Myanmar military sees the residents as enemies

Myanmar military sees the residents as enemies

Published: Just now

full screen Police guard a demonstration on the second anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar. Archive image. Photo: Sakchai Lalit/AP/TT

Myanmar’s military regime regards its own population as enemies. This destroys the possibility for people to live a tolerable life according to a UN report.

The sharp outburst against Myanmar’s military junta comes from the UN and UN human rights chief Volker Türk.

The military overthrew the democratically elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, in February 2021. Since then, the situation has become a “rotting disaster” for the country’s roughly 54 million inhabitants, according to Türk.

In addition, the military has acquired arbitrary impunity, which means that crimes against civilians are not investigated. The Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that at least 2,940 people have been confirmed killed since the regime took power – and just under a third of them while in custody. But the number is believed to be higher.

James Rodehaver, who is the head of the UN’s human rights office in Myanmar, says that armed insurgencies between anti-regime militant groups are currently ongoing in 13 regions.

The military finds it difficult to mobilize forces to the troubled regions, and therefore chooses a tactic of aerial bombing and artillery shelling to destroy areas where the opposition is located, according to Rodehaver.

As an example, the UN also mentions that around 39,000 homes have been destroyed by Myanmar’s military and that the air force has carried out over 300 bombing raids in the past year.

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