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YANGON (REUTERS) – Thousands of residents fled an industrial suburb of Myanmar’s commercial capital on Tuesday (March 16) after the ruling junta subjected it to martial law following bloody anti-coup protests over the weekend.
“It’s like a war zone here, they are shooting everywhere,” a union organizer in Hlaing Tharyar district told Reuters, saying that most residents were too scared to leave.
More than 40 people were killed by security forces in protests in Hlaing Tharyar on Sunday and several factories were burned down. Families of many of the victims attended their funerals on Tuesday.
Myanmar has been in crisis since the army staged a coup against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 and detained her and other members of her party, drawing widespread international condemnation.
France said the European Union would approve sanctions against those responsible for the coup next Monday.
Meanwhile, the junta charged the ousted international government envoy with treason for encouraging a campaign of civil disobedience and calling for sanctions, the army-run television said. The charges carry a possible death penalty.
Dr. Sasa, who is not in the country, said he was proud to have been charged.
“These generals have committed acts of treason every day. Taking what they want for themselves, denying the people their rights and oppressing those who stand in their way,” he said in a statement.
More than 180 protesters have died as security forces try to crush a wave of demonstrations, according to the activist group Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners.
Residents flee
Many residents of Hlaing Tharyar, a poor suburb that is home to migrants and workers, fled Tuesday carrying their belongings on motorcycles and tuk-tuks after the military placed it along with five other municipalities in Yangon under martial law, it reported. Frontier Myanmar.
Two doctors told Reuters that there were still wounded who needed medical attention in the area, but that the army had sealed their entrances.
Matthew Smith, head of the Fortify Rights group, said on Twitter: “We are told that possibly dozens more died today in #HlaingTharYar. Emergency vehicles are unable to access the area due to roadblocks.”
The complete shutdown of the mobile internet made it difficult to verify information and the vast majority of people in Myanmar do not have access to WiFi. A spokesperson for the board did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Previously, China Global Television Network, an international Chinese channel in English, had warned against further attacks on Chinese-owned companies after more than 30 factories in Hlaing Tharyaran were burned on Sunday.
“China will not allow its interests to be exposed to further aggression. If the authorities cannot comply and the chaos continues to spread, China could be forced to take more drastic measures to protect its interests,” said CGTN, which is linked to the Communist Party. Chinese.
When asked what drastic action might mean, China’s mission to the United Nations in New York referred Reuters to earlier Chinese statements saying that Myanmar authorities must take steps to protect Chinese citizens and businesses.
The opposition movement believes that Beijing supports the military and, unlike Western powers, has not condemned the coup. Along with Russia, it has prevented the UN Security Council from denouncing the military’s actions as a coup.
Day of mourning
Dozens of funerals were held in Yangon on Tuesday.
Hundreds of mourners took to the streets at the funeral of medical student Khant Nyar Hein, who was killed on Sunday, the bloodiest day so far in weeks of 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.
Mourners, including fellow medical students in white lab coats, chanted: “Our revolution must prevail.”
At least one more protester was shot and killed Tuesday in the central city of Kawlin, a resident there said.
People showed photos of Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s most prominent defender of democracy for three decades, and called for an end to the crackdown during a protest in the southern city of Dawei on Tuesday, news outlet Dawei Watch reported.
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.
Suu Kyi, 75, has been detained since the coup and faces multiple charges, including illegally importing walkie-talkie radios and violating coronavirus protocols.
“The military is trying to overturn the results of a democratic election and is brutally cracking down on peaceful protesters,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a press conference in Tokyo.
The UN human rights office said “deeply distressing” reports of torture in custody had emerged and that five people were known to have died in custody.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the European Union would approve sanctions on generals at a meeting of foreign ministers next Monday. These will suspend all budget support and target the economic interests of the people involved in the coup, he said.
Members of the overthrown government, which have established a parallel administration, called on Total and other oil companies operating in Myanmar to suspend payments to the military-controlled state.
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