Myanmar junta disallows visit by UN envoy

Myanmar's junta has refused to allow a United Nations (UN) envoy to visit the country, which has been gripped by unrest since a coup last February.

The UN's special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, will embark on a tour of Asian countries aimed at finding a solution to the country's crisis.

The tour will include stops at Thailand and China, but the exact details and timings for Burgener's trip have not been confirmed.

UN officials say Burgener wants to hold direct meetings with the generals in Myanmar, but the junta ruled it out.

"We have not permitted this. We also have no plan to allow it at this moment," Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the junta, told AFP on Friday.

Burgener confirmed that the military had shunned her.

"I regret that Tatmadaw answered me yesterday that they are not ready to receive me," she tweeted on Friday, using the local name for Myanmar's military.

"I am ready for dialogue. Violence never leads to peaceful sustainable solutions," she added.

Security forces in Myanmar have been using lethal force to quell weeks of unrest since the coup on February 1.

The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says the crackdown on protests have left at least 614 civilians dead. According to the local monitoring group, nearly 3,000 people have also been arrested.

On the day of the coup, the military arrested Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her associates over accusations of voter fraud in favor of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in elections last November.

The military placed commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing in power and pledged to hold fresh elections in a year and hand over power to the winner, but has not set a date.

Myanmar's UN envoy urges UNSC to 'take action'

Separately, Myanmar's envoy to the UN, who has broken ranks with the junta, called on the UN Security council to "take action" against the military regime, which he said has been targeting civilians deliberately.

"Your collective, strong action is needed immediately," Kyaw Moe Tun said at a virtual meeting of the Security Council on Friday. "Time is of the essence for us."

"Please, please take action," he pleaded.

Kyaw Moe Tun expressed regret over the "lack of adequate and strong action by the international community, especially the UN Security Council."

"A no-fly zone should be declared [over Myanmar]," he said, "to avoid further bloodshed caused by the military airstrikes on civilian areas."

The envoy also urged an international arms embargo and the freezing of bank accounts belonging to the members of the military and their families.

The military takeover of power has triggered widespread international condemnation.

Myanmar was ruled by the military from 1962 until 2011, when Suu Kyi ended the junta rule.

Her international reputation has been tarnished because she defended a military campaign of genocide against the minority Rohingya Muslim community in 2017.

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