Government won’t evacuate Kiwis from Myanmar following coup, but it will save MIQ spots

March 4, 2021

The pledge follows the deadliest day since the military coup began last month.

Myanmar has seen its deadliest day of unrest since the military coup began last month.

The United Nations says 38 people have been killed in a single day after the military opened fire on protestors around the country.

For a month, opponents of the coup have taken to the streets - armed with little more than hard hats, goggles and fire extinguishers.

At least 50 people have died since the army takeover, dozens in the last day alone, including a young woman, shot in the head.

"Another video clip showed a protestor was taken away from police and they shot – shoot him from very near, maybe only one metre," says UN special envoy to Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener.

It appears no group is safe, with one video showing medical volunteers being beaten by armed forces. Even those filming from their apartments have been shot at.

Kiwi expat Tim Do watched the scene unfold from his apartment in Yangon, filming deafening gunshots on his doorstep — his young daughter terrified.

“They set up the barricades and anytime they see protestors around our condo they start running and start shooting,” Do told 1 NEWS.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) says there are 79 Kiwis registered as living in Myanmar, and it's assisting three to get home.

There are no repatriation flights planned, so MFAT is advising people to book their own flights.

But that's a hard task, with patchy internet and very few flights available.

Do says it’s “hard to get flights”, and “really unpredictable”.

The New Zealand Government has received and approved two emergency MIQ applications since the coup broke out.

“If that's the case for people in Myanmar, where they just need to leave and just need to get back to New Zealand, we'll make sure they can get managed isolation. their big challenge is going to be getting travel to New Zealand,” Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins says.

The US has imposed sanctions on military leaders, but is hesitant to go further than that.

“We are not going to do anything that worsens the suffering, the humanitarian suffering, of the Burmese people,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price says.

The New Zealand Government has also suspended military contact, and the Foreign Minister says New Zealand will continue to work with international partners towards resolution.

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