The U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution condemning the February 1 military coup in Burma and to “prevent the flow of arms” into Burma amid the months-long deadly crackdown on protests. The international body stopped short, however, of calling for a global arms embargo against the Burmese military. Burma’s U.N. representative Kyaw Moe Tun responded to the resolution.
Kyaw Moe Tun: “We are so disappointed that it took almost three months to adopt this watered-down resolution, even though it does not include many important points to save lives of the people in Myanmar.”
Kyaw Moe Tun, who has remained in his official U.N. post despite his sharp criticism of the coup and the military junta, also warned time was running out to reverse the military takeover and prevent a full-blown civil war. A local rights group estimates at least 872 people have been killed by the military junta since the coup, and hundreds of thousands have had to flee, particularly ethnic minorities from the states of Kayah and Kayin.