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BERN, KOMPAS.com – UN special envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener said military generals in Myanmar indicated they were not afraid of further sanctions.
However, Burgener said the generals were very surprised that the military coup met such resistance.
“I think the military is very surprised that (the coup) didn’t work because in the past, in 1988 and 2007 and 2008, it was successful,” Burgener said.
Burgener told a UN correspondent on Wednesday (3/3/2021) that he had warned the Myanmar military after staging a coup on February 1.
He warned the Myanmar military that the countries of the world and the UN Security Council could take tough action.
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“And the answer is: ‘We are used to sanctions and we have survived those sanctions in the past,'” Burgener said, mimicking the response of Myanmar’s military junta.
Burgener also warned Myanmar generals that they would be cut off and cut off from the outside world if the coup was not called off.
“The answer is, ‘We have to learn to walk with a few friends,'” Burgener added as quoted by Associated Press.
On February 1, the Myanmar army arrested the leader de facto Aung San Suu Kyi and various figures from the National League for Democracy (NLD) Party and after that took power.
The coup brought Myanmar back under military control after some five decades of languor under the military junta.
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When the generals loosened their grip and Suu Kyi came to power after the 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most of the sanctions and investing in the country.
Burgener points out that the resistance to the military coup was started by young men who lived in freedom for 10 years.
He added that the anti-coup military movement was well organized and very determined not to want to return under the dictatorship.
Burgener said this by teleconference from Bern, Switzerland.
He urged the united international community to take appropriate action regarding the military coup.
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Burgener emphasized that the UN Security Council sanctions against Myanmar’s military junta would be much stronger than sanctions on individual countries.
The council has scheduled closed consultations for Friday (3/5/2021) on calls to cancel the coup, including from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
On Wednesday, the crackdown by Myanmar’s security apparatus intensified against protesters. Burgener said 38 people were reported dead as of Wednesday.
Burgener added that he receives around 2,000 messages a day from people in Myanmar, many of whom are discouraged by the international response.
He also speaks daily with representatives of the deposed Parliament and has spoken several times with Myanmar’s Deputy Military Commander, Soe Win.
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Burgener said he and Soe Win contacted by phone on February 4.
In the phone call, the military junta was tasked with implementing a military roadmap. The roadmap includes the reconstruction of the electoral commission.
The roadmap also aims to conclude a ceasefire agreement with Myanmar’s 21 armed ethnic groups.
According to Burgener, the ceasefire agreement would be difficult because ten ethnic groups had strongly opposed the military coup.
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