By The Diplomat | Created at 2026-09-14 08:46:44 | Updated at 2026-09-19 07:06:10
5 days ago
Myanmar’s military-backed government is ramping up the campaign against its rogue permanent representative to the United Nations, ahead of an expected credentials battle later this month.
Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed by the civilian government that was removed from power in a military coup in February 2021. After the coup, he gave an emotional address to the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), in which he publicly broke with the junta and appealed for “the strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy to the country.
He later pledged his loyalty to the National Unity Government (NUG), which was formed by members of the ousted government and other members of Myanmar civil society.
The military junta subsequently terminated Kyaw Moe Tun and nominated another candidate, the retired colonel Aung Thurein, to replace him. However, Kyaw Moe Tun has been allowed to remain in the seat, due to repeated deferrals by the U.N. Credentials Committee on the question of who has the right to represent Myanmar at the U.N.
On September 8, the UNGA appointed a new nine-member Credentials Committee that will soon consider whether to enact another deferral or to make a definitive ruling on who should represent Myanmar at the U.N.
In recent months, Naypyidaw and its various propaganda organs have been waging a campaign against Kyaw Moe Tun, seeking his removal and accusing him of various forms of wrongdoing. In a statement yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Naypyidaw accused Kyaw Moe Tun of undertaking “illegal activities,” saying that his status had been “revoked and withdrawn.” Specifically, it accused him of the misuse of state funds and property for “personal interest” and for colluding with resistance groups, such as the NUG, that “have been declared unlawful associations and terrorist organizations.”
It said that Kyaw Mow Tun had acted “as an accomplice to terrorist acts by concealing, defending, and supporting unlawful violent operations targeting innocent civilians, civil servants, and public infrastructure within Myanmar on the international stage.”
The Ministry added that the Myanmar Embassy in Washington, D.C. was coordinating with INTERPOL and the United States National Central Bureau in order to pursue “necessary action” against the envoy.
“Kyaw Moe Tun’s continued representation of Myanmar at the United Nations does not constitute formal recognition of his legitimacy,” the Ministry said. “Rather, his continued status is merely a temporary arrangement, with the Credentials Committee’s decision deferred annually.”
As with its ongoing fight against the former ambassador to the United Kingdom, who declared for the resistance and refused to leave the ambassador’s London residence since the coup, the Myanmar government has likely gauged that the time is ripe to intensify its campaign against Kyaw Moe Tun.
In April, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was appointed president at the head of a new “civilian” government, after tightly circumscribed elections that were held over three phases in December and January.
Since taking office in April, Min Aung Hlaing has prioritized the normalization of Myanmar’s relations with the outside world. He has since visited four ASEAN member states – Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia – to press his case for Myanmar’s readmission into the 11-nation-bloc. The organization has barred Myanmar from its summits over the lack of action to implement its Five-Point Consensus plan for managing the post-coup conflict. He has also been welcomed recently as head of state in China, India, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Expelling Kyaw Moe Tun and resolving the currently anomalous status of Myanmar at the U.N. is clearly also high on the new government’s list of diplomatic priorities.
The UNGA’s annual session is scheduled to begin on September 22, but no date has been set for the Credentials Committee to decide on the Myanmar issue. The Committee currently comprises the Bahamas, Belgium, Benin, China, Jamaica, Russia, Uganda, the U.S., and Vanuatu.
Where the Credentials Committee has since 2021 chosen to defer its decision on Myanmar’s representation, essentially kicking the can down the road, the outlook is less certain now than it has been at any stage since the coup. China and Russia have accorded Min Aung Hlaing red carpet treatment in recent months and can be expected to support his government’s position. The view of the other nations toward the issue of Myanmar’s representation, and the recent political transition in Naypyidaw, remains unclear – and that is also true of the U.S. under President Donald Trump.
While the U.S. has refused to recognize the military regime that took power in 2021, the administration now appears internally divided on the question of Myanmar. In a human rights report released in August of last year, the U.S. State Department cited the “significant” human rights issues in Myanmar, including “credible reports” of arbitrary killings and disappearances, torture, persecution of journalists, human trafficking, and restrictions on religious freedom.
However, just three months later, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked temporary protected status for Myanmar nationals in the U.S., including many who were fleeing post-coup repression. In announcing the move, the DHS cited the junta’s planned elections as evidence that the country had “made notable progress in governance and stability.”
In recent weeks, the Myanmar diaspora has called on U.N. missions to continue recognizing Kyaw Moe Tun. According to the Democratic Voice of Burma, Kim Aris, the son of ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is planning a rally outside the U.N. headquarters in New York on September 19 to show support for the beleaguered representative. Simultaneous support rallies and public advocacy events are scheduled to take place in cities in Asia, Europe, and Australia.
