US to downgrade diplomatic ties with Myanmar: Report

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – The US will downgrade diplomatic relations with Myanmar, a media report claimed on Thursday.

“The US will downgrade its diplomatic relations with Myanmar, with the incumbent American ambassador, Thomas Vajda, returning home later this month and Washington deciding not to send a successor,” daily Nikkei Asia reported, quoting a US State Department spokesperson.

Deborah Lynn, US deputy chief of mission in Yangon, “will assume duties as charge d'affaires at US Embassy Rangoon (Yangon) upon Ambassador Vajda's departure,” the unnamed US official added.

Washington’s decision comes in the wake of a military coup last year on Feb. 01, after the National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s government was ousted and its leader Suu Kyi was arrested along with many of her colleagues.

The NLD won the national elections in November 2020.

The coup was met with widespread civic unrest as people held demonstrations which were met with an iron hand by the junta regime, despite UN warnings that the country had descended into civil war.

The junta forces have since killed more than 1,500 people in a crackdown on dissent, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.

According to the UN, at least 70,000 people have fled Myanmar since the start of the latest military coup and more than one million are still internally displaced from their homes.