Open letter to government of Singapore

October 29, 2023

Download PDF: EnglishBurmese

To

Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong

Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore, Vivian Balakrishnan

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore

Re:  to block the Myanmar junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel.

29 October 2023

Dear Government of Singapore,

The signatories of people of Myanmar[1], signed by over 27,700 (included from ground 1,314) individuals and endorsed by (430) local and international organizations from across the world, are writing to the government of Singapore.

The brutal and illegal Myanmar military junta has been relying on Singapore for funds and the supply of arms, equipment, technology, and jet fuel, enabling its ongoing attacks against the people.

Since February 1, 2021, the junta has been waging a campaign of terror with indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling, murder, torture, arbitrary detention, rape and the destruction of homes and food supplies.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar recently revealed[2] that Singapore is the third biggest supplier of arms and equipment[3] to the Myanmar military since its coup attempt, in a trade valued at $254 million from at least 138 Singaporean companies.

Singapore also remains a major business center for the military’s cronies. Some, like Tay Za[4] and Naing Htut Aung[5], enjoy lavish lifestyles in the city state while profiting from the destruction of Myanmar lives.

Despite UK and US sanctions, Shoon Group of Companies are continuing to operate in Singapore, supplying the junta with jet fuel[6] that it needs to wage aerial warfare against the people.

It is clear that from Singapore, businesses are transacting with the Myanmar military and conglomerates, enriching war criminals and supporting their international crimes[7]. But this can and must be stopped.

Singapore has committed to investigate companies supplying arms and dual use goods, and United Overseas Bank (UOB) has recently imposed restrictions[8] on transactions involving Myanmar. Singapore needs to now do more to help stop the junta’s campaign of terror.

We call on Singapore to:

1)    Introduce sanctions to stop the direct and indirect transfer of arms, dual-use goods, technology, jet fuel, and related transactions, to the Myanmar military,

2)    Utilise money laundering provisions and impose sanctions to ensure the illegal junta cannot access the Singapore financial system, including the USD 4.6 billion of funds that belong to the Government of Myanmar,

3)    Expedite and make public ongoing investigations into Singaporean companies that have supplied arms, dual-use goods and technology to the Myanmar military.

#DoMoreSingapore

Respectfully,

Signed by the people of Myanmar, (430 orgs) local and international organizations, including (10) local organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names because the junta continues violence in Myanmar.

Endorsed Organizations Worldwide!

