ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — When Juliat Iang spoke this week with her sister in Myanmar, she could hear the terrifying shouting and thumps on the street outside by the military on their nightly rounds pursuing protesters and members of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
“The police and army hunt them in nighttime,” Iang, a St. John’s hairstylist, said Thursday.
“After 9 or10 p.m. they will knock on people’s doors, and (people) hear, ‘Bring (out) your husband or your wife who joined the CDM,’ and arrest them. When I talked to her last night, my sister, we actually hear it. I said, ‘What noise is that?’ She said, ‘That’s the military and army all in the city.’ Oh my God, terrible. They are very violent. ... If they don’t open the door, a group of more than 10 or 15 army and police together … they break the door, boom, boom, boom.”
Although the protests have been ongoing, it’s been a particularly deadly week in Myanmar.
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The UN Human Rights Office, in a news release Thursday, said it has corroborated information that at least 54 people have been killed by police and military officers since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. As many as 38 were said to have been killed Wednesday.
Almost 14 years ago, Iang — with her husband, Ni Mang — came to live in Newfoundland and Labrador after gaining refugee status to Canada from India.
They are both from Chin State, in western Myanmar, but met in India.
“It was not safe there. It was unjust,” Iang said of her birth country.
Mang, a welder, left Myanmar in 1988.
“We have no military in our country. They turn into terrorists, murderers, killers.” — Juliat Iang
He is hoping to reach his mother this weekend, as he has not been able to contact her.
“I hope they are safe,” he said Thursday evening of his mom and sisters.
“Every morning, I wake, I am a bit nervous to turn on my cellphone. I don’t want to know (military) people’s killings. … I am really nervous to see my Facebook. … Every day we hear some bad information.
“We have no military in our country. They turn into terrorists, murderers, killers.”
It’s hard to Facetime family back home, or send them money, because phone lines and internet connections get cut, Iang said.
Relative in hiding
Her cousin’s husband, a firefighter, is in hiding because he joined the CDM, Iang said.
Iang said her heart breaks for the protesters and the families mourning lost loved ones and the people craving peace and democracy.
“I can’t sleep at all until 3 or 4 a.m. because I am worried what is going to happen,” she said. “What are they going to do to them? It’s really worrying.”
She said it has taken too long for the United Nations to take action.
Iang said the toll from the military violence against protesters extends to confiscating whatever they want.
“They will take everything, what they want. Since February some small place like a small village, they take everything. So (the people) are not safe at all,” she said.
But Iang says she is hopeful about the movement this time around.
“I think this will work out. This generation is 2021 generation. This generation is not like back then (in previous decades of turmoil). They are smart and strong and brave, and also the technology and the media is completely different now. They know now what happened right away. The world sees them, what is happening there,” Iang said.
“I think they mess up with the wrong generation. It might take a little bit. But the CDM movement will win it, I am pretty sure. Sadly, how many will suffer?”
Someday, they would like to visit family back home if it is safe, said Mang.
UN tallies death toll
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated in a news release Thursday the security forces in Myanmar must “halt their vicious crackdown on peaceful protesters,” following another day of deadly violence across the country Wednesday.
“Myanmar’s military must stop murdering and jailing protesters,” Bachelet said. “It is utterly abhorrent that security forces are firing live ammunition against peaceful protesters across the country. I am also appalled at the documented attacks against emergency medical staff and ambulances attempting to provide care to those who have been injured.”
The death toll could be much higher, the UN suggested.
Of the 54 cases documented by the UN Human Rights Office, at least 30 people were killed in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing, Magway and Mon by security forces on Wednesday. Another person was documented to have been killed on Tuesday, 18 people on Sunday and five prior to that.
The UN said it is difficult to establish how many people have suffered injuries, but suggested hundreds have been wounded during protests.
More than 1,700 people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in relation to their participation in protests or engagement in political activity, including members of parliament, political activists and election officials, authors, human-rights defenders, teachers, health-care workers, civil servants, journalists, monks and celebrities. That number, as well, could be higher.
Canada's position
In mid-February, Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau announced that in response to the coup d’état in Myanmar, Canada is imposing sanctions against nine Myanmar military officials, under the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations.
In co-ordination with the United Kingdom, the sanctions are part of a united response to send a clear message that Canada will not accept the actions of the Myanmar military and its complete disregard for the will and democratic rights of the people of Myanmar, Global Affairs Canada stated in a news release about the updated sanctions.
Since the Special Economic Measures (Burma) Regulations came into force in December 2007, Canada has maintained sanctions against certain listed individuals and entities in order to respond to the gravity of the human-rights and humanitarian situation in Myanmar, which continues to threaten peace and security in the entire region.
February’s announcement brings the total number of individuals sanctioned by Canada to 54. A trade embargo on arms and related material, as well as on related technical and financial assistance, also remains in place.
A spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada told The Telegram via email Thursday night the measures demonstrate that Canada and its international partners will not accept the actions of the Myanmar military and their complete disregard for the will and democratic rights of the people of Myanmar.
"Earlier this week, we underscored our condemnation of the horrendous violence deployed by the Tatmadaw against the people of Myanmar. We stand with the people of Myanmar and will seek to ensure that those responsible for grave violations of human rights are held to account," media spokesperson Patricia Skinner said.
"The sanctions are part of a broader set of policy measures by Canada to find a way towards a positive change in the situation in Myanmar. We will continue to liaise with our international partners and to work in close coordination through the UN, the G7 and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to see democracy restored in Myanmar."
Barb Sweet is The Telegram's senior report.
Twitter: @BarbSweetTweets
