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In her latest report on the human rights situation in Myanmar, UN Special Envoy Christine Schraner warned that the February coup has sparked a protracted armed conflict. Schraner assured that if power is not returned to the people democratically, the country “will go in the direction of a failed state.”
After 8 months of the military coup, the situation in Myanmar continues to deteriorate dramatically with conflict escalating in many parts of the country and the crackdown by the military has resulted in more than 1,180 deaths and more than 8,000 arrests.
My speech at the UN GA yesterday:
“If Senior General Min Aung Hlaing truly cares about his country’s future, he must step down and hand the Tatmadaw’s power over to the civilian government in line with the will of the people!”https://t.co/Wou3mXZbMZ– Special Envoy of UN Secretary-General on Myanmar (@ SchranerBurgen1) October 23, 2021
The UN spokesperson statement said that the Army uses a variety of tactics against the civilian population, including burning villages, looting property, torture, executing prisoners and gender-based violence, where a large part of women’s organizations They have had to close for security reasons. For this reason, the UN fears that the human rights catastrophe will be even more serious.
The absence of international action and intervention in the conflict has intensified and justified violence as a last resort, while criticism has been increasing at the national and international level. Thousands of troops are concentrated in the north of the Southeast Asian country, which has lived in chaos since the February 1 military coup.
Figures of the military coup in Myanmar
On February 1, 2021, the Tatmadaw (name given to the Myanmar Army) took control of the country, deposed democratically elected members, detained President Win Myint, Aung San Suu Kyi and other elected government leaders, and declared a one-year state of emergency.
Since that date, according to the UN, the number of internally displaced persons in Myanmar increased from 370,000 to 589,000 and the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance increased from 1 million to 3 million, a figure that tripled in less than nine months, due to that the health system is collapsed.
UN spokeswoman Schraner Burgener said that at least 4,000 soldiers have defected from the conflict, but the number could not be verified, adding that “even if there are 3,000 it is a fairly large number.”
Since the military seizure of power, about a million people have taken refuge in Bangladesh. In Rakhine State, the Rohingya, an ethnic and religious minority, remain in camps without freedom of movement and restricted access to basic services such as health care, education and livelihoods.
A call to the international community
Given the critical moment for the country, Schraner Burgener urged other countries to support Bangladesh, in conjunction with efforts to address the underlying problems in Myanmar. Additionally, he recommended that the international community not recognize the government installed after the military coup, led by Major General Min Aung Hlaing, since he considers that the level of power that the Tatmadaw has in the country is the main cause of instability and violence.
“We want to respect the will of the people,” he stressed, noting that this was done last November when Suu Kyi’s party obtained 80% of the votes.
With Reuters, AP and EFE
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