US urges UN Council to press Myanmar to return to democracy
Source: AP
By EDITH M. LEDERER
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A senior U.S. diplomat urged the U.N. Security Council on Thursday to press Myanmar’s military to stop violence and restore democracy, warning that with COVID-19 surging and hunger increasing, “the longer we delay, the more people die.”
Deputy U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis said Myanmar “is reeling from a surge in COVID-19 cases” and faces a “burgeoning health catastrophe” as a direct result of “the military’s brutality and administrative failures since its coup six months ago.” The violence and military crackdown that followed have also displaced hundreds of thousands of people, and up to 2.8 million additional people may be facing food shortages, he said.
His appeal for Security Council action follows a call two days ago by Tom Andrews, the U.N. special investigator on human rights in Myanmar, for the Security Council and the U.N.’s 193 member states to push for an emergency “COVID ceasefire” in light of an explosion of coronavirus infections and deaths.
“Too many in Myanmar have needlessly perished and too many more will die without action by the United Nations,” Andrews warned. “The U.N. must act immediately to halt the military junta’s attacks, harassment and detentions in the midst of a COVID-19 crisis ... so that doctors and nurses can provide life-saving care and international organizations can help deliver vaccinations and related medical care.”
People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus ride a motorcycle past a Health Ministry public information campaign billboard about proper hand washing in Shwe Pyi Thar township in Yangon, Myanmar Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (AP Photo)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-health-coronavirus-pandemic-race-and-ethnicity-myanmar-113bd6aa6809bd3d16b5a5ec4f931357
