David Alton in Burma with Aung San Suu Kyi
Op Ed for the Telegraph – January 24th 2026
By Helena Kennedy and David Alton
The year has only just begun and already the world faces multiple new geopolitical crises. But there is one which just as egregious as the others and yet is not in the headlines: Burma or, as its illegal military regime prefers, Myanmar.
On 1 February, we will mark the fifth anniversary of the military coup which overthrew the democratically elected civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the past five years, the junta has plunged the country into a desperate humanitarian and human rights crisis. It has arrested more than 30,000 people. Over 22,000 remain in jail today, including Ms Suu Kyi who turned 80 last year and is in failing health.
The junta is conducting relentless airstrikes against civilians, bombing homes, schools, hospitals, and places of worship. On 10 December, International Human Rights Day, the military bombed a hospital in Rakhine State, killing over 30 people.
The United Nations estimates that almost 4 million people are internally displaced, although civil society organisations on the ground believe the figure is even higher. Almost 20 million people – a third of the population – urgently require humanitarian aid.
It is in this context that the military is holding new elections. Voting is taking place in three phases, with the final round this Sunday. But the world should not be fooled. These elections are a complete sham, a charade designed to give the military “legitimacy”.
No opponent of the junta can contest the elections. More than 40 political parties, including Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) which overwhelming won the last genuine election in 2020, have been dissolved and banned. Indeed, according to the Asian Network for Free Elections, 57 per cent of political parties which contested the 2020 elections no longer exist, even though they won 73 per cent of the votes and 90 per cent of the parliamentary seats. The junta issued a new decree criminalising criticism of the election, with a minimum 20-year prison sentence as the penalty for doing so. More than 120 people have been arrested so far. Independent media and civil society can only operate from hiding or exile, there is no rule of law or independent judiciary, and freedom of expression or assembly are trampled on.
Most of the population are disenfranchised by the military’s war against its people. Voting can only take place in areas which the military directly controls, leaving at least two-thirds of the population excluded. In the areas where people can vote, most only do so out of fear, rather than choice. Turnout has been little more than 50 percent.
Military-backed parties are already declaring a landslide victory, even before final round of voting is completed. But that is not surprising, when they have banned and jailed opposition, criminalised criticism, disenfranchised most of the electorate, and bombed the people.
As the junta attempts this rebranding exercise, it is important to note that the orchestrators of this charade are the regime’s backers in Beijing. China, along with Russia, is the Myanmar dictatorship’s primary ally, providing arms, a financial life-line and diplomatic support for the Generals. China pressed the junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing to hold this election, not because Beijing suddenly converted to democracy but because it wanted its puppets in Myanmar to have a veneer of legitimacy in the hope that it would create stability that would enhance China’s economic and geopolitical interests. China wants to protect its trade routes, infrastructure investments, energy corridors and access to rare earths. Myanmar provides at least 70 percent of China’s rare earths – and Beijing wants to ensure that source is secured. Crucially, to advance its Belt and Road Initiative China wants access to the Bay of Bengal, to dominate maritime routes into the Indian Ocean and reduce reliance on the Strait of Malacca.
So how should the United Kingdom and our allies respond?
With current tensions in the western alliance over Greenland, as well as the war in Ukraine, crises in Iran and Venezuela, and the challenge of securing peace in Gaza, our attention and resources are strained. But it would be a mistake to ignore Myanmar.
First, we should categorically reject the sham elections. Britain, given its historical relationship with the country and its role as the ‘pen holder’ at the UN, should lead international condemnation and an effort to ensure that the international community, and especially Myanmar’s Asian neighbours, do not legitimise the regime.
Second, we must do more to demand the release of all political prisoners, particularly Ms Suu Kyi who has close family ties to the United Kingdom.
Third, we should impose new targeted sanctions against the junta, to cut off financial support and enforce a global arms embargo. We should seek a ban on provision of aviation fuel to the military, to impede its ability to bomb civilians.
Fourth, we should increase aid, but ensure that it is delivered by border-based civil society groups and cannot be blocked, diverted or misused by the military.
And finally, we should hold the perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes accountable. Last week, the International Court of Justice in The Hague began to hear a case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar on charges of genocide against the Rohingya, who have endured repeated pogroms and massacres over the past decade or more. The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has sought a warrant for the arrest of General Min Aung Hlaing. And universal jurisdiction cases have also been filed in Argentina, Turkey, the Philippines and most recently Timor-Leste against the Myanmar military. These should all be allowed to take their course in pursuit of justice, and the United Kingdom should consider exercising its right under Article 14 of the Rome Statute to refer Myanmar to the ICC.
Myanmar’s current plight is a human tragedy. But it is also a much over-looked geopolitical challenge. If we allow the military dictatorship to be legitimised, we are surrendering a resource-rich, strategically-located country to China, only to advance Beijing’s bid to reshape a new world order of authoritarianism that challenges our values and threatens our interests and security.
Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws KC is Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute and is a Labour peer. Lord Alton of Liverpool is Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in Parliament- writing here in a personal capacity – and is an independent crossbench peer.
