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India invites ASEAN countries to invest in health, pharmaceuticals

Ministers who participated in the meet also took note of the recommendations of the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) to enhance the ASEAN India economic partnership….reports Asian Lite News

Underscoring the importance that it attaches to its economic partnership with the grouping, India has invited ASEAN countries to invest in sectors like health and pharmaceuticals.

Speaking at the 18th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations on Tuesday, India’s Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel highlighted the widespread reforms undertaken by India in various sectors.

These included agriculture, banking, insurance, logistics, corporate laws, and investment regime, she said.

She also spoke about the strong historical and cultural ties between the partners and assured ASEAN of India’s support in its recovery efforts in the post pandemic period.

The meeting was attended by the Economic Ministers of all the 10 ASEAN countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Patel and Minister of Finance and Economy, Brunei Darussalam, Amin Liew Abdullah co-chaired the meet which was held virtually.

According to an official release, the Ministers appreciated the deepening trade and investment between ASEAN and India and the trade partners’ mutual support in combating the pandemic. India is ASEAN’s 7th largest trading partner and one of the largest sources of FDI.

Ministers who participated in the meet also took note of the recommendations of the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) to enhance the ASEAN India economic partnership.

The Ministers took stock of the current pandemic situation and reaffirmed their commitment to take collective actions in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic and ensuring resilient supply chains in the region.

Patel briefed the meeting on India’s current focus on the mass vaccination, capacity enhancements and the economic initiatives to address the pandemic challenges.

The meeting actively discussed the early commencement of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Review. The Ministers noted the status of the scoping exercise of the review and resolved to complete the process expeditiously to make the agreement trade facilitative, user-friendly with contemporary and streamlined customs and regulatory procedures.

Patel highlighted that the trade arrangement has to be reciprocal, mutually beneficial and should balance the aspirations of both the partners.

She emphasized the need for securing the FTA provisions to prevent misuse of the preferential treatment and also highlighted the non-tariff measures faced by Indian exporters in accessing ASEAN market especially in Agriculture and auto sector.

Both sides should make earnest efforts to finalize the Scoping Paper before the ASEAN-India Leaders’ Summit scheduled in October, 2021 and to announce the review before the end of this year, Patel suggested.

The Minister also requested ASEAN to establish Joint Committees for the Review of the India-ASEAN Services and Investment Agreements without any delay. (India News Network)

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India Invites ASEAN Countries To Invest In Health & Pharma Sectors

Smt. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, co-chairing the 18th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations

Smt. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, invites ASEAN countries to invest in India in potential sectors, including health and pharmaceutical sectors … reports Asian Lite News

India assures support to ASEAN countries in their effort to rebuild key sectors. Smt. Anupriya Patel, newly appointed Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, says trade arrangements with ASEAN partners need to be reciprocal, mutually beneficial and should balance the aspirations of both the partners.

She was co-chairing the 18th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations along with Dr. Amin Liew Abdullah, Minister of Finance and Economy, Brunei.

18th ASEAN-India Economic Ministers Consultations

The virtual meeting was attended by the Economic Ministers of all the 10 ASEAN countries Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ASEAN ministers took stock of the current pandemic situation and reaffirmed their commitment to take collective actions in mitigating the economic impact of the pandemic and ensuring resilient supply chains in the region.

They appreciated the deepening trade and investment between ASEAN and India and the trade partners’ mutual support in combating the pandemic. India is ASEAN’s 7th largest trading partner and one of the largest sources of FDI.

Indian Minister Anupriya Patel briefed the meeting on India’s current focus on the mass vaccination, capacity enhancements and the economic initiatives to address the pandemic challenges. She highlighted the widespread reforms undertaken by India in various sectors including agriculture, banking, insurance, logistics, corporate laws, investment regime etc.

The minister invited ASEAN countries to invest in India in potential sectors, including health and pharmaceutical sector. Ministers also took note of the recommendations of the ASEAN India Business Council (AIBC) to enhance the ASEAN India economic partnership.

