Monday marked three months since the coup in Myanmar. Despite the regime’s lethal crackdowns, democracy supporters in every corner of the country still manage to take to the streets daily to protest against military rule.
In a little over 90 days, military leaders have overseen the killing of more than 760 civilians including more than 50 children during their forces’ brutal crackdowns on peaceful anti-coup protesters in the country. The regime has also arrested nearly 4,900 people, including more than 250 civilian leaders and politicians. Almost all of those 250 are NLD government leaders, ministers, appointed ministers and elected members of parliament. The junta has also issued arrest warrants for more than 1,400 others, particularly targeting activists, democracy supporters, journalists and civil servants who are refusing to work under military rule.
Moreover, in the three months since they grabbed power, the coup leaders have pushed what was one of the region’s fastest-growing economies to the brink of collapse, forcing much of the population back into poverty. The World Bank’s latest forecast reveals that Myanmar’s economy is in dire jeopardy, projected to contract by 10 percent this year as a result of the military takeover.
Due to the effects of the coup, up to 3.4 million people in Myanmar could go hungry this year, the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) warned in late April. The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has forecast that the combined impact of military rule and the COVID-19 pandemic could force nearly half of Myanmar’s population of 54 million into poverty by 2022.
In the country’s north and south, junta troops have fought fierce clashes with the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Karen National Union (KKU) in several locations in Kachin and Karen states and Bago region, forcing more than 50,000 people to flee their homes. Frequent regime airstrikes have killed nearly a dozen civilians in ethnic areas.
The Irrawaddy has broken down some important figures to illustrate the impacts of more than 90 days of military rule in Myanmar.
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