MYANMAR’S UN ENVOY WARNS OF CIVIL WAR BREAKING OUT IN THE COUNTRY

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations special envoy for Myanmar warned on Monday of possible civil war in the country, saying people are arming themselves against the military junta and protesters have started shifting from defensive to offensive actions, using home-made weapons and training from some ethnic armed groups.

Chrisrine Schraner Burgener told a virtual UN news conference that people are starting self-defence actions because they are frustrated and fear attacks by the military, which carried out a coup on February 1 against the democratically elected government, and is using “a huge scale of violence”.

A civil war “could happen”, she said, and that’s why for the past three weeks from her base now in Thailand she has discussed with many key parties the idea of starting an inclusive dialogue that would include ethnic armed groups, political parties, civil society, strike committees and the army, known as Tatmadaw, as well as a small group of witnesses from the international community.

“Clearly it will not be easy to convince especially both sides to come to a table, but I offer my good offices... to avoid more bloodshed and civil war which would last a long time,” Schraner Burgener said. “We are worried about the situation and clearly we want that people on the ground... decide how they want to see the country going back to normal.”

Calling the situation in Myanmar “very bad”, she pointed to more than 800 people killed, over 5,300 arrested, and more than 1,800 arrest warrants issued by the military.

Clearly, we should be aware that time is ticking.

C S BURGENER,

Myanmar’s ambassador to UN