Smt. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry

The meeting discussed the early commencement of the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) Review. The Ministers noted status of the scoping exercise of the review and resolved to complete the process expeditiously to make the agreement trade facilitative, user-friendly with contemporary and streamlined customs and regulatory procedures.

Smt. Patel highlighted that the trade arrangement has to be reciprocal, mutually beneficial and should balance the aspirations of both the partners. She emphasized the need for securing the FTA provisions to prevent misuse of the preferential treatment and also highlighted the non-tariff measures faced by Indian exporters in accessing ASEAN market especially in Agriculture and auto sector.

She suggested that both sides should make earnest efforts to finalise the Scoping Paper before the ASEAN-India Leaders’ Summit scheduled in October, 2021 and to announce the review before the end of this year.

The Indian Minister also requested ASEAN to establish Joint Committees for the Review of the India-ASEAN Services and Investment Agreements without any delay. She highlighted the importance India attached to its economic partnership with ASEAN and the strong historical and cultural ties between the partners and assured ASEAN of India’s support in its recovery efforts in the post-pandemic period.

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26 Delhi-bound Myanmarese nationals held in Guwahati

Police have registered a case at the Paltan bazar police station under the Indian Penal Code, the Foreigners Act, and the Passport Act….reports Asian Lite News

A total of 26 Delhi-bound Myanmarese nationals, including 10 women, were arrested on Sunday as they arrived in Guwahati from Mizoram, police said.

A police spokesman said that acting on secret information, police arrested the 26 Myanmarese nationals, who include seven teenagers and rest aged 20 to 28, from a private lodge at Rehabari here.

Upon interrogation, it was found that the apprehended foreign citizens belonged to Falam district of Chin state of Myanmar and they were on their way to Delhi to study the Bible. Forged Indian documents including Aadhar cards, and voter identity cards, prepared in Mizoram were seized from them, the spokesman said.

Police have registered a case at the Paltan bazar police station under the Indian Penal Code, the Foreigners Act, and the Passport Act.

According to officials in Aizawl, around 11,500 Myanmarese nationals of Chin stock have taken refuge in 11 districts of Mizoram, whose six districts have an unfenced border with the neighbouring country, since the military coup there on February 1 and few of them have crossed over to neighbouring Manipur too.

The Chin, also known as the Zo, share the same ancestry, ethnicity and culture as the Mizos of Mizoram.

This is believed to be the first case of the Myanmar nationals, sheltered in Mizoram, venturing out of the northeastern states.

Often, Rohingya Muslims from the refugee camps in southeast Bangladesh enter the northeastern states of India illegally in search of jobs or get trapped in human trafficking.

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Fresh Influx of Myanmar Refugees to Mizoram

The Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border is currently sheltering 4,550 refugees, the highest, followed by Aizawl district where 1,700 refugees have taken shelter….reports Asian Lite News

With the fresh influx of refugees from Myanmar, the number of people taking shelter in Mizoram after the military coup hit the neighbouring country has gone up to around 11,000, officials said on Saturday.

District administrations and police officials said that around 150 to 160 people, including women and children, took shelter in Mizoram’s Champhai, Lawngtlai and Hnahthial districts bordering Myanmar during the past few days.

Mizoram Home Minister Lalchamliana told the media here that if the attacks and counter-attacks by the Myanmar military and the opposition forces continue, more people are likely come into Mizoram for shelter.

Most of the refugees from Myanmar have been provided makeshift shelters by various local NGOs, including the Young Mizo Association which also provided them food, medicines and other basic necessities on humanitarian ground, while several others are living with their relatives.

The officials said that the district administrations are unable to help the immigrants formally as they are yet to be granted refugee status by the government or international agencies.

A demonstrator stacks bags on a street as a barricade during a demonstration against the military coup and the detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar(ians)



According to the media and intelligence reports, the fresh refugee influx occurred in Mizoram as the Burmese government-in-exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), called for a countrywide uprising earlier this week and clashed with the military soldiers who undertook massive operations against the resistance forces.

Sounds of fierce gunfights and bursting shells and other firearms between the cadres of anti-coup NUG and the Myanmar army could be heard from the villages bordering Myanmar.

