John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Dr. Murphy and thank her for her opening statement. I have been following the situation in Myanmar closely over the last few months. Indeed, over the last few years any time that Myanmar has been in the news it has been, unfortunately, in connection with matters related to genocide and acts against citizens by the military junta. I am really concerned about the situation there. Dr. Murphy has spoken quite graphically to all of our concerns and I thank her for opening statement. Recently I have been speaking to a number of people who worked previously with NGOs on the ground in Myanmar. They are very concerned about the situation there and about some of their colleagues who are still on the ground in Myanmar and who are afraid to speak out because of the potential repercussions. Unfortunately, what we are seeing and hearing on the television news is probably only the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is actually happening on the ground. I thank Dr. Murphy for highlighting the situation there.

Myanmar has been in difficulty since it gained independence from the British in 1948 and what we are seeing now is part of the legacy of the colonisation of south east Asia and other parts of the world by various countries. I have referred to acts of genocide that have happened in Myanmar, the most recent being those perpetrated against the Rohingya Muslim population in 2017. This led the councillors of Dublin City Council to withdraw the Freedom of the City which was conferred on Aung San Suu Kyi. Concerns have existed for some time about the actions of the Myanmar Government in dealing with some ethnic minorities and what is being done now by the military junta must be condemned.

Dr. Murphy mentioned the ASEAN talks and the agreement that has been reached but yesterday the Karen National Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Karen National Union, KNU, launched an attack in the southern part of Myanmar. Concern has been expressed that this attack will give the junta an excuse to back out of the tentative agreement that is in place at present. The junta has said that it will focus on quelling any military revolt. The KNU has a long history of fighting for self-determination. The make-up of Myanmar is complex, with so many different ethnic groups within the country. Does Dr. Murphy share the concern of others about the implications of the actions of the Karen National Liberation Army?

My brother lives in Thailand and has told me that huge numbers of refugees have fled Myanmar and crossed into Thailand. This is creating real difficulties in the context of Covid and the mass movement of people. There have been significant spikes in case numbers. Does Dr. Murphy have any information regarding Covid in Myanmar? We have all seen what is happening in India but I am interested to learn about the situation in Myanmar vis-à-visCovid-19. As I said, there has been a spike in the number of cases as a result of people fleeing persecution and crossing the Thai border. This has obviously created a humanitarian crisis and a crisis in terms of the spread of Covid.

Again I thank Dr. Murphy and hope she will be able to answer some of my questions.