IPS Responds to Parliamentary Inquiry on Myanmar Crisis

On 18 May, our IPS Executive Director Federica D’Alessandra, IPS Visiting Fellow Kirsty Sutherland and Research Assistant Henry Wu submitted written evidence in response to the UK Parliamentary inquiry on the UK Government’s response to the ongoing military and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. The team argued that given its status as UN Security Council Penholder, the UK has both the responsibility and a duty to proactively pursue action to immediately cease violence and resolve the crisis in Myanmar. The UK and international partners should work towards reinstating democratically elected officials and make the Myanmar government’s respect of human rights and the rule of law the centrepiece of supportive action. Unilaterally, the UK should promote measures to establish legal accountability, implement additional targeted economic sanctions, increase humanitarian support and support civil society organisations. With international partners and allies, the UK should consider opportunities for mediation and diplomacy. More generally, the UK should adopt an integrated atrocity prevention strategy, which is key to preventing further atrocities, including in Myanmar. A previous Parliamentary submission authored by Federica D’Alessandra and Kirsty Sutherland lays out exactly what steps the government should take towards this latter goal.