Written by Han Yin, Manager;
Based on reporting by Verena Hölzl, The New York Times, Sept. 20, 2026
When Myanmar’s military seized power in 2021, U Kyaw Moe Tun, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, refused to work for the generals. More than five years later, he still holds his U.N. post and the keys to Myanmar’s mission, a five-story townhouse in Manhattan.
The building is split. He and his supporters use the lower three floors, and officials backed by the military use the top two. Neither side leaves the building empty, for fear the other will change the locks.
The fight has been costly. His passport was cancelled, the mission’s money is running low, and he has stopped taking a salary. His family has also paid a price. Volunteers from the Myanmar community help by raising funds and guarding the mission overnight.
His story is not simple. He once defended the military’s treatment of the Rohingya, which the U.N. and U.S. have called genocide, and he has since tried to distance himself from that stance.
Myanmar’s civil war has killed an estimated 100,000 people and displaced nearly four million. This one man’s stand is a small piece of a much larger struggle over who speaks for the country.
Read the full story at The New York Times: “Holding the Fort in Manhattan to Defy Coup Leaders in Myanmar.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/world/asia/myanmar-mission-un-envoy.html
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