UN Security Council condemns Myanmar military over ‘unrelenting violence’

Members of the United Nations Security Council – with the exception of veto-wielding China and Russia – have condemned the “unrelenting violence” raging across Myanmar following a closed-door briefing on the crisis.

The military has been accused by the UN and others of killing civilians

Members of the United Nations Security Council – with the exception of veto-wielding China and Russia – have condemned the “unrelenting violence” raging across Myanmar following a closed-door briefing on the crisis.

The 13 council members again urged the generals who led a coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 to end the violence and stop killing civilians, noting there had been “insufficient progress” on implementing December’s landmark Security Council resolution on Myanmar.

“We remain deeply concerned about the situation in Myanmar and its impact on the people of Myanmar,” said Britain’s deputy UN ambassador James Kariuki as he read out the statement at UN headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

Diplomats from the 12 other countries that had signed up to the statement stood alongside Kariuki as he reiterated their particular concern over “the use of air strikes”.

Kariuki said the council had been briefed by relief chief Martin Griffiths, who visited Myanmar last week in a trip that has been criticised by civil society groups working in and on Myanmar. Assistant Secretary General Khaled Khiari also updated the council on efforts to resolve the crisis triggered by the coup.