The Honorable James Cleverly
Secretary of State for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
United Kingdom
9 December 2022
Open letter to UK Foreign Secretary: sanction all companies involved in supplying
aviation fuel to Myanmar
Dear Minister,
To mark International Human Rights Day and in solidarity with the Myanmar people who bravely
continue to defend their rights and democracy against the Myanmar military junta, we, the 516
undersigned Myanmar, regional and international organizations, call on the Government of the
United Kingdom (UK Government) to immediately take action to ensure no British companies is
involved, directly or indirectly, in the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military junta. We
further call for your decisive, stronger actions to end the Myanmar military’s onslaught of horrendous crimes.
The illegal coup attempt launched by the Myanmar military in February 2021 has led to gross human rights violations nationwide, and caused an unprecedented human rights and humanitarian
crisis. Terrorizing attacks by the junta, most notably airstrikes, have taken more than 2,500 lives
and displaced over 1.2 million people, with exact numbers are expected to be much higher. Civilians have been consistently targeted and under constant threat of aerial attacks, including in
schools, medical facilities, religious sites and people fleeing for their lives.
The junta’s intensified aerial attacks have been enabled by aviation fuel, supplied and brokered by
foreign companies. The supply chain of aviation fuel from foreign ports have direct links to war
crimes being committed daily by the junta. We note that British companies have provided insurance services to vessels delivering aviation fuel to Myanmar. As long as the supply chain is allowed
to continue, the junta’s atrocities will take more lives and exacerbate the massive displacement.
The junta’s countless war crimes and crimes against humanity have been permitted to rage on for
the past 22 months. It is time the international community issued a complete ban of arms flow to
cut its supply to this international criminal entity.
The UK Government’s commitment to values of democracy and human rights must be reflected in
your responses in effective and meaningful actions to address the deepening catastrophes in Myanmar. We note the UK Government’s previous actions in support of the Myanmar people’s efforts to end this illegal attempted coup to protect the rights of the Myanmar people, including
sanctions on war criminals and junta-linked businesses, and support for the opening of a National
Unity Government’s office in your country who legitimately represents the Myanmar people. We
further welcome the UK Government’s delayed support for The Gambia case against Myanmar at
the International Court of Justice. However, more decisive, practical actions are urgently needed
to end ongoing aerial attacks and atrocities in Myanmar. Your government’s pledge to address the
conflict-related gender violence must also prioritize women and girls in Myanmar’s plight.
We earnestly appeal to you to immediately sanction Burmese companies and state-owned enterprises involved in the supply of aviation fuel to the junta. We further call on the UK Government to
impose an immediate ban on British companies involved in any aspect of aviation fuel supply to
Myanmar. It is essential that the UK Government ensure sanctions on the delivery of aviation fuel
to Myanmar which covers the provision of services such as insurance, accreditation and verification services to vessels and infrastructure used to supply aviation fuel to Myanmar. As the Myanmar military has previously seized commercial-grade aviation fuel from suppliers, we believe that
a complete ban on supplying aviation fuel to Myanmar is essential.
We welcome the role the UK Government has played in seeking the coordination of the implementation of sanctions to date. We request you seek allies such as Australia, Canada, the United
States and the European Union to join you in sanctioning aviation fuel supplies to Myanmar. As
Myanmar civil society, we are aware that such sanctions on aviation fuel could impact commercial
domestic flights. However, we believe that the humanitarian benefit of reducing atrocious airstrikes far outweigh any inconvenience caused by sanctioning fuel supplies.
Lastly, we entrust the UK Government to pass a UN Security Council resolution which places a
comprehensive global arms embargo on Myanmar. The resolution must cover all weapons, munitions and equipment, as well as military training and assistance.
As the people of Myanmar sacrifice their livelihood and future for a federal democratic Myanmar
which upholds human rights and equality for all, the UK Government must utilize all tools at your
disposal to stop atrocities committed by the illegal military junta on a daily basis and protect the
lives of Myanmar civilians.
For more information, please contact:
• Naw Wahkhushee, Karen Peace Support Network, wahku80@gmail.com
• Khin Ohmar, Progressive Voice, info@progressive-voice.org
• Mark Farmaner, Burma Campaign UK, mark.farmaner@burmacampaign.org.uk, tel.
