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NEW YORK (REUTERS) – Myanmar’s military says it is ready to resist sanctions and isolation after the February 1 coup, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday (March 3) when he urged countries to “take very strong measures” to restore democracy to the Southeast Asian nation.
UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said 38 people were killed on Wednesday, the most violent day since the coup, when the army quelled protests.
Schraner Burgener is due to report to the UN Security Council on Friday.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her leadership from the National League for Democracy (NLD). The NLD won the November elections by landslide, which the military said was fraudulent. The electoral commission said the vote was fair.
Schraner Burgener said that in conversations with Myanmar’s deputy military chief Soe Win, she had warned him that the military was likely to face heavy measures from some countries and isolation in retaliation for the coup.
“The response was: ‘We are used to sanctions and we survive,'” he told reporters in New York.
“When I also warned that they would go in isolation, the answer was: ‘We have to learn to walk with few friends.’
Western countries, including the United States, Britain, Canada, and the European Union, have implemented or are considering specific sanctions to squeeze the military and its business allies.
The 15-member UN Security Council has raised concerns about the state of emergency, but fell short of condemning the coup last month due to opposition from Russia and China, who view the events as Myanmar’s internal affairs. . Any action by the council beyond a statement is unlikely, diplomats say.
“I hope they recognize that it is not just an internal matter, but it affects the stability of the region,” Schraner Burgener said of China and Russia.
She said Soe Win told her that “after a year they want to have another choice.”
Schraner Burgener last spoke to him on February 15 and is now communicating with the military in writing.
“Clearly, in my opinion, the tactic now was to investigate NLD people and put them in prison,” he said.
“In the end, the NLD will be banned and then they will have a new election, where they want to win, and then they will be able to continue in power.”
Schraner Burgener said he believes the military is “very surprised” by the protests against the coup.
“Today we have young people who lived in freedom for 10 years, they have social networks, they are well organized and very determined,” he said.
“They do not want to return to a dictatorship and in isolation.”
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