[ad_1]
The families of dozens of people killed in demonstrations against the military government in Myanmar celebrated the funerals of their loved ones on Tuesday (March 16) when more protesters defied security forces and at least one man was shot dead.
The political and economic crisis over the overthrow of the elected government headed by Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 could soon spell hunger for the poor who face rising food and fuel prices across the country, the agency warned. UN food.
Security forces shot dead at least 20 people on Monday after 74 were killed the day before, including many in a Yangon suburb where factories financed by China caught fire, according to the advocacy group of the Prisoner Assistance Association. Politicians (AAPP).
READ: At least 39 deaths reported in Myanmar on the bloodiest day since the start of the military coup
On Tuesday, a crematorium in Yangon reported 31 funerals, a mourner said at one of the ceremonies.
The relatives of the victims of the anti-coup protesters wait outside the morgue for the return of their bodies at Thingangyun Hospital in Yangon, on March 15, 2021 (Photo: REUTERS / Stringer).
Hundreds of young mourners took to the streets at the funeral of medical student Khant Nyar Hein, who was killed in Yangon on Sunday, the bloodiest day of the protests.
“Let them kill me right now, let them kill me instead of my son because I can’t take it anymore,” the student’s mother said in a video clip posted on Facebook.
The mourners chanted: “Our revolution must prevail.”
READ: Global alarm grows as more protesters die in Myanmar crackdown
READ: UN calls for reversal of coup in Myanmar and condemns violence
Some families told the media that the security forces had seized the bodies of their loved ones, but that they would still hold a funeral.
At least 184 people have been killed by security forces in weeks of protests, the AAPP said, and the death toll rose Tuesday when a protester was shot and killed in the central city of Kawlin, a resident there said.
People showed photos of Suu Kyi and called for an end to the crackdown during a small protest in the southern city of Dawei on Tuesday, news outlet Dawei Watch reported. There were no reports of violence.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was shocked by the escalation of violence at the hands of the military and called on the international community to help end the crackdown, his spokesman said.
A spokesperson for the board did not respond to phone calls seeking comment, and Reuters was unable to independently confirm all of the victims.
INCREASING PRICES
State broadcaster MRTV said martial law had been imposed in parts of Yangon and that military commanders would take over the administration of the districts and courts.
The army said it seized power after its allegations of fraud in the Nov. 8 election won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) were rejected by the election commission. He promised to hold new elections, but has not set a date.
The army ruled the former British colony for decades after a 1962 coup and cracked down on the uprisings before beginning a tentative transition to democracy a decade ago.
That has been derailed, and instead protests and a campaign of civil disobedience of strikes are crippling much of the economy and could undermine poor families’ ability to feed themselves, the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) warned. .
The WFP said the price of rice rose as much as 35 percent in northern parts and the prices of cooking oil and pulses were also higher, while the cost of fuel had risen 15 percent since February 1. .
“This rise in food and fuel prices is compounded by near paralysis in the banking sector, slowdown in remittances and widespread limits on cash availability,” said WFP.
READ: ‘Worrisome’ signs of rising food prices in Myanmar since coup: UN agency
Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup and faces charges such as illegally importing walkie-talkie radios and violating coronavirus protocols. Last week, the board accused her of accepting illegal payments, but she has not yet been charged with that.
Western countries have called for his release and condemned the violence, while Asian neighbors have offered to help resolve the crisis, but Myanmar has a long history of rejecting outside intervention.
Authorities detained an official from the Open Society Myanmar, a group created with the help of billionaire philanthropist George Soros’ foundation, and are searching for 11 other employees on suspicion of passing funds on to opponents of the coup, a state newspaper said. .
The newspaper published a photo of Suu Kyi meeting Soros in 2016 in New York, but did not directly link her or the Soros-founded Open Society Foundations with any transfer of funds.
LEE: Chinese workers injured in attacks on factories in Myanmar, says the Chinese embassy
Sunday’s arson attacks on 32 Chinese-investing factories in a Yangon industrial district sparked China’s loudest comments to date about turmoil in its neighbor, where many people view Beijing as supporting the coup.
China has urged the armed forces to stop the violence, punish the perpetrators of attacks on factories and protect the Chinese people and property. Its Global Times newspaper said the attacks caused $ 37 million in damage and injured two Chinese employees.
