Three Reported Dead As Myanmar Protests Turn Deadly

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets throughout Myanmar following a military coup that saw the country’s democratically-elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi removed from office and arrested. After seizing control of the government in Myanmar on February 1, the military, led by commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlain, has announced a year-long state of emergency. Citizens of Myanmar have expressed displeasure and disappointment over the coup, which ended Myanmar’s decade-long transition into democracy.

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Myanmar Military Stages Coup, Imprisons Leader Aung San Suu Kyi

On February 1, 2021, telecommunications were cut, flights grounded, and state television turned off as Myanmar’s military seized power from the country’s democratically re-elected leaders. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s State Counsellor, was detained along with many other cabinet members, AP News reports.

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Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party Wins Parliament Amid Genocide Accusations

The National League for Democracy party (NLD), backed by State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, won a majority in Myanmar’s parliament in this year’s election. According to CNN, the NLD scored 396 out of 473 seats, beating the military-backed opposition party by a significant margin.

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Focus on Mass Migration: Myanmar

The Rohingya population is an estimated one million in Myanmar, which has a majority Buddhist population. Although the Rohingya can trace their origins centuries back, the government denied the Rohingya legal recognition as one of the country’s official ethnic groups. In 1982, the country passed the Burma Citizenship Law, which essentially denied the Rohingya citizenship and left many stateless. The government of Myanmar sees the Rohingya as “illegal immigrants from Bangladesh,” says BBC News.

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Myanmar Soldiers Desert the Army and Admit to Rohingya Killings 

Two soldiers who deserted the Myanmar army appeared on video testifying to the deliberate killings of Rohingya Muslims. The video was filmed in July, but first reported by AP in early September. According to Wall Street Journal, the soldiers, Myo Win Tun and Zaw Naing Tun, defected from Myanmar’s army and were taken into custody by Arakan Army, a Rakhine rebel group who is fighting the Myanmar government’s troops. The international community has been aware of the crimes being committed in Myanmar and assumed it was being ordered by high ranking officials but did not have official confirmation until this video surfaced. 

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