Myanmar junta’s chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
August 1st. 2023.. Washington DC. The United States is “deeply concerned” by the decision from Myanmar’s ruling junta to extend the country’s state of emergency for six months, a State Department spokesman has said.
The extension, announced earlier in the day, spelled a delay for elections the military had pledged to hold in August as it battles anti-coup fighters across the country.
“The United States is deeply concerned by the Burma military regime’s extension of the state of emergency, which comes as the regime plunges the country deeper into violence and instability,” said spokesman Matthew Miller, using an alternate name for the country.
The Southeast Asian country has been ravaged by deadly violence since a coup deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s government more than two years ago, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent that has sparked fighting across swathes of the nation while tanking the economy.
To hold the regime accountable, the United States remains committed to collaborating with partners and allies, utilising political and economic tools, Miller added.
“Our steadfast call is for an end to violence and atrocities, the release of unjustly detained individuals, ensuring unhindered humanitarian access, seeking justice for survivors, and engaging with all stakeholders to pave the way for a peaceful, just, and democratic future for Burma,” Miller said.
Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since the state of emergency was declared when troops arrested the country’s elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and top officials from her government and members of her National League for Democracy party on February 1, 2021.
Suu Kyi, 78, has been sentenced to 33 years in prison after being convicted in a series of cases brought mostly by the military government.