+447941239640
Signed by 516 Myanmar, regional and international organizations including 312 organizations
who have chosen to not disclose their name:
- 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
- Action Committee for Democracy Development (Coalition of 14 grassroots networks)
- Active Youths Kalaymyo
- Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
- Albany Karen Community
- All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
- Alliance for Democracy in Myanmar (Western USA)
- Alliance for FREE Burma Solidarity
- ALTSEAN-Burma
- Anyar Taw Eain
- ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights
- Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
- Asian Cultural Forum on Development Foundation (ACFOD)
- Asian Democracy Network (ADN)
- Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
- Association Suisse-Birmanie
- Auckland Kachin Community NZ
- Auckland Zomi Community
- Australia Chin Communities Council Inc.
- Ayeyarwaddy Journalist Society – AJS
- Ayeyarwaddy west Development Organization (Magway Region)
- Ayeyarwaddy Youth Network
- Back Pack Health Worker Team
- Blood Money Campaign
- Burma Action Ireland
- Burma Campaign UK
- Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
- Burma Medical-Association
- Burman suomalaiset Finland,
- Burmese American Democratic Alliance (BADA)
- Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
- Burmese Muslim Association (BMA)
- Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK
- Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organization New Zealand
- Cambodian Americans and Friends for Democracy and Human Rights Advocates
- Campaign for Popular Democracy (CPD)
- CDM Support Team Mandalay (CSTM)
- Chin Community of Auckland
- Chin Human Rights Organization
- Civil Information Network – CIN
- CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
- CRPH Funding Ireland
- Dawei Development Association
- Delta News Agency
- Dhanu Youth Organization
- Doh Atu – Ensemble pour le Myanmar
- Dooplaya Karen Community Development Group (DKCDG)
- Educational Initiatives Prague
- Ethnic Myanmar Communities Council of Australia Inc.
- European Karen Network (EKN)
- European Rohingya Council
- Federal FM Mandalay
- Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
- Food Not Bombs Kawthoolei လှုပ်ရ ှားမှုအဖ ွဲ့
- Foundation of Khmer Samaki, USA
- Free Rohingya Coalition
- Freedom and Labor Action Group
- Future Light Center
- Future Thanlwin
- General Strike Coordination Body
- Generation Wave
- Grass-root People
- Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), Thailand
- Human Rights Educators Network
- Human Rights Foundation of Monland
- Info Birmanie
- Initiatives for International Dialogue
- Inlihtan Peninsula Tenasserim
- Institute for Asian Democracy
- Inter Pares
- International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
- International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)
- Justice 4 Rohingya UK
- Justice For Myanmar
- Kachin National Youth Network – KNYN
- Kachin State Civilian Movement- KSCM
- Kachin Women’s Association Thailand
- Karen Community Association UK
- Karen Community in Norway (KCN)
- Karen Community of North Carolina
- Karen Community of Syracuse
- Karen Organization of America
- Karen Peace Support Network
- Karen Society of Buffalo
- Karen Swedish Community (KSC)
- Karen Women’s Organization
- Karenni National Women’s Organization
- Karenni Society Finland
- Karenni Society New Zealand
- Keng Tung Youth
- Kyaukse University Students’ Union – KUSU
- Laiza Youth Committee
- Let’s Help Each Other
- LGBTIQ Strike of Mandalay
- Los Angeles Myanmar Movement (LA2M)
- Mandalay Regional Youth Association
- Mandalay Youth Association
- MeBoun Foundation
- Metta Campaign Mandalay
- MIIT Student Strike Column
- Minbu Farmer Group
- Minhla Development Organization
- Mwetaung Area Development Group (MADG) Chin State
- Myanmar Action Group Denmark
- .Myanmar anti-military coup movement in New Zealand
- Myanmar Campaign Network (Australia)
- Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
- Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
- Myanmar Cultural Research Society (MCRS)
- Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland
- Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
- Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
- Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
- Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
- Myaung Education Network
- Myaung Medical Team
- Naphe Development Organization
- Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
- Netherlands-Myanmar Solidarity Platform
- Network for Human Rights Documentation Burma (ND-Burma)
- New Zealand Doctors for NUG
- New Zealand Karen Association
- New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
- Nway Oo Guru Lay Myar
- Overseas Mon Association, New Zealand
- Pakokku Youth Development Council
- Pwintphu Development Organization (Magway Region)
- Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
- Rohingya Action Ireland
- Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
- Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas
- Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
- Sea Junction
- Shan Community (New Zealand)
- Shan MATA
- Social Democracy Think Tank, Thailand
- Southern Youth Development Organization
- Swedish Burma Committee
- Synergy Social Harmony Organization
- Ta’ang Women’s Organization
- Tamar Institute
- Tanintharyi MATA
- Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)
- The Free Burma Campaign (South Africa)
- The Ladies
- U.S. Campaign for Burma
- Union for Civil Liberty Association
- Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
- Universities Kachin Literature and Culture Association Yangon (Yangon JLH)
- Utica Karen Organization
- Victoria Myanmar Youth
- White Coat Society Yangon
- Women’s League of Burma
- Women’s Peace Network
- Yangon Medical Network
- Young People for Social Democracy Movement, Thailand [YPD]
- Youths for Community-Myaung
- Zo Community Australia Inc.
