous third wave of COVID-19. The junta has ordered that oxygen be denied to private clinics and charities, prevented the buying of oxygen-producing supplies, and has gone as far as to “fire into a crowd of people lined up to buy oxygen tanks”. The healthcare system has seriously collapsed in the middle of a coup and a Delta variant pandemic and the junta reacts by hoarding oxygen and vaccine supply.

We are asking Prime Minister Trudeau and Karina Gould who is the Canadian Minister of International Development and the COVAX AMC Engagement Co-chair, to work with their colleagues and partners inside and outside of the Canadian government towards providing the people of Myanmar with a secure, equitable, and safe supply of emergency vaccines and oxygen. We are also asking the Canadian government to collaborate with civil society groups, nonprofits, and NGOs in conjunction with the Burmese-Canadian community towards effective ways of sending these urgently-needed health supplies to Myanmar. 

Specifically, this petition is asking Minister Karina Gould and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to:

Collaborate with actors of COVAX to develop a plan to send vaccines and oxygen into the hands of Myanmar people;
Devise a way to distribute supplies given actions by the military junta to prevent supply from making it into the hands of civilians;
Engage actors of the democratic National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar;
Engage NGOs and civil society actors in Myanmar; and
Engage networks of Myanmar-Canadian communities and associations to better collaborate with Myanmar groups from Canada in the effort to assist with the dire public health situation in Myanmar.

The situation in Myanmar requires immediate support at the multilateral and international level. As members and friends of the Burmese-Canadian community, we urgently ask for your support for the people of Myanmar.