Irrawaddy-June 14
As the post-coup crisis has deepened in Myanmar, the UN special envoy for the country and regional leaders have seemed helpless as to how best to address the issues facing the country. Noeleen Heyzer, the UN special envoy, admitted on Monday at the UN General Assembly that the political crisis unleashed in Myanmar following the Feb.1 military coup last year has “opened new frontlines that had long been at peace,” noting that the challenges in the country have “both deepened and expanded dramatically.” Heyzer said that since she took up the job six months ago, Myanmar had “continued to descend into profound and widespread conflict”.
Myanmar has been in social and political turmoil since last year’s military coup. More than one year on, the regime is still unable to control the country while struggling with popular armed resistance against its rule. The country’s economy is in a downward spiral so severe the World Bank said the situation is too chaotic for it to offer GDP growth forecasts for the coming years. Calling Myanmar’s situation one of the world’s largest refugee emergencies, Heyzer said that as a result of the multidimensional crises in the country there were now over 1 million internally displaced people (IDPs) across the country with “serious regional and international ramifications”. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore described the situation in Myanmar as a “real test for the region”, adding that the country was descending rapidly into “some kind of civil war.” Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/un-asean-say-renewed-effort-needed-as-myanmar-crisis-worsens.html