- ကျန်းမာရေးမိသားစု- မန္တလေး
- ချမ်းမြသာစည်မြို့နယ် လူထု သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- ခုနှစ်စဉ်ကြယ်အဖွဲ့
- စိန်ပန်း သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- ဆီသို့ စာစဉ်
- တမ္ပဝတီ လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- တိုက်ကွမ်ဒို အားကစားအသင်း
- တိုင်းရင်းသား လူငယ်များ အထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
- ဒို့မြေကွန်ရက် (LIOH)
- ဒေါင်းစစ်သည်
- ဒေါင်းတမန် စာစဉ်
- နွေဦးခရီးသည်
- ပညာရေးမိသားစု( စစ်အာဏာရှင် ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး ပညာရေး ချိတ်ဆက်ညှိုနှိုင်းမရေး ကော်မတီ
- ပြည်ကြီးတံခွန်သပိတ်
- ပွင့်ဖြူလယ်ယာမြေကွန်ရက်
- ပုဂ္ဂလိက မူကြိုဆရာ၊ဆရာမများအဖွဲ့
- ဘာသာပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- ဘုရားကြီး ငြိမ်းချမ်းရေးသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မကွေး CDM Network
- မန္တလာသက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသား ကျောင်းသူများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေး ကုန်စည်ဒိုင်သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေး၊ သက္ကသိုလ် ဒီဂရီ၊ကောလိပ် ဆရာ၊ ဆရာများ၊ ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေး တက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသား ကျောင်းသူဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေးမြို့အခြေစိုက် လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေး မဟာမိတ် သပိတ်တပ်ပေါင်းစု စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေးလူငယ် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မန္တလေး အင်ဂျင်နီယာ တပ်ပေါင်းစု
- မန္တလေးအင်ဂျင်နီယာများအဖွဲ့
- မန္တလေး အရပ်ဖက်အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ
- မြစ်ကွေ့-လူထုတော်လှန်ရေးစာစဉ်
- မြတောင် သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မြန်မာ့မီးရထား တိုင်းအမှတ်(၃) CDM ဝန်ထမ်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မွတ်စ်လင်မ် လူငယ်များအဖွဲ့
- မဟာအောင်မြေမြို့နယ် စုပေါင်း လူထုသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- မီးဒုတ် စာစဉ်
- ရွှေပြည်သာ သပိတ်ကော်မတီ
- သံဃသမဂ္ဂ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- သပြေညို သတင်းလွှာ
- သမဝါယမတက္ကသိုလ် ကျောင်းသူ၊ကျောင်းသားများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- အ.ထ.က (၇) ကျောင်းသူ၊ကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- အ.လ.က (၁၂) ထခွဲ၊ အခြေခံ ပညာရေးကျောင်းသားများ သမဂ္ဂ (အ.က.သ)
- အဖမ်းဆီးခံပြည်သူများကိုယ်စားပြု သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- အောင်ပင်လယ် ပင်မသပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- အောင်မြေသာစံ ပညာရေးကျောင်းပေါင်းစုံ သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
- တကသကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများ အင်အားစု
- မကွေးလူထုတိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ
Additional 312 organizations have chosen to not disclose their name.
