Washington, (Samajweekly) The US has advised its citizens not to go to Myanmar and raised its travel advisory for the country to level 4 amid a deteriorating situation.
In an advisory on Tuesday, the US Department of State said it had ordered all non-emergency government employees and their family members to leave the South-East Asian country “due to Covid-19 as well as areas of civil unrest and armed violence”, DPA news agency reported.
The department had authorized the “voluntary departure” of non-emergency government employees and their families on February 14.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 4 Travel Health Notice for Burma due to COVID-19,” the advisory said.
“The Burmese military has detained and deposed elected government officials. Protests and demonstrations against military rule have occurred and are expected to continue.”
The advisory also listed areas in the country subject to “heightened civil unrest” and “armed violence” in different degrees and warned that the US government has “limited ability to provide emergency services” to citizens in certain areas.
At least 500 pro-democracy protesters have been killed since Myanmar’s February 1 military coup, a monitoring group said on Tuesday.
The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) puts the nationwide death toll at 510, after another 14 people lost their lives at the hands of security forces on Monday.
Myanmar’s military seized control of the country after an election which Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party won by a landslide.
Myanmar joins warring countries such as Somalia and Syria in the level 4 category.
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