UN Expresses Alarm At Internet Blackout In Myanmar

UN Expresses Alarm At Internet Blackout In Myanmar

Yangon: A UN expert on Tuesday warned of a possible cover-up of human rights violations in Myanmar following the government’s decision to cut off mobile internet services in an area where an ethnic-minority guerrilla group is active. On June 20, Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications ordered all mobile providers to temporarily suspend services to nine towns in the states of Rakhine and Chin, reports Efe news.

The authorities defended the decision citing “disturbances of the peace” and said that the internet services were being used to coordinate illegal activities in that area, where clashes between the country’s military and the Arakan Army, a Rakhine-based insurgent group, have been frequent since 2018. Around 35,000 civilians have been displaced due to violence and dozens have been killed in indiscriminate attacks by both sides, according to the UN.

The UN expert said that blackout coincides with reports of a “clearance operation” by the army, “which, we all know by now, can be a cover for committing gross human rights violations against the civilian population”. (IANS)

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