New Zealand has announced the suspension of all high-level political and military ties with Myanmar.
According to a report by a foreign news agency, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a press conference that New Zealand will also impose a travel ban on Myanmar’s military leaders, following the last week’s military coup in the Southeast Asian nation.
She said she would ensure that the country’s relief program did not include projects provided with the military government. She said the measures would include a travel ban on senior military figures.
The New Zealand prime minister also called on the international community to convene a special meeting to discuss the situation in Myanmar. It should be noted that Myanmar has been ruled by the military for decades and now the democratic government had hoped that the military, refusing to accept the election results, revolted and imprisoned political leaders.
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Myanmar’s military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, declared a state of emergency last week, hours after detaining the country’s de facto leader and State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other senior members of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Suu Kyi served as the late counselor of Myanmar from 2016 to 2021 following a long struggle for democracy in the nation that earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. But her silence over the massacre of Rohingya Muslims and defense of the military’s genocide at the international court drew harsh criticism across the globe.
The United Nations, Britain, and the European Union have condemned the military coup and warned of possible unrest across the country.
