BANGKOK — Former UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged the Myanmar navy to halt violence within the conflict-racked nation and interact with its opponents to finish the bloody disaster.
Myanmar has been in turmoil because the navy ousted civilian chief Aung San Suu Kyi’s authorities in February 2021, sparking combating throughout swathes of the nation and tanking the economic system.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the disaster have stalled, with the junta ignoring worldwide criticism of its brutal crackdown on dissent and refusing to interact with its opponents.
The navy “must take the first steps,” Ban stated following a two-day journey to Myanmar the place he met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and senior navy officers.
Ban additionally stated the National Unity Government (NUG)—a shadow administration dominated by lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s get together which is working to overturn the coup—should be a part of any “lasting solution.”
The navy has proven no willingness to interact with its opponents, together with the NUG, which it has designated as a “terrorist” group.
Rights teams accuse the junta of massacres, torching villages and utilizing air and artillery strikes to punish communities suspected of harboring its opponents.
A navy airstrike on a village in a resistance hotspot this month killed greater than 170 folks, in line with media and locals.
The junta justified its energy seize with unproven allegations of fraud in 2020 polls received resoundingly by Suu Kyi’s get together, and has promised to carry contemporary elections.
“Holding elections under current conditions risks further violence and division, and the results not being recognized by the people of Myanmar,” Ban stated.
The assertion made no point out of whether or not Ban had sought a gathering with Suu Kyi, who’s at the moment serving a 33-year jail time period following a sequence of closed-door trials that rights teams say had been a sham.
Ban’s go to made the entrance web page of the state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar on Tuesday, which didn’t point out his requires dialogue and a halt to violence.
He and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing had “exchanged views on the latest progress of Myanmar and cordially discussed it with constructive attitudes”, the paper stated, with out offering particulars.
Ban visited Myanmar in his capability as a member of “The Elders” group of world leaders based by Nelson Mandela, which works to advertise peace and defuse conflicts. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
