NUG welcomes G7 leaders’ communique on Myanmar crisis, asks for formal recognition

23 May 2023
NUG welcomes G7 leaders’ communique on Myanmar crisis, asks for formal recognition
(L-R) Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, European Council President Charles Michel, Italian ambassador to Japan Gianluigi Benedetti, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron attend a meeting during the G7 Hiroshima Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, 21 May 2023. Photo: EPA

The National Unity Government (NUG) welcomed the joint communique of THE G7 leaders on Myanmar on 20 May during its annual summit held in Hiroshima, Japan, from 19 to 21 May.

In paragraph 54 of the communique, the G7 expressed their deep concern about the deteriorating security, humanitarian, human rights, and political situation in Myanmar.

The communique emphasized the support of G7 for ASEAN’s efforts including its continued engagements with all stakeholders in Myanmar to implement the Five-Point Consensus, including through Indonesia as the ASEAN Chair and ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar.

Leaders from the G7 countries called on the Myanmar military to immediately cease all violence, release all political prisoners and those arbitrarily detained, create an environment for an inclusive and peaceful dialogue, and return the country to a genuinely democratic path.

They also reiterated their call on all states to prevent the flow of arms into Myanmar, and full, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access to all people, especially the most vulnerable.

The NUG expressed their appreciation of the communique, and proposed a “three-track” policy to the G7 on Myanmar issues, covering direct actions, support for ASEAN, and complementary efforts through the international system.

NUG’s suggestion in Track 1 for the G7 is to provide direct support to address Myanmar's political, security, human rights and humanitarian crises, by agreeing on a strengthened set of collective punitive measures against the junta that blocks the import of arms, munitions, dual-purpose technology, aviation fuel and equipment used to locally manufacture materiel, and that targets the junta's financial interests.

It also called on providing direct humanitarian assistance in the wake of the deadly Cyclone Mocha in partnership with Myanmar's neighbours, the NUG, ethnic organisations and UN entities, and through established ethnic and civil society networks.

NUG also asked G7 countries to formally recognize the NUG and provide it and its ethnic partners with direct financial, material and technical assistance.

The suggestions in Track 2 include that G7 should support ASEAN in implementing the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), with priority actions in assisting the ASEAN Chair to develop a 5PC implementation plan that lists concrete actions, indicators, timelines, and enforcement mechanisms for junta compliance failures, as well as a set of escalating punitive measures against the junta for further acts of violence.

The NUG also asked G7 countries to support the Head of the Office of the ASEAN Special Envoy on Myanmar to partner with the Inclusive Humanitarian Forum and UN entities in Myanmar to secure the sustainable provision of humanitarian assistance to all communities in need.

The proposed Track 3 of the NUG urged G7 countries to use the international system to promote complementary action on Myanmar, with a request to the UN Security Council to formally place Myanmar on its agenda as a threat to international peace and security and to urgently address the junta's failure to comply with Security Council resolution 2669 (2022) on Myanmar; and request to the UN Secretary-General to use his own good offices to advance a political solution in Myanmar that upholds the democratic will and interests of the Myanmar people.

The NUG also asked the G7 countries for supporting international accountability efforts by encouraging the International Criminal Court to expand its current investigation to cover all of Myanmar's territory, and by assisting States exercising universal jurisdiction to use their courts to prosecute alleged perpetrators of atrocity crimes in Myanmar.

Over the last two years, the NUG held meetings with ASEAN, EU and officials from many other countries, informing them of the current political conditions of Myanmar, covering the areas of humanitarian aid, economic sanctions against the military junta and their family members, seeking prosecutions, and to help restore democracy in Myanmar.

The NUG has now opened representative offices in United States, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Australia, France, Norway, South Korea and Japan.