The numbers of police resignations have risen sharply since the violent crackdown in late February.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch, Tourist Security Police, Security Police and training depots have left their duties to resist the military regime, according to an officer in Naypyitaw.

There were over 500 police participating in the CDM by Thursday and 100 more joined the movement on Friday. The officer said no police protests have been reported in Rakhine State.

He said Special Branch Major Tin Min Tun’s participation in the CDM has had a great impact in police circles.

The major posted on Facebook this week: “I no longer want to serve under the military regime. I have joined the civil servants participating in the CDM.”

He expressed respect for younger protesters who are leading the movement against the regime.

A senior officer, who asked for anonymity, told The Irrawaddy: “There is still no order to take action against the police who have joined the CDM. The commanders only ask to bring them back, talk them into going back to their duties and solve their problems.”

None of the officers who joined the CDM have returned to work and none have been detained, according to police sources.

A policeman in Yangon, who joined the CDM, said: “I can’t stand seeing many people having trouble so a few individuals can be prosperous. I know a seed of sesame cannot make oil but I chose to leave, telling myself they will at least lose an officer to suppress protesters if I quit.”

Police participating in the CDM said they would only accept an elected government. Some said they would offer their service if the Committee Representing the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, representing elected members of the Union Parliament from the National League for Democracy, forms an army to fight the military regime.

The majority of the officers who have joined the CDM submitted resignations while some just informed their superiors that they were joining the movement, said the officer in Naypyitaw.

Some resignation letters said they had no will to carry out the military council’s orders and were resigning to stand with the people.

Reuters reported on Thursday that at least 19 officers have fled to Mizoram in India through Chin State and requested political asylum.

Some of the striking officers have many years of experience and have won outstanding performance awards.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 5 March 2021:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/600-police-join-myanmars-anti-regime-protest-movement.html

---

More Than 10 Myanmar Diplomats Refuse to Work for Military Regime

YANGON—With the country having recently experienced some of the bloodiest days in the increasingly brutal crackdown by security forces, more than 10 Myanmar diplomats based at foreign missions have now announced they will not work for the military regime.

The latest move by the civil servants represents the biggest pushback so far by Myanmar’s foreign based diplomats against the military regime. On Thursday, five staff from the Myanmar Embassy in Washington said they are participating in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), refusing to work for the military’s cabinet.

The diplomats said they are deeply saddened and disturbed by the military coup against the democratically elected civilian government and the use of lethal force and violence against peaceful demonstrators.

Since the military takeover on Feb. 1, more than 49 unarmed civilians have been killed by the regime’s security forces while participating peacefully in anti-regime protests.

The diplomats urged that the military regime respect the results of the November 2020 election and return state power to the people.

The NLD won Myanmar’s Nov. 8 general election in a landslide. The military staged a coup on Feb. 1, just hours before the new NLD-dominated Parliament was set to convene, claiming it was forced to act over what it called electoral fraud in the Nov. 8 general election.

Moreover, U Aung Kyaw Naing, a counselor at the Myanmar Embassy in Los Angeles, announced separately that he would join the CDM from Friday. He has been working at the Foreign Ministry for nearly 30 years.

He said he decided to participate in the CDM after being deeply saddened by the events of March 3, referring to the bloody crackdown by the military regime that killed at least 28 people.

Moreover, three staff including the first and second secretaries at the permanent mission of Myanmar to the United Nations Office in Geneva also said they would stand with the people who are fighting to restore democracy in their homeland. The three diplomats said they planned to participate in the CDM.

Another diplomat, Daw Chaw Kalayar, third secretary at the Myanmar Embassy in Berlin, Germany said she is no longer willing to work under the regime, who overthrew the civilian government and detained politicians and civilians unjustly.

Daw Chaw Kalayar said she won’t work for a “terrorist group” who are brutally killing civilians.

She said she will perform her duty as a diplomat if the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) gives her some responsibilities. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is Myanmar’s Union Parliament. The committee was set up by elected lawmakers who were denied their seats in Parliament by the coup. It denies the legitimacy of the military regime and has asked the international community to recognize it as the legitimate representative of the people.

All the diplomats said they are exercising their right to peaceful expression and that they stand together with the people of Myanmar, adding that they would not resign from their positions.

The diplomats’ movement against the military regime came after Myanmar’s envoy to the UN in New York, U Kyaw Moe Tun, broke ranks with the regime during a speech to the General Assembly, during which he opposed the coup and appealed to the world for help to restore democracy in his home country.

Myanmar residents of foreign countries from the West to Asia have urged diplomats to participate in the CDM. They have gathered in front of Myanmar embassies daily, urging diplomats to stand with the people.

Recently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled at least 100 staff from missions in at least 19 countries including the US, UK, Norway, China and Japan. On Wednesday, a chancellor at Myanmar’s Los Angeles consulate, Daw Mya Mya Kyi, also joined the CDM, saying she would not follow orders from the military regime, as it is illegitimate.

The Irrawaddy

• The Irrawaddy 5 March 2021:
https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/10-myanmar-diplomats-refuse-work-military-regime.html

---