'Clear echoes of Syria': UN fears 'full-blown conflict' as Myanmar crisis worsens

Myanmar is “heading towards” a “full-blown conflict” similar to the situation in Syria as hundreds of people have been “slaughtered” by the military junta, UN Human Rights Chief said. Addressing a press briefing on April 13, Michelle Bachelet cautioned that while the global powers could not stop the bloody war in Syria and elsewhere to escalate, they should not let it be repeated. As a result, she urged states to take “immediate, decisive and impactful measures” to push military leadership into halting its “campaign of repression” and indiscriminate “slaughter” of its own people.

“There are clear echoes of Syria in 2011. There too, we saw peaceful protests met with unnecessary and clearly disproportionate force. The State's brutal, persistent repression of its own people led to some individuals taking up arms, followed by a downward and rapidly expanding spiral of violence all across the country. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the time warned in 2011 that the failure of the international community to respond with united resolve could be disastrous for Syria and beyond. The past ten years have shown just how horrific the consequences have been for millions of civilians,” she said in a statement.

Over 700 killed 

The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated since the military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing snatched power from the country’s democratically elected government by staging a Coup d’état on February 1. Since then, the military junta has killed over 710 people, detained more than 3080 people, according to a tally by Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP). Additionally, Tatmadaw has also been accused of other crimes such as shooting down residents in cold blood, burning skins of protesters with pro democrat tattoos amongst other callous acts.

In its statement, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also asserted that the military junta, over the weekend, also opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, fragmentation grenades and mortar fire in Bago in the south of the country. “Security forces also reportedly prevented medical personnel from helping the wounded, as well as charging relatives a "fine" of roughly USD 90 to claim the bodies of those who were killed”, it said. Additionally, OHCHR also revealed that Tatmadaw has been using aerial strikes to quell protests in many regions of the country including Kachin, Shan and Kayin states.

Image Credits: Associated Press