According to the officials of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), which maintains the data of Myanmarese refugees, around 11,000 refugees, including about 20 legislators, have taken shelter in Mizoram’s 11 districts since March this year.

The Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border is currently sheltering 4,550 refugees, the highest, followed by Aizawl district where 1,700 refugees have taken shelter.

A majority of those who have taken shelter in the bordering state belong to the Chin community, also known as the Zo community, who share the same ancestry, ethnicity and culture as the Mizos of Mizoram.

Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. (Xinhua_U Aung_IANS)



Six Mizoram districts – Champhai, Siaha, Lawngtlai, Serchhip, Hnahthial and Saitual – share 510 km unfenced borders with Myanmar.

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga had earlier urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to provide asylum, food and shelter to the refugees who arrived in the state since the military coup in Myanmar on February 1.

Referring to the Union Home Ministry’s advisory to the four northeastern states bordering Myanmar and also to the Assam Rifles and the BSF for taking action to prevent illegal influx from Myanmar into India, Zoramthanga had said, “This is not acceptable to Mizoram.”

A Mizoram government delegation had already met the Vice President, Union Minister of State for Home and Home Secretary in Delhi to persuade them to impress upon the Centre not to forcefully push back the Myanmar nationals sheltered in Mizoram.

As per the MHA advisory, the state governments and UT administrations have no power to grant “refugee” status to any foreigner, and India is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol.

A one-year state of emergency has been declared in Myanmar, where power has been transferred to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing after President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained by the military on February 1.

Meanwhile, the Mizoram government has decided to enrol children of Myanmarese refugees into the state government schools.

Last week, Mizoram’s School Education Director James Lalrinchhana, referring to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act-2009), had asked all the district and sub-divisional education officials that children aged between 6 and 14 years belonging to disadvantaged communities have the right to be admitted to schools in a class appropriate to his or her age for completing elementary education.

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US govt condemns assassination plot on Myanmar’s UN envoy

The US officials have arrested two men – Phyo Hein Htut and Ye Hein Zaw for the assassination plot…reports Asian Lite News

US Permanent Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Saturday (local time) condemned the assassination attempt on Myanmar’s UN envoy Kyaw Moe Tun, who is currently pressured to resign by the country’s military junta.

“We unequivocally condemn this threat to Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, which fits a disturbing pattern of authoritarian leaders and their supporters reaching across the globe – including into the United States – to persecute and repress journalists, activists, and others who dare speak or stand against them,” Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement, reported Sputnik.

The US officials have arrested two men – Phyo Hein Htut and Ye Hein Zaw for the assassination plot. Htut and Zaw, both are citizens of Myanmar and were currently residing in New York.

In an attempt to kill Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Htut had communicated with an arms dealer in Thailand, who sells weapons to the Burmese military, which overthrew Myanmar’s civilian government in February 2021.

She further expressed her solidarity with Myanmar’s envoy, who “continues to demonstrate remarkable courage and bravery in speaking on behalf of the people of Burma [Mynamar] who demand a return to democracy,” reported Sputnik.

Kyaw Moe Tun had denounced the military takeover of the country and sided with the government in exile.

On February 1, the Myanmar military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency. The coup triggered mass protests, which were quashed with deadly violence in the country.

Earlier on Sunday, Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing declared himself prime minister of the country and said that he plans to be in charge for two years during an extended state of emergency before holding an election in 2023.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers have appointed Brunei’s second Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as a special envoy to Myanmar to facilitate mediation among the stakeholders and to find a peaceful resolution of the political crisis in the country.

Over 945 people have been confirmed to be killed since the military takeover on February 1, according to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). (ANI)

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UK becomes ASEAN dialogue partner in Indo-Pacific push

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab joined a virtual ceremony with ASEAN Foreign Ministers where they welcomed the UK as an ASEAN ‘Dialogue Partner’. The partnership is the first ASEAN has agreed in 25 years, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk

The UK has agreed a new partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which the government said will lead to closer cooperation with the region on a range of issues such as trade, investment, climate change, the environment, science and technology, and education.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab joined a virtual ceremony with ASEAN Foreign Ministers where they welcomed the UK as an ASEAN ‘Dialogue Partner’. The partnership is the first ASEAN has agreed in 25 years.

