EU Will Impose Sanctions on Myanmar Individuals: In view of the situation in Myanmar, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Joseph Burrell has said that 11 officials involved in the use of violent force on military coup and protesters protesting it are preparing to impose EU sanctions. “We are going to ban 11 people responsible for the coup and suppression of protesters,” Burrell told reporters on Monday before presiding over the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the European Union on Myanmar.
Myanmar’s army junta (military government) overthrew the coup on February 1, before the start of the session. The army claimed that there was fraud in the elections held in November. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party had registered a resounding victory in the said election. The Election Commission (Myanmar Election Commission), which confirms the victory, has also been removed by the junta. After the five-decade-long military rule in Myanmar, the little progress that was made in the direction of democracy has caused a huge setback due to the coup.
Protest against coup
There are frequent demonstrations in protest against the coup and the junta is taking barbaric action against the protesters. Efforts are also being made to make the information of the situation here not reach the outside world (Situation in Myanmar). Access to the Internet has been severely limited, private publishers have stopped publishing newspapers, and a large number of protesters, journalists and leaders have been arrested.
People were persecuted
Meanwhile, there have been reports that even before the coup, the army started harassing people in the far-flung areas of the southeast of the country (Myanmar Protests Reason). Aid groups claim that the most atrocities in this whole incident have taken place on the caste community Kairn in the southeastern far flung areas of the country, forcing about eight thousand people from the community to leave their homes. The groups said that this is the biggest action taken here in the last 10 years. These people are living in the forests amidst concerns about their health and safety and they do not see any hope of returning from there.