Central Bank of Myanmar Staff Join Anti-Coup Protests

By The Irrawaddy 10 February 2021

Yangon — Over 100 Central Bank of Myanmar staff, including employees from the headquarters in Naypyitaw and branches in Yangon and Mandalay, had joined the civil disobedience movement by Tuesday.

Around 80 Yangon staff and 20 in Mandalay and a few in Naypyitaw joined the movement against the military coup, a Yangon employee told The Irrawaddy on condition of anonymity.

“We don’t want to work under a government that seized power in a coup. It is sheer injustice. I feel guilty working at the office with ease while the younger generation is in the streets so I joined the movement,” she told The Irrawaddy.

She urged other civil servants not to work under a military dictatorship. The staff said they will not work until the democratically elected government returns to power.

A junior clerk in Yangon, who did not want to be named, said: “We will go back to work when we have the government we elected, the government that people want. We will fight until our last breath against this government that has unfairly seized power,” she said.

She said the staff have been told to return to work and they expect to be asked to leave their government-provided accommodation and be denied their salaries.

The military has replaced the central bank’s governors and deputy governors since Monday’s coup. Deputy governor U Bo Bo Nge, who was appointed by the National League for Democracy administration, remains under detention though other deputy governors have been released by the military.

The civil disobedience movement is gathering strength with department directors taking part.

On Wednesday, around 500 civil servants gathered at the Myoma market in Naypyitaw, shouting: “Don’t go to work! Leave the office!”

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