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UN envoy urges action to prevent Myanmar ‘civil war’
UNITED NATIONS, United States, April 1, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The UN envoy on
Myanmar implored the Security Council to take action Wednesday in the Asian
nation’s escalating crisis, warning of the risk of civil war and an imminent
“bloodbath” as the junta violently represses pro-democracy protests.
More than 520 people have died in daily demonstrations since the military
overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, halting Myanmar’s
decade-old experiment in democracy.
“I appeal to this Council to consider all available tools to take
collective action and do what is right, what the people of Myanmar deserve
and prevent a multi-dimensional catastrophe,” special envoy Christine
Schraner Burgener told the closed-door session, according to remarks obtained
by AFP.
She said she remained open for dialogue with the junta but added: “If we
wait only for when they are ready to talk, the ground situation will only
worsen. A bloodbath is imminent.”
Barbara Woodward, the UN envoy from Britain, which requested the meeting,
told reporters the Security Council was “united in its condemnation” and was
discussing “a range of measures at our disposal.”
But China, considered Myanmar’s main ally, ruled out sanctions.
“One-sided pressure and calling for sanctions or other coercive measures
will only aggravate tension and confrontation and further complicate the
situation, which is by no means constructive,” China’s ambassador, Zhang Jun,
told the meeting, according to a statement.
The session came after Suu Kyi’s legal team earlier Wednesday said the
ousted leader appeared to be in good health despite two months of detention.
Suu Kyi, 75, has not been seen in public since she was deposed but a member
of her legal team, Min Min Soe, was summoned to a police station in the
capital Naypyidaw for a video meeting with her.
Suu Kyi is facing a raft of criminal charges, and conviction could see her
barred from office for life.
– Emergency session –
The coup and the junta’s subsequent actions have triggered international
condemnation. Britain called for the emergency meeting after the military
dramatically ramped up its use of lethal force against protesters over the
weekend.
In another violent escalation, Myanmar’s military Saturday launched the
first air strikes in Karen state in 20 years after a rebel group seized a
military base — raising fears of a return to armed conflict in the
ethnically diverse nation.
“The military’s cruelty is too severe and many (armed ethnic fighters) are
taking clear stances of opposition, increasing the possibility of civil war
at an unprecedented scale,” Burgener said.
“Failure to prevent further escalation of atrocities will cost the world
so much more in the longer term than investing now in prevention, especially
by Myanmar’s neighbors and the wider region.”
Zhang, the Chinese ambassador, said he wanted Myanmar to “restore peace,
stability and constitutional order as early as possible and continue to
steadily advance democratic transition.”
He also called for the protection of foreign businesses — a key concern
for China, which has seen dozens of its factories torched amid furor against
Beijing.
Earlier, a group of ousted MPs from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy
(NLD), who have been working underground against the junta, said they would
form “a new civilian government” in the first week of April, without giving
further details.
– Mounting bloodshed –
World powers have repeatedly condemned the violent crackdown on dissent and
hit junta figures with sanctions, but so far the pressure has not swayed the
generals.
The US State Department has ordered the departure of non-essential
diplomatic staff and their families from Myanmar, and Japan — a top donor to
the country — has halted new aid payments.
As well as imposing targeted sanctions, the US also has suspended a trade
pact with Myanmar.
Linda Thomas Greenfield, the US ambassador to the United Nations, raised
the possibility of action if the military does not step down.
If “they continue the attacks that they were making on civilian
populations, then we have to look at how we might do more,” she told
reporters.
The mounting bloodshed has also angered some of Myanmar’s 20 or so armed
ethnic groups, who control large areas of territory mostly in border regions.
Three of them — the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), the Myanmar
Nationalities Democratic Alliance Army and the Arakan Army — on Wednesday
looked set to join the protesters’ fight.
Brigadier General Tar Bhone Kyaw from the TNLA told AFP that all three
would end their ceasefire with the military.
“If they continue to kill the people, we have no reason to extend
unilateral ceasefire with them,” he said.
Two other outfits — the Karen National Union (KNU) and the Kachin
Independence Army (KIA) — have already stepped up attacks on military and
police in recent days.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0814 hrs