New UN Special Envoy for Myanmar Noeleen Heyzer on Monday said she was “deeply concerned” about escalating violence and called for a ceasefire between the junta and its opponents on the occasion. of the new year.
The Singaporean diplomat “is deeply concerned about the continued escalation of violence in Kayin State and other parts of Myanmar,” her office said in a statement. This is his first speech since his appointment last October.
Protests across the country against the February military coup have been bloodily suppressed, with more than 1,300 people killed and 11,000 arrested, according to a local watch group.
Diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to resolve the crisis have so far made little progress, with the junta turning a deaf ear.
In recent days, new clashes between ethnic rebels and the army in eastern Kayin state have caused thousands of people to flee to neighboring Thailand.
Separately, a UN official said on Sunday he was “horrified” by credible reports that at least 35 civilians were killed and their bodies burned in the east of the country, and called on the government to open a investigation.
Two employees of the British NGO Save the Children are still missing after their vehicle was attacked and burned in the incident in eastern Kayah state on Christmas Eve. The two employees were returning home after a humanitarian mission in the region, according to Save the Children, which suspended operations in several regions.
“Very firm measures”
In October, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Singaporean sociologist Noeleen Heyzer as special envoy to Myanmar, replacing Swiss diplomat Christine Schraner Burgener.
The latter had asked the UN to take “very firm measures” against the military to bring the country back to democracy and had been the target of regular criticism in the official media.
Since the coup, the generals had prevented the Swiss diplomat from traveling to Burma, where she hoped to meet former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, currently on trial on multiple charges and placed under house arrest.
Last week state media reported that the junta had shut down the office of the UN special envoy in the country “since Mr.me Christine Schraner Burgener are finished ”.
The junta did not say if they would allow Mme Heyzer to open an office, or if she would let her go to Myanmar.