The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) decided to temporarily suspend its council during an emergency meeting held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on August 2, 2019, according to Nai Hongsar, the chairperson of the UNFC.
The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) was formed in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on February 16, 2011, to promote ethnic rights to equality, autonomy and genuine federal union. UNFC also aims to represent the ethnic perspectives in peace negotiations with the government.
“The current situation of UNFC is our members are different. There are the NCA-signatory groups, non-signatory groups and the members of the Northern Alliance,” he added.
The UNFC currently consists of only 5 members. The last five members of the UNFC are the New Mon State Party (NMSP), Lahu Democratic Union (LDU), Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), Arakan National Council (ANC) and the Shan State Progress Party (SSPP). But of the five groups, the NMSP and LDU already signed the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA), while the KNPP and ANC have not signed the NCA yet. At the same time, the SSPP has joined the new ethnic negotiating bloc, called Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC).
In addition, previous and current members of the UNFC, the Arakan Army (AA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) created their own military coalition, the Northern Alliance, in 2016.
Nai Hongsar continued “All [UNFC] members maintain the same perspective which is to establish a genuine federal union. We also agree that without everyone’s collaboration, we will not be able to reach our ultimate goal.”
Apart from politics and the peace process concerns, UNFC also has been facing a financial problems.
Although UNFC initially comprised of 12 armed ethnic groups including the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), many groups with a different opinion on the journey to the peace process have sought to resign from the bloc. The UNFC currently consists of 5 members only.
The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) was formed in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on February 16, 2011, which aimed to promote rights to equality, autonomy and genuine federal union.
