The E.U., Canada, Switzerland and Australia issued statements on Feb. 1, condemning the fifth anniversary of the 2021 military coup in Myanmar and calling on the military to “end all forms of violence” against its own citizens.  

“The Myanmar military ousted the democratically elected government, and seized power. One of the biggest humanitarian and human rights crises in the world has emerged in Myanmar since the coup,” Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand stated in a press release on Feb. 1. 

Canada, along with Switzerland and Australia, called on the international community to unite in order to assist a “peaceful democratic future for the people of Myanmar.” 

The three nations also requested that the Myanmar military release all 22,000 political prisoners and hold genuine dialogue with pro-democracy opposition groups led by the National Unity Government (NUG) and ethnic nationality organizations.

The E.U. wants Myanmar to adhere to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Five Point Consensus, which was agreed to by regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021, but not implemented upon his return to Naypyidaw. 

Canada, Switzerland, and Australia claimed that military elections in Myanmar, which ended on Jan. 25, were not free and fair.

The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won a majority of seats in Myanmar’s Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, or bicameral legislature, and will form the next government in Naypyidaw, according to the results released by the military’s Union Election Commission (UEC).  

Myanmar nationals living in France told DVB that they stand in solidarity with their fellow country men and women in Myanmar during a protest against the 2021 military coup anniversary in the French capital Paris and the southern port city of Marseille on Feb. 1. 

A protest to mark the fifth anniversary of the 2021 Myanmar military coup took place in Tokyo outside of the Myanmar embassy in Japan on Feb. 1. (Credit: Zaw Zaw Hlaing)

A similar protest took place outside the Myanmar embassy in Tokyo, Japan, where they demanded the immediate release of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Both leaders were detained by the military during the coup on Feb. 1, 2021. They have been sentenced by a military court in Naypyidaw to lengthy prison terms.

The Japanese called on their government to stop providing Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Myanmar that goes directly to the military regime that seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government, which was re-elected with a landslide victory three months before the coup in November 2020.

That election was endorsed by the international community.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi released a statement on Jan. 30, expressing concern over the military’s 2025-26 elections, which will not be endorsed by ASEAN.

Tokyo has called on the regime in Naypyidaw led by Min Aung Hlaing to take substantive steps toward a peaceful and democratic resolution to the crisis that has engulfed Myanmar since 2021. Toshimisu Motegi’s statement added that Tokyo will closely monitor the post-election process. 

A protest was also held on the Myanmar 2021 coup anniversary in Busan, South Korea, to denounce the last five years of illegitimate military rule and the recent “sham” elections. The 2021 Myanmar coup reversed five years of progress made in the country’s touted “transition to democracy” under an NLD government. 

A total of 7,738 people have been killed and 30,357 have been arrested by the military for opposing the 2021 coup, according to data collected by the human rights monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).