(Screen grabbed from FCCT)

At the conclusion of their nine-day fact-finding mission to the Thailand-Myanmar border, New Zealand Parliamentarians Phil Twyford, Rachel Boyack and Teanau Tuiono were confronted with urgent challenges that demand not only their attention but also the solidarity of the international community.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), which has consistently stood with Myanmar’s workers, unions, communities and youth resisting military rule, stressed two key issues for the MPs to uphold in their assessment: 1) the rejection of the junta’s so-called election and 2) the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to those most in need.

BWI said that the military junta is reportedly preparing to stage a sham election designed to consolidate military power. BWI urged the MPs to see through the charade. The 12-million strong global union said that the regime controls less than 40 percent of the country yet plans polls in only a third of townships. It also explained that Gerrymandered districts, staged voting, and forced participation with no option to spoil ballots strip any credibility. Draconian laws impose death or prison for dissent, all genuine opposition parties are banned, and under the illegitimate 2008 constitution, the junta automatically claims 25 percent of seats.

BWI stressed that the MPs must not allow the sham election to be mistaken for democracy. Legitimising it, BWI said, would embolden a regime at war with its own people, escalate conflict, and undermine the struggle for freedom led by Myanmar’s workers, youth and democratic forces.

The mission comes amid a massive humanitarian crisis wherein 3.6 million people were displaced inside the country, with another 2 million forced to flee. BWI urged the team to uphold the principle that aid must reach all in need, work with neighbouring countries to expand cross-border delivery into conflict zones, increase funding for a protracted crisis, and channel support through civil society, ethnic resistance groups, and trusted NGOs, as the junta has weaponised aid to starve opposition communities.

For BWI, the mission of the New Zealand MPs should be clear; stand firmly against the junta’s sham election and push for an urgent humanitarian response that bypasses the regime and reaches Myanmar’s displaced and war-affected communities. It called on the international community to continue supporting the Myanmar working people’s struggle for democracy. It said that the Myanmar people are looking to leaders like New Zealand’s MPs to uphold these principles and to ensure that international solidarity translates into real support for those fighting military repression.