Myanmar’s representative to the United Nations has issued a stark warning, urging the international body to take decisive action against the country’s military junta as atrocities mount and the social crisis deepens.

Speaking on 4 February, Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun condemned the junta’s ongoing violence, sham elections and systematic repression, which he said have left millions displaced and pushed half the population below the poverty line.

Since the coup of February 2021, more than 7,700 people have been killed, including thousands of women and children. Over 3.6 million are now displaced, while nearly 22 million require humanitarian assistance. “Atrocities are the everyday reality for the people of Myanmar,” the envoy told the UN, warning that the junta’s planned elections will only prolong the crisis.

Kyaw Moe Tun stressed that the military has weaponised every sector of society, from healthcare and education to employment and infrastructure, leaving citizens facing poverty, persecution and exclusion. He described the junta’s actions as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Despite the bleak picture, he highlighted efforts by the National Unity Government, ethnic organisations and civil society groups to provide humanitarian aid, education and health services. But he said these initiatives face growing limitations without stronger international support.

“The UN must not continue failing the people of Myanmar,” he declared, calling for bold, principled decisions to hold the junta accountable. He argued that social development cannot thrive “in a vacuum of legitimacy” and insisted that perpetrators must face justice if Myanmar is to build a federal democratic union.

The appeal comes as the fifth anniversary of the coup passes, underscoring the urgency of international intervention. For Myanmar’s people, the envoy said, hope endures — but without UN action, the humanitarian crisis will only deepen.

-2026-02-09

About Time! Why has the UN ignored Myanmars terrifying situation, families broken up and sent running for their lives.

Photos from the start have shown small children being murdered on the streets of Yangon. Men and women used as slaves in the mines of the Junta. Heart breaking.