Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar decorated boiled eggs on Easter Sunday in the most recent protest as the military junta continues its brutal crackdown.
Myanmar has been gripped by extreme turmoil considering the fact that a February 1 coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Security forces have sought to quell a mass uprising with lethal force, with the quantity of deaths reaching 557 as of Saturday, according to regional monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
To coincide with Easter Sunday, scores of Myanmar protesters decorated eggs with political messages and left them on neighbour’s doorsteps and hanging in bags on front gates.
Pictures posted on social media showed eggs adorned with Suu Kyi’s likeness and 3-finger salutes — a symbol of the resistance — though other individuals mentioned “save our people” and “democracy”.
One Facebook group advertising the egg protest urged individuals to be respectful of Christian traditions on Easter Sunday.
Early bird protesters also hit the streets of Mandalay Sunday, some carrying flags and riding motorbikes.
Their demonstration comes even soon after 4 protesters have been killed Saturday in the cities of Bago and Monywa.
Total to continue gas production
While foreign businesses have faced developing calls to sever ties with the junta, French power giant Total announced Sunday it will not halt gas production in coup-hit Myanmar.
Chief executive Patrick Pouyanne mentioned Total has a duty to keep the course.
“Can a company like Total decide to cut off the electricity supply to millions of people — and in so doing, disrupt the operation of hospitals, businesses?” he told the Journal du Dimanche.
Pouyanne mentioned he was “outraged by the repression” in Myanmar but would refuse to “act to the detriment of our local employees and the Burmese population who are already suffering so much.”
Italian style brand Benetton and Swedish retailer H&M have suspended all new orders from Myanmar, though French energy group EDF halted its activities, such as a $1.5-billion project to develop a hydroelectric dam.
Unrest — supported by a widespread strike by civil servants — has crippled Myanmar’s economy, leaving gas exports as one of the junta’s major sources of income.
The military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise has partnerships with Total and US rival Chevron and generates annual revenues of about $1 billion from the sale of all-natural gas.
Total paid about $230 million to the Myanmar authorities in 2019 and $176 million in 2020 in taxes and “production rights”, according to the company’s monetary statements.
The enterprise has not however paid taxes — worth about $4 million per month — to the junta since the banking technique has ceased to operate, Pouyanne mentioned.
But he mentioned Total rejected calls to place the taxes into an escrow account, saying it could place regional managers at danger of arrest or imprisonment.
More arrests
At least 2,658 civilians are in detention across the nation, according to AAPP.
This weekend, Myanmar authorities issued arrest warrants for 40 celebrities — most of whom are in hiding.
Two sisters — Shine Ya Da Na Pyo and Nay Zar Chi Shine — who spoke with a CNN correspondent on Friday have been also detained, along with one more relative.
Local media reported they had flashed a 3-finger salute though speaking to CNN.
“We are pressing the authorities for information on this, and for the safe release of any detainees,” a CNN spokesperson mentioned.
Meanwhile, ten rebel groups held on-line talks Saturday about Myanmar’s crisis, fanning fears that a broader conflict could erupt in a nation lengthy plagued by fighting involving the military and the ethnic armies.
The country’s 20 odd ethnic armed groups manage substantial places of territory, mainly in border regions.
Last week, the junta declared a month-lengthy ceasefire with ethnic armed groups.
The announcement having said that has not noticed the finish of lethal force against anti-coup protesters.