Since the UK submitted its application to become a Dialogue Partner in June 2020, the Foreign Secretary has attended two UK-ASEAN Ministerial Meetings and hosted the ASEAN Chair at the G7 Foreign & Development Ministers meeting in May.

“This is a landmark moment in the UK’s tilt towards the Indo Pacific. Our closer ties with ASEAN will help create green jobs, reinforce our security cooperation, promote tech and science partnerships, and safeguard key pillars of international law like the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab said.

ASEAN is an influential group of ten member countries in the Indo-Pacific.

The government said the partnership will formalise UK’s relations with the group – including through attending annual Foreign and Economic Ministers meetings along with other Ministerial engagements.

Dialogue Partner status puts the UK at the heart of the Indo-Pacific, the government said, adding that it will work with ASEAN and its members on key shared challenges such as maritime security and transnational crime, boost our economies through trade, and strengthen our cooperation on issues such COVID-19 and climate change.

The new agreement will also help the UK to deepen economic links with ASEAN, which has a combined GDP of $3.2 trillion. Total trade between the UK and ASEAN was £32.3 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2021 with huge potential to boost this trade, creating jobs at home, according to the government.

“This is great news and shows Global Britain in action, forging stronger relationships around the world as an independent trading nation,” International Trade Secretary, Liz Truss said.

“Along with CPTPP accession and deals with countries like Singapore and Vietnam, this will help unlock opportunities for British businesses in a high-growth region of more than 650 million people, allowing them to expand and create jobs across the UK,” she added.

Dominic Raab has visited Southeast Asia five times since becoming Foreign Secretary, demonstrating the growing importance of the Indo-Pacific, as set out in the Integrated Review. 

The announcement comes at a time of growing UK defence and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, as the UK’s Carrier Strike Group, led by the HMS Queen Elizabeth, is in the region and has completed a series of engagements with a range of ASEAN partners, with further interactions planned in the autumn.

In June, the UK formally launched accession negotiations with the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) nations. The CPTPP is one of the largest free trade areas in the world, accounting for 13% of global GDP in 2019. Four ASEAN states – Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei – are members of the CPTPP.

British Ambassador to the Philippines, Daniel Pruce said the new partnership will lead to more trade, better security cooperation with the group.

“I am immensely proud that the UK has been accepted as the first new ASEAN Dialogue Partner in 25 years. This will lead to more trade, better security cooperation and greater people-to-people links for the UK and ASEAN, alongside our strong and growing bilateral relationship with the Philippines,” Pruce said.

“Achieving this status is a key step forward in the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt and can only serve to help the UK and ASEAN Member States work even more closely together on some of the key global challenges including climate and COVID,” he added.

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Myanmar junta promises elections in 2023

Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. (Xinhua_U Aung_IANS)

In a related development also on Sunday, the country formed a Republic of the Union of Myanmar Caretaker Government…reports Asian Lite News

 Myanmar is likely to hold new general elections in the second half of 2023, Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, chair of the newly-formed State Administration Council, said on Sunday.

“The constitution states the limitation for the duration of the state of emergency. According to subsection (b) of Section 421, if one cannot accomplish the duties within one year of the emergency period, it permits only two extensions of the prescribed duration for a term of six months for each extension,” Xinhua news agency quoted min as saying in a televised address to the nation.

“In the meantime, we have to do the things that should be done. Then, we will take six months by August 2023 to prepare for the election according to the law,” he added.

Min’s announcement came after the Myanmar junta on July 27 announced the cancellation of the results of the 2020 general elections which were won by ousted de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

According to the announcement, the results were cancelled as the polls were not held in line with laws and were not fair, the very reasons of the February 1 coup.

Since then, Min has held the state power.

In his address on Sunday, he also pledged to hold the multi-party general elections without fail, stressing the need to create conditions to hold free and fair polls.

