Myanmar’s UK ambassador spends the night in car as coup is exported to UK

Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Kingdom found himself locked out of his own embassy on Wednesday as his deputy had him shut out of the building and had taken charge on behalf of the military.

In February, Myanmar’s military took power through a coup and have since been violently cracking down on pro-democracy protesters who have been demonstrating since February 2. 

Ambassador Kyaw Zwar Minn rejected the legitimacy of the ruling junta in recent weeks, calling for the release of detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“I have been locked out,” he told Reuters outside the embassy in the Mayfair area of west London.

“It’s a kind of coup, in the middle of London... you can see that they occupy my building,” he said.

Kyaw Zwar Minn has been in contact with Britain’s foreign ministry about the situation.

“We are aware of a protest outside the Myanmar embassy in Mayfair, London. Public order officers are in attendance. There have (been) no arrests,” London police said in a statement.

The ambassador told a journalist that his office was occupied by the military junta in a video interview posted to Twitter.

Kyaw Zwar Minn ended up sleeping in his car outside of the embassy in London.

Kyaw Win, director of Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN), called on the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to pressure the military junta in Myanmar.

He also branded the junta as a terrorist regime which does not understand civilised language.

Deputy ambassador Chit Win had reportedly taken over as charge d’affairs and he and the military attaché had locked the ambassador out of the building.

The ambassador urged the British government on Thursday to refuse to recognise the junta’s envoys and send them back to Myanmar.

“We believe the UK government would not back those who are working for the military junta and we also would like to urge the UK government to send them back,” Kyaw Zwar Minn said through his spokesman who read out a statement in English.

“We call on the UK government specifically to refuse to work with the charge d’affairs Chit Win that the military council have nominated or any other ambassador that they might try to nominate in future,” he added.

The UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab condemned “the bullying actions of the Myanmar military regime in London,” and paid “tribute to Kyaw Zwar Minn for his courage,” on his personal Twitter account.

Under Raab’s tweet many users supported the ousted Myanmar ambassador and called on the UK to take action against the junta.

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group opposing the military junta, published a press release saying Kyaw Zwar Minn is the only ambassador of Myanmar in the UK.