e-3419 Foreign affairs
Garnett Genuis
Civil and human rights,Foreign policy,Myanmar
June 30, 2021, at 2:13 p.m. (EDT)
Petition to the Government of Canada
  Whereas:
  
    On February 1, Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw) led by General Min Aung Hlaing staged a coup, killed over 800 people and detained over 4200 people including elected representatives, civil activists, students, teachers and health care workers;
    On April 16, the federalist National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) was formed by elected representatives of the 2020 elections, in parallel to the junta;
    Its cabinet includes ethnic representatives, civil activists and anti-coup protest leaders. As one Yangon-based diplomat described, this is “the most diverse and inclusive political body the country has ever seen”;
    Myanmar’s security forces have been systematically killing, abducting and torturing civilians, including violence against women and children and use of civilians as human shields; and
    The Tatmadaw does not have the mandate to represent Myanmar and has been outlawed by the NUG as terrorists responsible for gross human rights violations.
  
  
    We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to :
    
      1. Recognize the NUG as the only legitimate governing body of Myanmar and support its efforts to establish a federal, democratic and pluralistic country that respects the rights of all ethnic communities including the Rohingya.;
      2. Designate the Tatmadaw as a terrorist organization and cut all diplomatic ties with it;
      3. Provide humanitarian aid for refugees displaced by country-wide crackdowns and the bombing of villages and towns, like in Karen, Kachin and Chin states; and
      4. Provide financial support for detainees and civil workers who have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement against the junta.