Myanmar’s military government uses live ammunition to suppress protesters in Naypyidaw. (March 20, 2021)
Earlier Monday, anti-coup protests erupted again across Burma. Despite an increasingly violent and deadly crackdown by the military government, popular resistance continued.
Hundreds of protesters, many of them doctors, nurses, students and other medical personnel in white coats, marched along one of Mandalay’s main roads in the pre-dawn hours. They held a similar demonstration the first night.
According to Reuters, car horns blared in the trade capital Yangon in response to a call from social media.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military jailed de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically elected civilian government officials on Feb. 1. On Sunday, at least three people were killed in violent clashes between police and civilians, including two in Mandalay, Burma’s second-largest city and a major center of the opposition.
The activist group Political Prisoners Assistance Association says nearly 250 people have been killed and more than 2,000 detained since the coup.
Australian authorities confirmed Sunday that two Australian businessmen have been detained in Myanmar. The Australian government declined to provide further details, citing the privacy of those involved.
As part of regional diplomatic efforts to end the crisis in Myanmar, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian will visit Brunei on Monday before traveling to Malaysia and Indonesia, Reuters reported.
On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, who is in Brussels for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, said the EU would impose sanctions over the violence: “We will take action against the 11 people involved in the coup and the crackdown on the demonstrators.”
U.N. Secretary-General Guterres strongly condemned the continued brutality of the Burmese military, following the killing of at least eight anti-coup demonstrators in the eastern Shan State town of Aung Ban.
“The killing of peaceful demonstrators and the arbitrary arrests of people, including journalists, are totally unacceptable,” Guterres’ spokesman, Dugarik, told reporters. “The military continues to ignore calls, including from the U.N. Security Council, to stop violating basic human rights and return to the path of democracy.”
He said a firm and unified response from the international community is urgently needed.
Dugarik added: “The Secretary-General will continue to support the people of Myanmar and their quest for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Myanmar.”
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