On February 1st a military coup occurred in Myanmar; the military took the elected government hostage and took over control of he country. The people’s resistance through peaceful protest has been growing, but so has the push back from the Military, leading to escalating violence inflicted on innocent civilians. Myanmar has only had 2 democratic elections; first one was smoother in comparison to the second. After the second election (this November), the military claimed that the elections were fraudulent, despite insufficient evidence, and used this as an excuse to detain the leaders of the elected government and stage a coup.
Myanmar is in chaos! - politically and socially. The future of the 54 million citizens in the country is uncertain. Police officers have responded violently to peaceful civilian protests: real and rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons. Military personnel and police officers have been coming into people’s homes without any warrant and arresting them. Protests have kept going, but with new cybersecurity laws and threats from the military, the situation has become more dangerous.
The civil disobedience movement was launched by doctors and medical staff striking and refusing to obey the military. Monks, teachers, firefighters and many different civilians have joined in. The CDM hopes to be able to continue long term as is may take months, years or even decades before democracy is restored.
Many people (especially those in the West) believe that this has no effect on them, however the increase in dictatorships in South and South East Asia is something all people who value freedom and democracy should care about.