New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Feb. 9 that her government will suspend all high-level political and military contacts with Burma and bar Burma’s military leaders from entering New Zealand.
Ardern told a news conference Tuesday that “the strong message we are sending is that we will do what we can from here in New Zealand, and one of the things we will do is suspend high-level dialogue and ensure that any funding we provide to Burma does not support the military regime in any way.”
Ardern announced that she will ensure that New Zealand’s aid funding to Burma will not be used by the Tatmadaw. She described New Zealand’s aid to Myanmar as providing about NZ$42 million (about $196 million) from 2018 to 2021.
In a separate statement, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand does not recognize the legitimacy of the government led by the Burmese military and called on the Burmese military to immediately release all detained political leaders and restore civilian rule. She said the New Zealand government has also agreed to a travel ban on Burmese military leaders that will come into effect next week.
The move comes as Burma’s military leaders have pledged to hold new elections and hand power to the winner to quell protests against the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government.
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