PRESS RELEASE: “Turn your eye to what is happening in Myanmar,” says former ASEAN human rights reps 30 April 2024

The former representatives of the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) has called upon the UN, ASEAN, and key governments to take immediate and concrete measures in resolving the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.

“We strongly condemn the ongoing human rights catastrophe in Myanmar. Attacks against schools, churches, and especially children are a grave violation of children’s rights and international humanitarian law,” said the former ACWC representatives in their recent statement last April 30.

Myanmar is still marred by intensified conflict between the military and ethnic armed groups, leaving thousands of civilians killed, seriously injured, detained and displaced from their homes and communities. Just recently, an airstrike on a school in Myanmar’s Karenni state killed four children and injured at least 15 others.[1] Another airstrike by the military also killed civilians, including nine children, as they gathered to attend church last January.[2] The attacks on civilians show no signs of stopping.

[1] The Guardian. 2024. Myanmar: airstrike on school killed four children, witnesses say. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/feb/07/myanmar-military-airstrike-karenni-state-school-daw-si-ei-village

[2] Amnesty International. 2024. Military air strikes that killed 17 civilians ‘must be investigated as war crimes.’ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/myanmar-military-air-strikes-that-killed-17-civilians-must-be-investigated-as-war-crimes/