The Diplomat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has renewed travel advisories to Myanmar to urge the Spanish colony to leave the Asian country “as soon as possible” making use of “available flights”.
“Protests continue in cities across the country against the coup d’état perpetrated on February 1”, warns the Ministry in its travel recommendations, renewed this past Tuesday. “Myanmar’s law enforcement agencies have intensified the virulence of their repression against demonstrators and are making indiscriminate use of firearms against civilians”, such that “violence is even affecting pedestrians and people residing in more troubled areas, even if they have not participated in demonstrations”, it continues.
In addition, “it is expected that in the coming days and weeks episodes of violence will continue to escalate significantly in the main cities of the country, especially in Yangon”, and also “armed clashes have intensified in several border states”, continues the Ministry. In addition, it is not excluded that “power and communications blackouts will continue to occur” and that “mobility restrictions that hinder internal or international travel” will increase.
For all these reasons, warns the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “in the event that you are currently in Myanmar, it is recommended that you leave the country as soon as possible, making use of the flights available to leave Myanmar”. “You may request further information on such flights by writing to emb.bangkok.inf@maec.es and emb.yangon@maec.es” the Ministry continues. Spain does not have an Embassy in Myanmar and representation is carried out from Thailand and from the Diplomatic Office in Yangon.
“Despite the strikes and stoppages of activity, the airports continue to operate”, says Foreign Affairs, which, however, recalls that the Embassy and the Diplomatic Office “cannot perform the functions of a travel agency nor can they give or have any certainty about the flights that will be canceled in the future, beyond keeping in close contact with the airlines”.
Likewise, “Spaniards remaining in the country are urged to strictly follow the general recommendations that the Spanish Embassy in Bangkok and the Diplomatic Office in Yangon circulate periodically by e-mail” and reiterates the general recommendation to the Spanish colony in Myanmar to “limit movements to those that are strictly necessary”.
Last March 27, the Spanish government condemned “in the strongest terms, the violence perpetrated by the security forces against the civilian population in Myanmar” and warned that “the execution of unarmed civilians, including children, by police and military is intolerable and unjustifiable”. “The Myanmar Army has become the enemy of the population it was intended to defend”, added the statement, which assured that “Spain will spare no effort in making those responsible for these crimes answer before the law for their actions”.
