New Zealand suspends ties with Myanmar after military coup

New Zealand on Tuesday suspended all high-level military and political contacts with Myanmar, following the coup in which the military ousted de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, AFP reported. This is the first major international move to isolate the country’s ruling junta following the coup on February 1.

Also read: ‘We stand with the people’: US State Department on Myanmar protest ban

“Following the military coup, New Zealand is suspending all high-level political and military contact with Myanmar,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told reporters. 

She called for the international community to “strongly condemn what we’re seeing happen in Myanmar”. 

“After years of working hard to build a democracy in Myanmar, I think every New Zealander would be devastated to see what we’ve seen in recent days led by the military,” she told reporters, AFP reported.

“Our strong message is we will do what we can from here in New Zealand,” she added.

Last Monday, Myanmar’s military detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of other members of her National League for Democracy party, ending a decade of civilian rule.

Ardern said New Zealand wanted the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session to discuss developments in Myanmar.

Also read: Coup opposition runs skin deep for Myanmar youth

She added that New Zealand’s aid programmes in Myanmar, worth about NZ$42 million ($30.5 million) a year, would continue with safeguards that they did not benefit, or come under the control of, the military junta.