What's happening in Myanmar and how does the world respond to it?

Since the military coup in Myanmar on 1st February, the death toll has reached 300 and heartbreaking photos and stories flooded over the media. So what is happening in Myanmar and what have other countries done to help reducing tension over there?

Myanmar has been ruled by the military government from 1962 to 2011. Aung San Suu Kyi, the iconic figure for democracy, took over the government in a free election in 2015 after decades of campaigning for democratic reform in the country. Her party, National League for Democracy (NLD) won more than 80% of the vote in the next election that took place in November 2020. However, chairperson of the Union Election Commission cancelled the results of the 2020 election and the chief commander Min Aung Hlaing stepped in to take control of the government. The army said it had responded to election fraund and talking over the country is inevitable. Aung San Suu Kyi was charged violating covid rules and possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies during the election campaign. Eleven ministers and deputies are being held under house arrest. Ever since then, civilv disobedience campaigns were launched and on going in major cities. Today is the Resistance Day that marks the begining of a revolt against Japanese occupation in World War 2, more than 100 death was recorded in a single day. Pregnant women and children were also killed. Various videos on social media also show that the armed force stole from shops and homes.

So how did the world react to it? The UN led condemnation calls for the release of protesters and restoration of democracy, which was supported by Australia, UK, the EU, Japan, and the US. However, China and Russia blocked strong wordings of condemnation by the UN Security Council on the coup. China positioned the military coup as a major government reshuffle and expressing condemnation of the coup would only make the situation worse. Nevertheless, China agreed to a statement that voiced deep concern at the declaration of the state of emergencyand the detention of government members. On 22nd March, the European Council imposed restrictive measures on 11 individuals responsible for the military coup, which include a travel ban and asset freeze. Existing restricitve measures such as embargo on arms and equipment for internal repression and an export restrictions on equipment for monitoring communications remain in place. The US will blacklist Myanmar Economic Corporation and Myanmar Economic Holdings Ltd from having any contact with the US banking system. The two entities own at lease 120 subsidiaries which link to a wide range of business activities such as banking, tourism, jade mining, timber, construction, agriculture, and energy.

However, the independent UN Special Rapporteur Thomas Andrew investigated human rights in Myanmar noted that the limited sanctions imposed by member states do not impact the access to revenue that sustains illegal activities. "The slow pace of diplomacy is out of step with the scale of the crisis", said Tomas Andrew. He added that robust responses are needed because the windown of opportunity to act is closing rapidly. He also suggested hosting an emergency summit for the neighbouring counties of Myanmar. 

How would the situation in Myanmar develop? Are international condemnation useful? Leave a comment below to share your opinion! 
Location: Netherlands

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