YANGON: Russia and China are frustrating the international response to the Myanmar crisis, a top European Union diplomat said on Sunday, as the death toll from a military crackdown climbed past 700.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power on February 1.

International efforts to stem the violence have so far failed to yield results, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell saying it was “no surprise” that Russia and China were blocking efforts at the UN Security Council to impose an arms embargo.

“Geopolitical competition in Myanmar will make it very difficult to find common ground, as we have witnessed again and again... but we have a duty to try,” he wrote in a blog post.

Despite bloodshed, protesters continue to rally across the country

Europe had become a major export market for Myanmar’s garment industry in recent years, he said, suggesting the EU could offer to increase economic ties and investments if the country returns to a path of democracy.

“The Myanmar military is used to international isolation and has a decade-long record of ignoring the needs and the will of the country’s citizens,” he said.

More funerals

Borrell’s comments follow days of intense violence in Myanmar, with deadly clashes across the country leaving scores dead.

The weekend saw a steady stream of mourners turn out to pay tribute to loved ones gunned down in the southern city of Bago, where security forces killed at least 82 anti-coup protesters in a brutal crackdown, according to a local monitoring group.

The true number killed may never be known -- there are reports security forces took away some bodies.

Ko Thi Ha, 30, a Bago charity worker and eldest of six siblings, was among those fatally wounded.

He was shot trying to escape soldiers by climbing over a brick wall with two others.

“The army shouted at him not to run, but he was afraid the army would shoot him if he didn’t run,” his friend told AFP.

“He was shot in the leg and then he fell down, his head hit the brick wall and he died from the incident.” His family cremated his body after claiming it from the hospital’s mortuary.

AFP-verified footage shot early Friday showed protesters hiding behind sandbag barricades wielding homemade rifles, as explosions were heard in the background.

The United Nations office in Myanmar tweeted late Saturday that medical treatment had been denied to many of the injured at Bago.

Published in Dawn, April 12th, 2021