Nearly 290 civil society organizations working on Myanmar issues have sent an open letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 17, demanding an investigation into potential conflicts of interest between UN Special Envoy to Myanmar Julie Bishoff and her connections to Chinese businesses. The letter calls for the immediate suspension of Bishoff’s mandate and requests the Secretary-General to directly handle Myanmar affairs. Additionally, the organizations demand that any findings from the investigation be made public.
According to the open letter, Julie Bishoff’s business activities are allegedly linked to mining operations in Myanmar and Chinese state-owned companies. Specifically, the letter points to potential business interests with Chinese state-owned companies Shenghe Resources and China Communications Construction Company, which are currently conducting business with Myanmar’s military regime. These connections could compromise her impartiality and objectivity, potentially impacting her ability to address human rights violations in Myanmar effectively. The letter emphasizes that such relationships could further complicate the handling of Myanmar’s ongoing crisis.
The letter also highlights documented evidence showing Chinese government support for the Myanmar military regime’s war crimes and crimes against humanity against its own people. This call for investigation follows an earlier demand by Justice For Myanmar on March 9, which also raised concerns about conflicts of interest between Bishoff and Chinese state-owned enterprises. The civil society organizations argue that it would be highly unreasonable for the UN to continue entrusting Myanmar’s crisis resolution to a special envoy with such apparent business conflicts that could potentially endanger many Myanmar lives. The organizations have also appealed to the UN General Assembly to immediately revoke the special envoy’s mandate, citing the serious implications these conflicts of interest could have on the lives and well-being of Myanmar’s people.
