Myanmar (MNN) — The military leader who organized Myanmar’s coup has declared himself the Prime Minister. Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing says military rule, and the state of emergency, will continue until 2023, at which point the country will again hold elections. This contradicts his earlier claims that political freedoms would soon be returned to Myanmar.
Brian Dennett of AMG International says AMG contacts in Myanmar doubt these elections will actually take place. “He seems to be firmly situating himself as the national leader and the Prime Minister, making all of the decisions and really just wreaking havoc.”
Violence continues
Dennett says the military rules with a violent fist. “Two days ago, in Mandalay, there were protests and resistance. And the police there are just shooting people. One of our team members mentioned two people that were just shot dead by police officers. As he put it, they just pulled out their guns with no warning, aimed toward the protesters, and pulled the trigger.”
Since the coup in early February, security forces have killed nearly 1,000 people and arrested over 5,000.
How to help
On top of it all, COVID-19 continues to spread. Dennett says, “People are dying. Cemeteries are piling up, according to our people. And the government, not only are they not helping, they’re really an obstacle to help. They’ve been blocking things like oxygen shipments to try to keep their people at bay.”
Want to help? AMG sends aid into Myanmar through its team in Thailand. Dennett says, “We’ve been successful at getting everything that we’ve received into the country to meet their desperate needs.” Get involved by visiting amghelp.org.
Ask God to protect Christians in Myanmar. Pray their love for each other would point many to hope in Jesus during a hopeless time for the country.
The header photo shows Senior Gen. *Min Aung Hlaing. (Photo courtesy of Tatarstan, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)
