Next month some of the people of Myanmar will start voting in an election imposed by the junta. This military-controlled ballot will be conducted in an atmosphere rife with threats and violence putting the lives of civilians at risk.
The growing insecurity and the lack of measures to protect civilians raise serious concerns about the safety of voters who choose or are forced to participate.
These elections are also taking place in an environment in which the military is actively suppressing participation. Many major political parties are excluded and over 30,000 of the military's political opponents, including members of the democratically elected government and political representatives, have been detained since 2021.
Discrimination also looms large in the electoral process, with Rohingya, Tamils, Gurkhas, and Chinese, among others, excluded from voting. Civil society and independent media have little to no voice. The military has stepped up mass electronic surveillance to identify dissidents, and there are fears this will be used at the polling stations.
Additionally, the military lacks control over large areas of the country and it will be unable to cover the entire country in a meaningful and representative manner. Some 56 townships, in which martial law declarations remain active, will be excluded. Some 31 townships in the first round will have no actual voting due to the absence of candidates.
Far from being a process that could spear-head a political transition from crisis to stability and the restoration of democratic, civilian rule, UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk says this process seems nearly certain to further ingrain insecurity, fear and polarization throughout the country. The utmost priority must be to end the violence and ensure the flow of humanitarian aid.
Given the situation, it is also egregious for any State to forcibly return Myanmar nationals who had fled the country in fear. Against this backdrop of very serious human rights violations, the High Commissioner urges the United States to reconsider its plans to end its Temporary Protected Status, or TPS, programme with respect to Myanmar.
