2021 Myanmar coup d'état

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2021 Myanmar coup d'état
Part of the internal conflict and political crisis in Myanmar

Deposed State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi (left), and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing (right)
Date1 February 2021
Location
Result

Military coup d'état successful

Belligerents

Government of Myanmar

 Tatmadaw
Commanders and leaders
Win Myint
(President of Myanmar)
Aung San Suu Kyi
(State Counsellor of Myanmar)
Min Aung Hlaing
(Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services)
Myint Swe
(Vice-President of Myanmar)

On 1 February 2021, there was a coup d'état in Myanmar. Important leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained as the military (Tatmadaw) took control of the government.

History[change | change source]

Myanmar (also known as Burma) has been under military rule before. General Ne Win led a coup in 1962. In 1988, many people protested against the military government because they were not happy with it. They wanted elections with many parties running so that normal people could change the government. The military killed many protestors.(3000-10000 as estimated).

Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of General Aung San, who helped free Burma from British rule. After 1988, she became a pro-democracy activist. In 1990, her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), won the elections in a landslide. However, the government refused to say that her party won.

In 2011, Suu Kyi's party won the elections. However, she is not allowed to be president of the country because her family (her late husband Michael Aris and two sons) are British citizens. So she became State Counsellor, which is like a prime minister.

In 2020, there was an election in Myanmar. The NLD won the election but Tatmadaw accused that there was an election fraud and made a coup at the early morning of February 1st of 2021. However, the proof that there was a fraud is not found, so far and people believes that Tatmadaw made the coup because the generals wants to restart the military dictatorship which ended about 10 years ago. After coup, people protests began in the whole country with many people because they wanted their elected government back but Tatmadaw disagree and killed many protesting people (around 1000 estimated), which led the People Defensive War, the national wide armed resistance against the military regime,

Events[change | change source]

Early in the morning of 1 February, Suu Kyi and other leaders in her party were taken away in a raid. Then the Internet and phone lines were cut off so that people could not talk to others inside or outside the countries.

Reactions[change | change source]

A lot of leaders in other countries around the world said that they were really worried about what was going on in Burma.

References[change | change source]

  1. "Myanmar coup: Aung San Suu Kyi detained as military seizes control". BBC News. 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  2. Chappell, Bill; Diaz, Jaclyn (1 February 2021). "Myanmar Coup: With Aung San Suu Kyi Detained, Military Takes Over Government". NPR. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  3. Strangio, Sebastian (8 February 2021). "Protests, Anger Spreading Rapidly in the Wake of Myanmar Coup". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
  4. "Amid Coup, Myanmar's NLD Lawmakers Form Committee to Serve as Legitimate Parliament". The Irrawaddy. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.