The Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP
Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH

By email: fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk

Dear Secretary of State,

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine call for the effective care and treatment and the safe and unconditional release of the President of the Myanmar Emergency Medicine Society,
Professor Maw Maw Oo. Professor Maw Maw Oo was arrested in April 2021 and has recently become ill with Covid-19 and taken to hospital where he is currently on oxygen and steroids.

Professor Maw Maw Oo represents an integral figure in the Myanmar, and global emergency care community, was arrested and detained while on duty treating patients at the Yangon General Hospital (YGH) emergency department, where he serves as Director. He is Professor and Head of Emergency Medicine at the University of Medicine (1), Yangon, and YGH. In 2020, he was appointed to Emergency Clinical lead for Myanmar’s national and regional COVID-19 response.

He has held numerous other high-profile national and international medical leadership roles and has played a key role in emergency care education and development programs, including national and regional disaster preparedness and response. He is a widely respected figure both in Myanmar and internationally.

We have grave concerns for the welfare of Professor Maw Maw Oo and health care workers in Myanmar, and the challenging and potentially life-threatening conditions they face incarcerated. Their ongoing detention represents a critical threat to Myanmar’s emergency medicine and healthcare systems more broadly and undermines the ability of all healthcare
workers to provide emergency care to the citizens of Myanmar.

As members of the global emergency medicine community, we urge Professor Maw Maw Oo’s immediate, safe and unconditional release. In calling for the safe treatment and release of
Professor Maw Maw Oo, and safety of all our colleagues in Myanmar, we urge the international community to do all in its power to ensure the upholding of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Yours Faithfully,
Andrew Fryer
International Manager
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine