Striking Myanmar rail workers move out as protests continue
Source: AP
MANDALAY, Myanmar (AP) — Residents of Myanmar’s second-biggest city helped striking railway workers move out of their state-supplied housing Saturday after the authorities said they would have to leave if they kept supporting the protest movement against last month’s military coup.
Mandalay residents carried the workers’ furniture and other household items to trucks, van and pickup trucks.
The state railway workers last month went on strike as key and early supporters of the civil disobedience movement against the Feb. 1 coup that toppled the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The military regime has sought to force them back to work through intimidation, which included a nighttime, gun-firing patrol last month through their housing area in Mandalay and a raid in the railway workers’ housing area in Yangon.
Protests against the coup continued Saturday in cities and town across the country, including in Mandalay and Yangon.
State railway employee load belongings after being evicted from their homes Saturday, March 20, 2021, in Mandalay, Myanmar. State railway workers in Mandalay have been threatened with eviction to force them to end their support for the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against military rule. (AP Photo)
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