2023-08-27 20:12:02
BANGKOK (AP) — The military-installed government in Myanmar has ordered the departure of the East Timorese diplomat in retaliation following the East Timorese government held meetings with Myanmar’s main opposition organization, the Foreign Ministry said Sunday.
In a statement, the ministry says East Timor has met with Myanmar’s Government of National Unity, an organization that is considered the legitimate administration in the country since the military seized power and overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu. Kyi on February 1, 2021.
The Government of National Unity also serves as a confederation of various groups that oppose the military regime.
The ministry said it had informed the charge d’affaires of the East Timorese embassy in Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, to leave the country no later than September 1.
The charge d’affaires is believed to be the first foreign diplomat to be expelled from Myanmar since the military coup.
Many countries have reduced their diplomatic relations with Myanmar since the coup, leaving only the chargé d’affaires as representative instead of an ambassador.
The military coup sparked massive civil opposition, which security forces crushed with deadly force, sparking armed resistance and what some UN experts consider a civil war.
More than 4,000 civilians have been killed by security forces and nearly 20,000 are in prison, according to the Association for Assistance to Political Prisoners, which keeps track of arrests and deaths attributed to military repression.
East Timor, the youngest country in Asia, has strongly criticized Myanmar’s military junta and declared its support for the opposition.
In July, East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta officially invited Zin Mar Aung, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of National Unity, to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao, a former East Timorese independence fighter. .
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