Myanmar: NUG has homework to do

Myanmar | 22 September 2022

While the conflict in Myanmar grinds on, the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) needs to become less Bamar- and Buddhist-dominated and more inclusive in ethnic and religious terms.

While the fighting in Ukraine dominates the world’s headlines, other conflicts carry on with no end in sight, as a recent desecration of a Catholic church in Shan State showed (UCA News, 14 September 2022).

World Watch Research analyst Thomas Muller explains: “In the shadow of the Ukraine war, the civil war in Myanmar continues to grind on. Any UN condemnation has been made impossible due to UN Security Council vetoes issued by Russia and China last year (BBC News, 3 February 2021). And since there is no end in sight, the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) has a lot of ‘homework’ to do, as highlighted in a US Institute for Peace report published on 8 September 2022. Apart from winning legitimacy, for example among its ASEAN neighbors, if hopes for a new and recovering Myanmar are ever to come to fruition, the NUG needs to strive to become less Bamar- and Buddhist-dominated and more inclusive in ethnic and religious terms.”