Australia

1.     Action Against Myanmar Military Coup (Sydney)

2.     All Burma Student Democratic Front - Australia Branch

3.     All Young Burmese League (AYBL)

4.     Anti-Myanmar Dictatorship Movement

5.     Anti-Myanmar Military Dictatorship Network (AMMDN)

6.     Australia Burma Friendship Association, Northern Territory

7.     Australia Karen Organization WA Inc.

8.     Australia Myanmar Doctors, Nurses and Friends

9.     Australia Myanmar Youth Alliance (AMYA)

10.  Australian Burmese Muslim Organisation

11.  Australian Chin Community (Eastern Melbourne Inc)

12.  Australian Karen Organisation (AKO)

13.  Australian Karen Organisation, Inc. NSW Branch

14.  Bamar Community Tasmania

15.  BMT counselling

16.  Burma Lawyers’ Council (BLC)

17.  Burmese Community - South Australia

18.  Burmese Community Development Collaboration (BCDC)

19.  Burmese Community Support Group (BCSG)

20.  Burmese Friendship Association

21.  Burmese Medical Association Australia (BMAA)

22.  Canberra Karen Association

23.  Chin Community - South Australia

24.  Chin Community of Western Australia Inc.

25.  Chin Community Tasmania

26.  Chin Youth Organization

27.  CRPH/NUG support group Australia

28.  Democracy for Burma

29.  Falam Community - South Australia

30.  Industrial Training Centre (ITC) Family Sydney

31.  International Karen Organisation

32.  Joint Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (JACDB)

33.  Justice 4 Myanmar - Hope & Development

34.  Kachin Association of Australia WA Inc.

35.  Karen Community - South Australia

36.  Karenni Community of Western Australia Inc.

37.  Karenni Federation of Australia

38.  Kayin Community Tasmania

39.  Matu Chin Community - South Australia

40.  Mindat Chin Community NSW

41.  Mindat Community - South Australia

42.  Mizo Community - South Australia

43.  Mon Families Group

44.  Mon National Council (MNC)

45.  Myanmar Buddhist Community of South Australia

46.  Myanmar Campaign Network

47.  Myanmar Community Coffs Harbour (MCC)

48.  Myanmar Democracy and Peace Committee (Australia)

49.  Myanmar Democratic Movement (MDM)

50.  Myanmar Engineering Association of Australia (MEAA)

51.  Myanmar People Residing in Canberra

52.  Myanmar Students' Association Australia (MSAA)

53.  NLD Solidarity Association (Australia)

54.  NSW Karenni (Kayah) Communities

55.  Patriotic War Vetrans of Burma (PWVB)

56.  Perth Myanmar Youth Network

57.  Pyit Taing Htaung Social Club

58.  Queensland Kachin Community (QKC)

59.  Queensland Myanmar Youth Collective (QMYC)

60.  Queensland Rohingya Community

61.  Red Campaign Nirvana Exhortation Group

62.  Remonya Association of WA (Mon Community)

63.  Shwe Youth Democratic Alliance (SYDA)

64.  Southcare Medical Centre

65.  Support for Myanmar

66.  Sydney Friends for Myanmar Unity

67.  The Institution of Professional Engineers Myanmar (IPEM)

68.  United Myanmar Community of South Australia

69.  Victorian Burmese Care Community (VBCC)

70.  Victorian Myanmar Youth (VMY)

71.  We Pledge CDM (Australia)

72.  Western Australia Myanmar Community (WAMC)

73.  Western Australia Myanmar Democratic Network (WAMDN)

74.  Women Activists Myanmar (WAM)

75.  Yadanar Foundation

76.  Youth Heart Beams

77.  Zo Community - South Australia

78.  Zomi Association Australia Inc.

79.  Zomi Community - South Australia

80.  Zomi Community Queensland

Canada

1.     Arakan Watch

2.     Burmese Canadian Network (BCN), Myanmar Emergency Fund

3.     Myanmar Student Association Ontario

Czech Republic  

1.     Educational Initiatives Prague

Denmark  

1.     Myanmar Action Group Denmark

Finland

1.     Finland Myanmar Society Ry

2.     Padauk, Suomi-Myanmar Seura and Myanmar Diaspora Group Finland

France

1.     Doh Atu  - Ensemble pour le Myanmar

2.     Info Birmanie

3.     La Communauté Birmane de France

Germany

1.     CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany - Deutschland

GLOBAL

2.     Democracy Against Dictatorships - MILK TEA ALLIANCE (ASEAN)

3.     Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (Global)

