HRW reiterates its request to Japan to suspend non-humanitarian aid to Burma

Oct. 11 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The NGO Human Right Watch (HRW) has accused the Burma military junta on Monday of using passenger ships financed by Japan and donated for civilian use for military purposes, and has reiterated to the Japanese Executive to stop selling this equipment.

Specifically, two of the three ships delivered by Japan between 2017 and 2019 have been used to transport more than 100 soldiers and materiel to the city of Buthidaung on the Mayu River in Rakhine state, where the military is fighting the group. armed ethnic Arakan Army, as detailed by the organization.

For this reason, the NGO has insisted on its request to the Japanese government to suspend non-humanitarian aid to Burma and punish the officials of the board involved in serious human rights violations.

“Burma’s junta’s misuse of Japanese development aid for military purposes makes Japan a patron of the junta’s military operations,” said Teppei Kasai, Asia Program Fellow at HRW.

“The Japanese government urgently needs to reassess its obviously flawed approach to reducing board abuses,” he added.

On September 23, the Rakhine State Police Chief and Minister of Transport, on behalf of the Rakhine State Prime Minister, wrote to the National Minister of Transport and Communications and specifically confirmed that the two boats had been used for military”.

In the letter, the Rakhine authorities sought to justify this use of boats, arguing that “the Government of the region or the State will have a responsibility to help the Government preserve the stability of the country, the peace and tranquility of the community and the predominance of law and order,” the NGO has learned.

An informal ceasefire between the Burma Army and the Arakan Army, in place since November 2020, has broken down in recent months, HRW has detailed.

In August, the Army reinforced its troops in northern Rakhine state, where fighting has since intensified in intensity and scope, including airstrikes, heavy artillery shelling and the use of landmines, with an increasing number of civilian casualties.

On September 15, the board issued a directive that banned United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations from six municipalities and closed boat lines and public transportation.

The fighting has displaced more than 18,000 people since August, joining more than 70,000 internally displaced people, many of whom face food and medicine shortages exacerbated by the junta’s restrictions, according to HRW.

Faced with this situation, Japan has been forced to take “appropriate measures” regarding the issue in question, as explained by a diplomat consulted by the organization who refrained from revealing more details because it was a “diplomatic matter.”

Japan provided the three ships to Burma under the 500 million yen (3.5 million euro) Economic and Social Development Program, signed on September 12, 2016.

After the military coup of February 1, 2021 in the Asian country, the Japanese government declared that it would refrain from carrying out new non-humanitarian programs in Burma, but did not suspend the ongoing projects.

“The Japanese government should activate the human rights-based conditions enshrined in its Development Cooperation Charter, which states that ‘Japan will pay due attention to the situation in host countries with respect to the democratization process, the rule of law and the protection of basic human rights,'” said HRW.

Regarding humanitarian aid, the organization believes that Japan should maintain these types of projects, but redirect the funds through non-governmental groups to ensure that it is used effectively and directly benefits populations in need.

“Japan’s lukewarm approach to sanctions has in no way diminished the Burma junta’s abuses,” Kasai said.

“Japan should make the most of its reputation as a rights-respecting democracy by using all available diplomatic tools to hold Myanmar’s military accountable,” he added.