Some 100 Myanmar diplomats supporting a civil disobedience movement in opposition to a Feb. 1 military coup have been ordered to return to the country by the junta, according to a leaked internal document.
But some of the diplomats did not follow the order and continue to stay in their countries of assignment, speaking out in their support for democracy forces in Myanmar against the junta.
The diplomats who were ordered to return to Myanmar had served in some 20 nations including the United States, Britain, Japan and Singapore.
Among them was Myanmar Ambassador to the United Nations Kyaw Moe Tun who expressed opposition to the military coup at an unofficial meeting of the U.N. General Assembly held on Feb. 26.
Kyaw Moe Tun has ignored a dismissal from the junta, calling on the international community to support the democracy forces in Myanmar.
Thet Htar Mya Yee San, a second secretary at the Myanmar Embassy in the United States, contributed an opinion article to The Washington Post newspaper on April 29.
In the article, Thet Htar Mya Yee San wrote that she and three other diplomats in the embassy decided to declare their opposition to the junta.
She said it was a hard decision as she was about to step over an invisible line, a choice that would change her whole life.
"But I have faith that we will prevail, and that justice will be restored," the diplomat said.
In April, Myanmar's ambassador to Britain Kyaw Zwar Minn, who had made a statement criticizing the Feb. 1 coup in March, was locked out from the embassy in London.
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