Myanmar protests continue

This item appears on page 5 of the May 2021 issue.

Protests against a military coup in Myanmar have been ongoing since Feb. 1. Though the protests were initially somewhat peaceful, soldiers began firing on protesters with live rounds after a ban on gatherings went unheeded. At press time, more than 300 people had been killed during protests, including multiple children under 10.

The US and EU announced sanctions on leading members of the Myanmar military in March, with the US freezing more than $1 billion being held for Myanmar’s central bank in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

At press time, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmar is a member, was considering measures against the military junta.