“We will hold briefings on findings of the previous general elections to international delegates in the near future.”

He also pledged to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

A demonstrator stacks bags on a street as a barricade during a demonstration against the military coup and the detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar(ians)

In a related development also on Sunday, the country formed a Republic of the Union of Myanmar Caretaker Government, according to an order by the State Administration Council.

Under the order, the new caretaker government will be led Min as Prime Minister and Vice Sen-Gen Soe Win as his Deputy.

The caretaker government body comprises union ministers, union attorney-general and permanent secretary of office.

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Pak’s terror outfits could be Waterloo for its ASEAN ambition

A country which has become a synonym for terrorism can only prove to be an embarrassment and disruption for a grouping like ASEAN…reports Asian Lite News

Pakistan carries too much unsavoury baggage and labels to be a Dialogue Partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Pakistan has long been considered as a terrorist sponsor. It is currently under watch from the international watchdog on terrorism financing, FATF. It hosts, according to Prime Minister Imran Khan, over 30,000 terrorists. It is home to the largest number of militants and terrorist entities proscribed by the UN, various international organisations and more than 100 countries.

A country which has become a synonym for terrorism can only prove to be an embarrassment and disruption for a grouping like ASEAN which faces more urgent challenges of an aggressive China and unprecedented fluidity in global economy.

What ASEAN members would do well to remember is that Pakistan has also been consistently labelled as the ‘most dangerous place’ in the world to be a journalist or a human rights activist. It has rarely been a free country for journalists or human rights activism. But it has become one of the worst under Prime Minister Khan.

Journalists, bloggers and human rights have been brutally killed, assaulted and threatened in large numbers under his captaincy of the country. In fact, his government’s agents have hunted down journalists and activists in other countries where they lived in asylum.

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Khan has adopted a more aggressive campaign against the media than his predecessors. He has gone after media companies and owners who refuse to kowtow to his diktat. His government disrupted the functioning of several media houses by ordering unwarranted raids on their offices, stopping their printing presses and blocking their supply lines. The owner of a powerful media house, the Jang Group, was hauled up on an old charge related to property.

India slams Pakistan for its human rights situation 

Television companies that refused to tow the line of the Khan government or his patrons in Rawalpindi have been slapped with taxes, fines and allegations of misdemeanor at the drop of a hat. Even popular anchors like Hamid Mir have not been spared for speaking up against journalists getting assaulted inside their own homes. Several bloggers and human rights activists have disappeared in the past months, with accusing fingers pointing at the government and the military for running a brutal campaign to silence the people. Such a country deserves no place in a respectable organisation like ASEAN.

Pakistan’s treatment of its minorities and women, a large number of them Muslims, should also raise heckles among the ASEAN leadership. Pakistan has been punishing Ahmadis and Shias for long. Ahmadis, a minority sect among Muslims, are virtually slaves in Pakistan with no claim to normal citizenship rights like worship or voting. Shias for decades have been targeted by various extremist Sunni outfits, most of them flourishing under the patronage of the state. Hindus, Sikhs and Christians have rarely, if ever, fair and just treatment as citizens. Pakhtuns, Baloch and Sindhis, almost all of them Muslims, have been facing the state’s brutality for raising their voice for just treatment. Pakistan’s worsening human rights record and religious persecution have been highlighted by the US and European Union besides other countries.

With such an abysmal record in safeguarding the interest and life of its own citizens, Pakistan has proved to be a failing state, a factor which alone should nix any move to make it a member of ASEAN.

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US Pentagon slams Myanmar’s military rulers

Myanmar has been wracked by violence by its security forces against people protesting against the military’s seizure of power in February….reports Asian Lite News

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin decried the actions of Myanmar’s military rulers on Tuesday and urged a regional bloc to keep demanding an end to the violence.

Myanmar, also called Burma, has been wracked by violence by its security forces against people protesting against the military’s seizure of power in February.

Austin applauded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for its efforts to solve the crisis, including a consensus reached with Myanmar’s military leader in April.

