Tuesday, 30 August 2022

Myanmar Campaign Network

Mr TAK (Clarinda) (15:24): The Myanmar Campaign Network, MCN, is an Australian national coalition formed following the 2021 coup in Myanmar, comprising human rights organisations, international aid NGOs, Myanmar diaspora organisations and trade unions. I stand in solidarity with the network and its many activists, and I commend them for their courage and determination in striving for human rights, democracy and justice in Myanmar.

It has been 17 months since the February 2021 coup in Myanmar. The UN special rapporteur reported that, as of 1 April 2022, junta forces had killed at least 1600 civilians and displaced over 500 000. Half of the population has fallen into poverty, and the World Health Organization has projected over 47 000 preventable deaths in Myanmar this year, with some 13 million people facing food insecurity. We heard from the campaign network of unlawful arrests of elected officials, the use of lethal force against peaceful demonstrators, persecution of journalists, enforced disappearance and rape as a weapon of war, and the list of atrocities goes on.

As the leading democratic nation in the region, Australia must act. I echo the call for targeted sanctions on state- and military-owned enterprises in Myanmar and their subsidiaries as well as financial sanctions and travel and visa bans on military and other officials. I am looking forward to co-hosting the Myanmar Campaign Network— (Time expired)