4.     International Campaign for the Rohingya

5.     International Karen Organisation

6.     International Society of Myanmar Scholars and Professionals

7.     Myanmar Global Support Foundation (MGSF)

Ireland  

1.     Ah Nah Podcast - conversations with Myanmar

2.     Burma Action Ireland

3.     CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland

4.     CRPH Funding Ireland

Italy

1.     Italy - Burma Friendship Association

2.     Myanmar Community in Italy

Japan

1.     Association of United Nationality in Japan (AUN)

2.     Burma Refugee Saving Association (B.R.S.A)

3.     Chin Community of Japan (CCJ)

4.     Chin Youth Organization of Japan (CYO-JP)

5.     Colorful Spring (ရောင်စုံနွေဦး)

6.     Dawei Youths in Japan (DYJ)

7.     Dragon Dawn

8.     Federation of Worker’s Union of Burmese Citizens in Japan (FWUBC)

9.     GenY For Revolution Japan

10.  Global Myanmar Spring Revolution - Japan

11.  Hope For Youth -Kyushu Japan

12.  International Society of Myanmar Scholars and Professionals (Japan)

13.  Japan Myanmar Future Creative Association (JMFCA)

14.  Japan Myanmar Help Network – JMHN

15.  Kachin Affairs Organizintion -Japan (KAO (Japan)

16.  Kansai Group Japan

17.  Karen National League Japan-KNL

18.  Karenni National Society (KNS)Japan

19.  KnowUsMoreMyanmar (KUM)

20.  Kobe Myanmar Community (KMC)

21.  League For Democracy in Burma (L.D.B Japan)

22.  Mon Youth For Federal Democracy (MYFD)

23.  Myanmar Development Support Group (MDSG)

24.  Myanmar Nationalities’ Support Organization – JP (MNSO)

25.  Myanmar Spring Revolution Japan (MSRJ)

26.  Myanmar Tozan Club (MTC)

27.  Myanmar Youth and Student Association, Japan (MYSA)

28.  Myanmar’s Youth Association Hokkaido (MYAH)

29.  Okinawa Myanmar Association (OMA)

30.  Palaung National Society Japan, PNS-Japan

31.  Palaw Supporting Group - Japan

32.  People’s Hope Spring Revolution (PHSR)

33.  Punnyakari Mon National Society Japan

34.  Revolution Tokyo Myanmar (RTM)

35.  Shan Community in Japan (SCJ)

36.  ShizuYouth For Myanmar

37.  Sone See Yar (Volunteer Group)

38.  Spring Revolution Restaurant ( SRR )

39.  Tai Youths Network Japan (TYNJ)

40.  Try Together At Japan (TTAJ)

41.  Union of Myanmar Citizen Association – Japan

42.  Voice For Justice

43.  We Are One Saga MOSA

44.  We for All

45.  We Support

46.  Yaw Funding Japan

47.  Yokohama Pamphlet Campaign - Myanmar

48.  ဂျပန်ပြည်မှတွဲလက်များ

Korea

1.     Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (Korea)

2.     Yaw Funding Korea

Malaysia

1.     Coalition of Rohingya Organisations in Malaysia (CROM)

2.     Palaw Supporting Group - Malaysia

3.     Rohingya Arakanese Refugee Committed (RARC), Malaysia

4.     Yaw Funding Malaysia

Myanmar

1.     5/ of Zaya State Strike

2.     88 Generation Peace and Open Society

3.     Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD)

4.     Action Committee of Basic Education Students (ACBES)

5.     All Aung Myay Thar San Schools Strike Force

6.     All Burma Democratic Face

7.     All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Monywa District)

8.     Alliance of Students' Union – Yangon (ASU-Yangon)

9.     Anti-Coup Forces Coordination Committee (ACFCC -Mandalay)

10.  Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon-AJAY

11.  ANTS Fundraising Team

12.  Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters

13.  Athan - Freedom of Expression Activist Organization

14.  A-Yar-Taw People Strike

15.  Basic Education Branch High School (Maharaungmyay) Students' Union

16.  Basic Education General Strike Committee (BEGSC)

17.  Basic Education Students and Youth Association -BESYA Central

18.  Basic Education Worker Unions - Steering Committee (BEWU-SC)

19.  Blood Money Campaign

20.  Boycott Military's Pocket

21.  Burma Human Right Network (BHRN)

22.  Burma Refugee Saving Association (B.R.S.A)

23.  CDM Medical Network (CDMMN)

24.  Chanmyatharzi Township People's Strike

25.  Chaung Oo Township Youth Strike Committee

26.  Chindwin (West) Villages Women Strike

27.  Civil Information Network (CIN)

28.  Civil Society Organizations Coordination Committee (Monywa)

29.  Coalition Strike Committee – Dawei

30.  Co-operative University Mandalay Students' Strike

31.  Daung Sitthe Strike

32.  Dawei ( Ashaetaw) Women Strike

33.  Dawei Youths Revolutionary Movement Strike Committee

34.  Democracy Movement Strike Committee - (Dawei)  DDMSC

35.  Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization

36.  Democratic Youth Council -DYC

37.  Depayin Township Revolution Steering Committee

38.  Depayin Women Strike

39.  Dhobama (2021 Generation)

40.  Equality Myanmar

41.  Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee (Mandalay)

42.  Former Political Prisoners and New Generation Group – Monywa

43.  Free Rohingya Coalition

44.  Freedom and Labor Action Group

45.  Future Light Center

46.  Future Thanlwin

47.  Gangaw Women Strike

48.  General Strike Collaboration Committee (GSCC)

49.  General Strike Committee of Basic and Higher Education (GSCBHE)

50.  General Strike Committee of Nationalities (GSCN)

51.  General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB)

52.  Grass-root People

53.  HTY Scout Channel

54.  Human Rights Educators Network

55.  Human Rights Foundation of Monland

56.  Industries Strike

57.  Information & Scout News (Hlaing)

58.  Insein Scout Channel

59.  Justice For Myanmar

60.  Kachin State Civilian Movement-KSCM

61.  Kachin Student Union

62.  Kalay Township Strike Committee

63.  Kalay Women Strike

64.  Kamayut Scout Channel

65.  Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)

