“Aung San Suu Kyi is in their hands” Disobedience campaign launched in Myanmar

Medical staff at Yangon General Hospital perform the three-finger salute with red ribbons on their uniforms on Feb. 3, 2021, as they join a civil disobedience campaign following the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

A senior source said Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and has not been moved to another location. Separately, the Burmese Civil Disobedience Movement said in a social media post that employees at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 towns had gone on strike to protest the military’s seizure of power.

There was little sign of an escalation of security on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city and commercial capital, on Tuesday. This shows the military’s reassurance that it is not facing mass demonstrations, and its silence in the face of an overwhelming wave of international condemnation.

A Burmese taxi driver told AFP early on the 2nd, “We want to come out and express our discontent, but they have Mama Suu Kyi (Aung San Suu Kyi). So there’s not much we can do at this moment but keep quiet.”

However, the Myanmar Civil Disobedience Movement (MCDM) said in a statement on Facebook that employees at 70 hospitals and medical departments in 30 towns in Myanmar have gone on strike as a protest against the military’s seizure of power.

This is one of the first signs that people are taking concrete action against the coup.

People buy Food at a street market in Yangon on Feb. 2, 2021, a day after the Burmese military seized power in a bloodless coup, detained democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and imposed a year-long state of emergency. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

“In the face of a raging Epidemic, the coup-ridden military has put its own interests ahead of vulnerable communities, said a statement from the Civil Disobedience Movement of Burma. “We refuse to follow the orders of an illegal military regime that has no compassion for our poor patients.”

Separately, The Yangon Youth Network, one of Burma’s largest rights groups, has also launched a civil disobedience campaign. The tweet said, “Yangon Youth Network…announces and urges an immediate response with a civil disobedience campaign.” The tweet also noted that doctors at a hospital in Mandalay have already started such a campaign.