He released my country’s first hip-hop album in 2000. In Myanmar at the time, this was almost a revolution. His rap has influenced the lives of many people.
Zeyar Thaw was released and elected to Parliament in 2011, after being put in jail for his political activities, and just as our democratic transition began.
I had already struggled for 11 years as a political prisoner under the previous military junta from 1998 to 2009. Most of the people I spent in the cell couldn’t see another despot this time driving my country into turmoil. I chose resistance.
Zeyar Thaw and Ko Jimmy, as well as thousands of people across Myanmar. Nurses, teachers, doctors, farmers, and even children-they came out on the street in opposition to unwanted coups.
As elected members of parliament, we have chosen to assert our legitimacy. We formed the National Unity Government of Myanmar because our freedom cannot be stolen by military Russian guns.
We are directly experiencing that Russia’s military intervention is not limited to Ukraine. Russia and Myanmar are strengthening their ties and see them as part of their greater strategic involvement with Southeast Asia. This is a collaborative attempt to promote dictatorship in the region and erode democracy.
We live in a world where dictators support each other to maintain their strength. Therefore, it must be clear that the struggle for democracy and freedom by the people of Myanmar is a struggle for all.
I am the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Unity Government of Myanmar. It is my job to tell the world that we will not lose. But what can you tell the people of Myanmar in return? What is the world saying to us?
It targets what it calls, nominates “terrorists,” and claims that many of these incidents are blamed on resistance fighters rather than on their own troops.
We must overcome this junta and change their calculations to understand that they cannot keep Myanmar forever in their chain of fear and greed.
Here’s how we do it.
We must deny the junta the income to fund the violence. The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom impose some sanctions on the regime. But to deny the foreign currency that junta crave, we have to do more.
The military continues to rely on funds from foreign companies to fund warfare. The flow of money, especially the oil dollar, must and can be stopped.
The Ukrainian example shows how the world uses economic means to put pressure on the government.
The murder of the Myanmar army will not stop until the income is exhausted.
In Japan, we will overcome the military government with the power of inclusion. My country has been at war with its own country for decades. Now, in opposition to the military, a new alliance between Myanmar’s ethnic groups is building a new, shared future. We are addressing the root causes of violence through the new Federal Democracy Charter, a comprehensive decentralized Myanmar plan. We are learning together where we need to go.
This vision has been validated by our National Union Advisory Board, the most comprehensive, substantive and people-focused process we have ever taken in Myanmar. This NUCC brings together representatives of different political parties, ethnic voices and civil society to create a common solution to the challenges we face. We are learning together where we need to go.
In these areas, we are working with ethnic politics and civil society organizations to build local governments led by national representatives, who are responsible for health and welfare.
This tactic is well known and creates elections where only they can stand and only they can win and parade the results as if it were important. This locks Myanmar into an endless cycle of incapacity and violence.
They revealed that they wanted to take full control of humanitarian aid as a way to gain legitimacy and leverage their strategies.
We, the National Unity Government of Myanmar, are ready to help humanitarian agencies reach the most deprived. Myanmar has a resilient civil society doing incredible work to serve its communities. Humanitarian aid can and should be provided accountably to the people of Myanmar.
We have seen the international reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reaction gives me hope. We do not want to live in a world where such crimes may be exempt. People believe that Ukraine is free and should be free.
My country, its people, and my friends Zeyar Thaw and Ko Jimmy are about to be killed. They are waiting for the world to believe that Myanmar can also be free.
Source: www.cnn.com
