Israelis living in Myanmar say the internet is down and nothing is working, and local neighbors have fled in an unknown direction as soon as it became apparent that the military has taken control of the country in a takeover.
Myanmar’s militants were arrested on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of the National League for Democracy party in an early morning rally over the failure of the accused government in emergency handling and fraud coronavirus selection.
Arrest of a member of parliament in Myanmar
(Video: Reuters)
The unrest in the country is expected to affect Myanmar’s small indigenous Jewish community of no more than eight families – more than 30 Israelis living in the country, including embassy workers, businesses and their families.
One of the Israelis currently in the country is lawyer Hadar Adoy, who lives in the largest city of Myanmar in Yangon where the military town hall raised several points. check and apparently suspended the connection to the internet, which forced the local banks to suspend all activities.
Hadar Adoy, Israel in Myanmar
“It’s been talked about [a coup] for several days in the past week, “Adoy tells Ynet.” Now we wake up in the morning to a reality where there is no internet and nothing is working, “says Adoy, who describes a feeling of unhappiness in the city.
“My neighbors took the kids and fled. I think the people don’t like what’s going on,” Adoy said. “There were mass demonstrations here in 1988, when the army blocked people on the streets and killed about 3,000 people. It’s hard to predict what will happen this time around. I’m think people are worried, the street looks pretty quiet but I don’t think these steps will follow quietly. “
Another Israeli living in Yangon, Gili Yitzhak Gil, says despite the dire situation there are no violent rallies on the streets at the moment. “At the moment there is food storage, withdrawals from the banks, queues at gas stations, heavy policing at crossroads and quarters in the city.”
Soldiers sit inside trucks parked on a road in Naypyitaw, Myanmar
(Photo: AP)
Gil also talks about a sense of unrest among Yangon residents, many of whom chose to stay at home so that they would not oppose the army, which has deployed armed soldiers in its -every street to eliminate complaint signs.
“There is armed traffic on the city streets, fully equipped soldiers, all weapons and lots of lorries. As soon as a mess starts, the military is very willing to cancel any big show, ”says Gil.
The coup came after days of escalating tensions between Myanmar’s civilian government and the military, which gave power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing, who put it in a state of emergency for one year, according to a report of an armed-owned television station.
Myanmar Director held Aung San Suu Kyi
(Photo: EPA)
Nobel Peace Prize winner 75 Suu Kyi came to power after winning an election in 2015 that followed decades of living under house arrest in a struggle for democracy with Myanmar junta which turned her into an icon between -national.
Its international standing was ruined after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled from military operations to shelter from the western Rakhine state of Myanmar in 2017, but it is still very popular at home.
Reuters contributed to this report