UN Security Council Urgently Meets Over Myanmar Coup

The UN Security Council will meet urgently in a digital session on Tuesday to discuss the military coup d’état in Myanmar.

 

Since China has a right of veto in the council, no significant steps are expected. US President Joe Biden calls on all countries, including the region, to pressure the junta in Myanmar.

The army took power on Sunday night and arrested government leader and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup was condemned by the US, the EU and the UN, among others.

In a statement, Biden called on the international community “with one voice” to urge the Myanmar military to step back, release activists, restore telephone and Internet traffic and refrain from violence against civilians.

The president calls the coup a “direct attack on the transition to democracy and the rule of law” in the country. Earlier, the US had already threatened sanctions if those responsible do not reverse the takeover.

Myanmar’s neighbour, China, expressed the hope that the parties in Myanmar could reach a mutual agreement to protect “political and social stability”. Beijing has supported Myanmar’s military in the past and is generally opposed to what it calls meddling in other countries’ internal affairs.

The Norwegian Nobel Prize Committee reacted with horror to the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. The committee also called for her immediate release.

The United Nations fears that the coup will further worsen the 600,000 Rohingya Muslims who have not yet fled the country.