The five-point document calls for an immediate end to violence and the start of a dialogue among contending parties, with a special ASEAN envoy mediating in the talks. However, a special envoy still hasn’t been appointed.

Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. (Xinhua_U Aung_IANS)

“The Myanmar military’s refusal to respect the inalienable rights of the Burmese people and to defend their basic well-being is flatly unacceptable,” Austin said in a lecture in Singapore.

“A military exists to serve its people, not the other way around. And so we call on the Myanmar military to adhere to the ASEAN five-point consensus and to forge a lasting peace,” he added.

ALSO READ: ‘Myanmar crisis to damage entire generation of children’

“ASEAN obviously plays a key role, or can play a key role. We certainly will continue to encourage ASEAN to continue to work this issue,” Austin said.

He said the US will work with partners in the region to urge Myanmar’s military to “move in the right direction” and release civilians it has imprisoned.

Austin, who is on a tour of Southeast Asia, met with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Tuesday. He also met Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen to reaffirm the countries’ longstanding ties, according to a joint statement.

A Myanmar police officer

The retired four-star Army general hopes to strengthen relationships with other Southeast Asian allies in the coming days, and will visit Vietnam and the Philippines amid tensions in the disputed South China Sea, which is largely claimed by China.

“As Prime Minister Lee has counseled, we are not asking countries in the region to choose between the United States and China,” Austin said.

“In fact, many of our partnerships in the region are older than the People’s Republic of China itself. That’s why we are expanding our important work with countries throughout the Indo-Pacific and with ASEAN itself, a critical body that brings the region closer together, offering everyone a voice, building deeper habits of cooperation,” he said.

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‘Myanmar crisis to damage entire generation of children’

Nearly 6,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since the military overthrew the elected Government…reports Asian Lite News

Due to the ongoing political crisis, children’s rights in Myanmar are facing an onslaught that risks leaving an entire generation damaged, the UN Child Rights Committee (CRC) has warned.

Since February’s military coup, 75 children have been killed, about 1,000 arbitrarily detained and countless more deprived of essential medical care and education, according to credible information obtained by the Committee.

“Children in Myanmar are under siege and facing the catastrophic loss of life because of the military coup,” Mikiko Otani, Chair of the CRC, said.

Nearly 6,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since the military overthrew the elected Government and seized power on 1 February. In addition, approximately 900 people, including children, have been killed and countless more wounded.

The Committee monitors the compliance by States parties to the Child Rights Convention. Myanmar acceded to the Convention in 1991.

The Committee strongly condemned the killing of children by the junta and police. Some victims were killed in their own homes, including a six-year-old girl in the city of Mandalay, who was shot in the stomach by police and died in her father’s arms.

A demonstrator stacks bags on a street as a barricade during a demonstration against the military coup and the detention of civilian leaders in Myanmar(ians)

The CRC also deplored the arbitrary detention of children in police stations, prisons and military detention centres.

The military authorities have reportedly taken children as hostages when they are unable to arrest their parents. Among those detained is a five-year-old girl in the Mandalay region whose father helped organize protests against the junta.

“Children are exposed to indiscriminate violence, random shootings and arbitrary arrests every day. They have guns pointed at them, and see the same happen to their parents and siblings,” Otani warned.

The Committee is profoundly concerned at the major disruption of essential medical care and school education in the entire country, as well as access to safe drinking water and food for children in rural areas.

The UN Human Rights Office has received credible reports about hospitals, schools and religious institutions being occupied by security forces and subsequently damaged in military actions.

According to UNICEF, the UN children’s agency, a million children in Myanmar are missing key vaccinations. More than 40,000 children are no longer getting treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

“As a result of the military coup and conflicts, children’s right to life, survival and development have been repeatedly violated,” said Otani.

“If this crisis continues, an entire generation of children is at risk of suffering profound physical, psychological, emotional, educational and economic consequences, depriving them of a healthy and productive future.”

The Committee called for immediate action to bring about a peaceful solution to the crisis and urged Myanmar to uphold its obligations under the Convention to protect and promote children’s rights to the utmost degree. (ANI)

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