Global rallies were held in support of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remaining as Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South Korea on Saturday.
“We have a responsibility to demand [the international community] to listen to us and take action [on Myanmar],” Kyaw Moe Tun said at a rally called “Our U.N. Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun, The True Voice of Myanmar” in New York on Saturday.
The New York City Burmese Community (NYCBC) hosted the rally subtitled “the Global Action for Credentials Campaign 2025,” as it is calling on the U.N. Credentials Committee to allow Kyaw Moe Tun to remain in his position as Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the U.N.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun and officials from the National Unity Government (NUG), an interim administration led by lawmakers ousted in the 2021 Myanmar military coup, participated in the rally outside of the U.N. headquarters.
“These rallies are very important. It is the direct message to the international community that [Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun] represents the people of Myanmar,” Moe Zaw Oo, the NUG deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, told DVB.
Rallies in support of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun remaining in his position as Permanent Representative to the U.N. were held alongside protests against the regime scheduled elections in Vancouver, Canada, as well as Melbourne, Australia, and Daegu, South Korea on Sept. 20.
“Kyaw Moe Tun is the voice of the Myanmar people. His voice represents Myanmar people who have suffered from human rights violations,” Htay Aung, a member of the 88 Generation Students Group living in Vancouver, told DVB.
Protesters in Canada and Australia held signs calling for the immediate release of Myanmar’s jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been held incommunicado by the military in Naypyidaw since it ousted her National League for Democracy (NLD) government in the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
Kyaw Moe Tun attended the closing of the 79th session and the opening of the 80th session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) on Sept. 16. His office confirmed that the Ambassador will be in attendance at UNGA from Sept. 23-30, where over 190 representatives from U.N. member states will address delegates from around the world.
A political analyst in Myanmar told DVB that the U.N. Credentials Committee 2025 – consisting of nine representatives from Malaysia, Russia, China and the U.S. – will allow Kyaw Moe Tun to remain in the post, as it has done on five previous occasions.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun was appointed as Myanmar’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. by the NLD government in 2020. He has retained his position ever since then and now represents the NUG.