66.  Karen Youth Network

67.  K'cho Ethnic Association

68.  Kyain Seikgyi Spring Revolution Leading Committee

69.  Kyauktada Strike Committee(KSC)

70.  Kyimyindaing Scout Channel

71.  Lanmadaw,Latha & Pabedan Scout Channel

72.  Latpadaung Region Strike Committee

73.  Legal Aid for Human Rights

74.  LGBT Alliance

75.  LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kalay Region)

76.  LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kyaukse Region)

77.  LGBT Community Yangon

78.  LGBT Union – Mandalay

79.  Listen & Donate

80.  Magway People's Revolution Committee

81.  Maharaungmyay Township People's Strike

82.  Mandalar University Students' Strike

83.  Mandalay Alliance Coalition Strike

84.  Mandalay Medical Family (MFM)

85.  Mandalay Strike Force (MSF)

86.  Mandalay Women Strike

87.  Mandalay Youth Strike

88.  Mandalay-Based People's Strike

89.  Mandalay-Based University Students’ Unions (MDY_SUs)

90.  Matu Burma Foundation

91.  Mayangone News

92.  MayMyo Strike Force

93.  Minority Affairs Institute (MAI Myanmar)

94.  Mon Youth For Federal Democracy (MYFD)

95.  Monywa LGBT Strike

96.  Monywa People's Strike Steering Committee

97.  Monywa Women Strike

98.  Monywa-Amyint Road Strike Leading Committee

99.  Monywa-Amyint Road Women Strike

100.   Multi-Religions  Strike

101.   Mya Taung Strike

102.   Myanmar Institute of Information Technology Students' Strike

103.   Myanmar Labor Alliance (MLA)

104.   Myanmar Muslim Revolution Force-MMRF

105.   Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)

106.   Myaung Youth Network

107.   MyaYar Knowledge Tree

108.   Myingyan Civillian Movement Committee

109.   Nar Sin Say

110.   Network for Human Rights Documentation-Burma (ND-Burma)

111.   Network of University Student Unions – Monywa

112.   No.12 Basic Education Branch High School (Maharaungmyay) Students' Union

113.   NOK Information & Scout Echo

114.   North Dagon & East Dagon News

115.   OCTOPUS

116.   Oway Institute (အိုးဝေ ပညာရေးအဖွဲ့)

117.   Pale Township People's Strike Steering Committee

118.   Pa-O National Federal Council

119.   People’s Hope Spring Revolution (PHSR)

120.   Progressive Voice

121.   Pyi Gyi Tagon Strike Force

122.   Rangoon Scout Network -RSN

123.   Representative Committee of University Teacher Associations (RC of UTAs)

124.   Rohingya Youth Development Forum (RYDF)

125.   Samgha Sammaga-Mandalay

126.   Save and Care Organization for Ethnic Women at Border Areas

127.   Seinpann Strike

128.   Shwe Pan Kone People`s Strike Steering Committee

129.   Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation

130.   Sone See Yar (Volunteer Group)

131.   South Dagon Scouting Infos (SDG)

132.   Southern Dragon Myanmar

133.   Spring Revolution Restaurant (SRR )

134.   Student Union Representatives Committee-SURC

135.   Tamwe Nway Oo Channel

136.   Taze Strike Commitee

137.   Taze Women Strike

138.   Thaketa & Dawbon Scout Channel

139.   Thakhin Kodaw Mhine Peace Network (Monywa)

140.   Thayat Chaung Women Strike

141.   The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (Myanmar)

142.   The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (Monywa)

143.   Townships Information Community - TIC

144.   Twitter Team for Revolution (TTFR)

145.   University Students’ Unions Alumni Force

146.   Volunteers in Myanmar

147.   Wetlet Revolution Leading Committee

148.   Wetlet Twonship Women Strike

149.   White Coat Society Yangon (WCSY)

150.   Women Alliance Burma (WAB)

151.   Yadanabon University Students’ Union (YDNBUSU)

152.   Yangon Public Relations

153.   Yangon Women Strike

154.   Yasakyo Township People`s Strike Steering Committee

155.   Yinmarpin and Salingyi All Villages Strike Committee

156.   Youth for democratization of Myanmar (UDM)

157.   Youth Scout For Democracy (YSD)

158.   Z Fighter News

Netherlands

1.     Netherlands Myanmar Solidarity Platform

2.     Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (Netherlands)

New Zealand

1.     8888 Generation (New Zealand)

2.     All Burma Democratic Face in NewZealand

3.     Auckland Kachin Community NZ

4.     Auckland Zomi Community

5.     Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)

6.     Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand

7.     Chin Community of Auckland

8.     Citizen of Burma Award -New Zealand

9.     Dunedin Myanmar Community New Zealand

10.  Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)

11.  Karenni Society New Zealand

12.  Kayan International Network-New Zealand

13.  Myanmar Community Christchurch New Zealand

14.  Myanmar Engineers-New Zealand

15.  Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)

