22nd April, 2021 #day81

 

Myanmar economy, largely affected by Covid pandemic, is rapidly deteriorating due to the coup. World Food Programme warned that as many as 3.4 million people in Myanmar will face food insecurity in the next six months as the country's economy worsens. Stephen Anderson, country director of the WFP, said that more and more people are losing their jobs and finding it difficult to buy foods. Even in Yangon, the economic hub, skipping meals, eating less nutritious food and taking on debt to feed themselves are common, the report said. According to the report, the price of rice and cooking oils have risen by an average of 5 percent and 18 percent since January. Rakhine, Chin and Kachin experience the highest price increases. Rice prices have rose by 43 percent and cooking oil by 32 percent in Kachin State and Fuel prices have rose 30 percent nationwide. He called on the international community to stand with the Myanmar people to prevent a humanitarian crisis. The World Bank has projected Myanmar's economy to contract 10 percent this year, while Fitch Solutions has forecast a 20 percent contraction. Myanmar could face hyperinflation which will lead to mass poverty and a currency collapse like in Zimbabwe and Bolivia, the Financial Times reported.

The NUG government has sent a letter to Interpol calling for the arrest of coup leader Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing for the crime against humanity when he come to attend the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Jakarta. It is unlikely to occur, but it is an attempt to tarnish his image. Following the footstep of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte decided not to attend the summit as he wants to focus on the Covid situation in the country, Nikkei Asia reported. Both leaders have been criticized on social media for not wanting to intervene in Myanmar affairs and for fear of damaging ties with the junta. Indonesian civil society organizations and activists are calling to hold protest in front of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, where the meeting will take place. At the ASEAN civil society-led online meeting, NUG's Union Minister for Women, Youth, and Children Affairs, Naw Susanna Hla Hla Soe apologized for not taking a stand for the violence perpetrated in ethnic areas and the Rohingya community during the previous NLD government. She said that, “we would like to form without discrimination, with unity and full of human rights as a society. This is what we would like to do in the future. Yes, we have the mistake in the past, we would like to open the new chapter in the future." She was an elected Karen MP from the NLD in 2015. Some netizens have also apologized for not speaking out, but some are calling other members of the NUG and the NLD itself to acknowledge their mistake and apology.

A 31-year-old woman, Khin Nyein Thu, who was arrested on the night of April 18 in connection with the Yankin bombing, have been tortured and sexually assaulted during interrogation, according to the RFA interview with a girl, 17-year-old, who was also arrested at Shwepyithar interrogation centre. She said that police insulted her both verbally and physically when they found out her boyfriend is a Nigerian saying she should not have relationship with foreigner. She also said that she saw many boys were tortured and some cannot even walk properly at the interrogation centre.

According to Myanmar Now, the KIA has seized at least 10 junta’s bases in Kachin State and northern Shan State. It also includes a number of police and military outposts, including the strategic Alaw Bum base near Laiza border town. Locals said that many junta forces including a battalion commander were killed during the fighting and about 30 soldiers have reportedly surrendered to the KIA in Hpakant Township alone. According to the Karen Information Center, another major level military officer fled to KNU Brigade 1 based in Thaton Township on March 9. Major Nyunt Naing, 36, graduated from the 48 batch of the Defence Academy and served in the 379th Light Infantry Battalion in Minbya Township, Rakhine State. Report said that there are over 300 CDM civil servants, police, and soldiers taking refuge in KNU Brigade 1 controlled area.