At least 38 people were killed in Myanmar on Wednesday, the highest number of victims in a day in the wake of the crackdown on anti-coup protests, the United Nations special representative for the country said.
The representative, Christine Schraner Burgener, reported the deaths when news emerged that the Junta’s choice for the UN envoy had abruptly resigned.
Wednesday’s events came as the United States, which is chairman of the United Nations Security Council for March, scheduled a meeting on Friday to deal with the crisis in Myanmar, diplomats said.
Myanmar has been in crisis since a military junta took control on February 1 and arrested civilian leaders whose party, the National League for Democracy, won an overwhelming victory in national elections. Security forces have used increasingly brutal means to crush anti-coup protests.
Burgener, a Swiss diplomat appointed by Secretary-General António Guterres three years ago to monitor Myanmar, told reporters at a news conference that leaders of the military junta rejected his requests to visit the country.
When she warned them of the consequences of becoming an international pariah, Ms. Burgener said they replied: “‘We are used to sanctions'” and “‘We should learn to walk with just a few friends'”.
Ms. Burgener also said that she received many messages from citizens of Myanmar inside the country begging for international action that would end the repression and lead to the release of the imprisoned civilian leadership led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize winner.
“Today was the bloodiest day since the coup took place,” she said. “Only today, 38 people died.”
Ms. Burgener did not specify the sources of her information or detailed where in Myanmar the deaths occurred. But other Myanmar news and social media reports reported similar numbers of clashes in several cities. The death toll, if confirmed, would be almost double the previous record for an 18-day dead on Sunday.
She spoke as the intrigue deepened at the United Nations about Myanmar’s diplomatic representation in the 193-member organization.
The machinations began when U Kyaw Moe Tun, the ambassador, denounced the junta’s leaders on the global stage last Friday in an emotional speech that made him an instant hero among many fellow diplomats and pro-democracy activists at home and elsewhere .
On Saturday, the generals said he had been fired. On Tuesday, United Nations officials said Kyaw Moe Tun declared in writing that he remains Myanmar’s legitimate representative. But they also said that Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry stated in writing that Kyaw Moe Tun was no longer an ambassador and that his deputy, U Tin Maung Naing, was serving as Myanmar’s top diplomat at the UN.
On Wednesday, Mr. Tin Maung Naing announced via Facebook that he had resigned, without any explanation.
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for Guterres, said he was aware of the resignation, but said “there has been no official communication” about it. He also said that Myanmar’s conflicting information was shared with the United Nations General Assembly’s Credentials Committee, which deals with disputes that arise over diplomatic representation at the United Nations.