16.  Myanmar Students' Union in New Zealand

17.  National Advocacy Group - New Zealand

18.  Nelson Myanmar Community New Zealand

19.  Netherlands Myanmar Solidarity Platform

20.  New Zealand Doctors for NUG

21.  New Zealand Karen Association

22.  New Zealand Zo Community Inc.

23.  Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand

24.  Rvwang Community Association New Zealand

25.  Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)

26.  Shan Community (New Zealand)

27.  Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (Netherlands)

28.  Wellington Chin Community ( New Zealand )

29.  Wellington Karenni Community - New Zealand

Norway

1.     Aung San Su Kyi Park, Norway

2.     Chin Community in Norway

3.     CRPH Support Group, Norway

4.     Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway

5.     Kachin Association Norway

6.     Karenni Association - Norway

7.     K'cho Ethnic Association

8.     Matu Burma Foundation

9.     Mon Association - Norway

10.  Myanmar Baptist Churches in Norway

11.  Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway

12.  Myanmar Community in Norway

13.  Myanmar Hindu Community - Norway

14.  Myanmar Muslim Organization - Norway

15.  NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway

16.  Norway Falam Community

17.  Norway Matu Community

18.  Norway Rawang Community

19.  Rohingya Community in Norway

20.  Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)

21.  Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway

22.  Zomi Community Norway

Switzerland

1.     Association Suisse-Birmanie

2.     International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)

Thailand

1.     Community Resources Centre Foundation

2.     Dream Hope Goals (DHG)

3.     ETOs Watch Coalition

4.     Friends Against Dictatorship (FAD)

5.     Karen Charity And Social Group

6.     Karen Women's Group

7.     National Alliance Bangkok

8.     New Power Generation

9.     No Boundary Supporting Group

10.  Palaw Supporting Group - Thailand

11.  Supporting Brothers

12.  Thailand For Burma

13.  The Mekong Butterfly

14.  Yaw Funding Thailand

15.  တွဲလက်ညီထောက်ပို့

16.  နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးထောက်ပို့အဖွဲ့

17.  မဟာမြေပြင်ထောက်ပို့ရေးအဖွဲ့

18.  မေတ္တာညီအစ်ကိုပရဟိတအသင်း

19.  ရောင်နီသစ်စီတက်လှမ်းချီ

20.  လူသားချင်းစာနာမှုကူညီထောက်ပံ့ရေးအသင်း

21.  အနာဂတ်အလင်းရောင်ပရဟိတအသင်း

22.  အမှောင်ကိုခွင်းအလင်းရောင်ရှိ

United Kingdom

1.     Burma Campaign UK

2.     With Myanmar UK

United States of America  

1.     Alliance for Democracy in Myanmar (ADM)

2.     Anti Dictatorship in Burma - DC Metropolitan Area ( ADB - DCMA )

3.     Austin Myanmar Community

4.     Boston Free Burma

5.     Burmese American Democratic Alliance

6.     Burmese American Women Alliance

7.     Campaign for a New Myanmar

8.     Chin Community San Francisco Bay Area

9.     EarthRights International

10.  Help Myanmar

11.  Helping Hands for Burma (H2B) USACM

12.  International Campaign for the Rohingya

13.  Kachin Culture and Literature Association

14.  Los Angeles Myanmar Movement (LA2M)

15.  Multi-Ethnic Community

16.  Myanmar Diaspora for Democracy (MD4D)

17.  Myanmar Student Union Skyline College (ABFSU)

18.  New York City Burmese Community (NYCBC)

19.  No Business With Genocide

20.  Save Myanmar (USA)

21.  Save Myanmar San Francisco

22.  Sone Yay Foundation

23.  U.S. Campaign for Burma

24.  US Advocacy Coalition for Myanmar- USACM

25.  We Support NUG-NB


[1] https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/#DoMoreSingapore! Block the Myanmar junta’s access to funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel

[2] UN Special Rapporteur Billion Dollar Death

[3] Impact of arms shipped through Singapore on the people of Myanmar SRM_BDDT_IFG_Web (ohchr.org)

[4] Htoo Group’s business with the Myanmar military | Justice For Myanmar

[5] Military-linked companies procured USD millions in arms and military equipment | Justice For Myanmar

[6] Myanmar: Deadly Cargo: Exposing the supply chain that fuels war crimes in Myanmar - Amnesty International

[7] UN expert exposes $1 billion “death trade” to Myanmar military | OHCHR

[8] Key Singapore bank UOB moves to cut off Myanmar - Nikkei Asia