THE United Nations secretary-general renewed an urgent call to the international community today to seek a unified strategy to end the worsening crisis in Myanmar.

Antonio Guterres said financial aid should be boosted to previous levels to enable the world body to respond to an “enormous tragedy.”

He said the situation in Myanmar has further deteriorated since he met with Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders in a 2022 summit, and again called on the crisis-ridden country’s military-installed government to immediately free all political prisoners and “open the door to a return to democratic rule.”

Myanmar’s army seized power on February 1 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, arresting her and top members of her governing National League for Democracy party, which had won a landslide victory for a new term in a November 2020 general election.

The right-wing regime’s security forces have continued to use lethal force to suppress widespread opposition to the military takeover, killing thousands of civilians and arresting thousands of others who engaged in non-violent protests. 

The brutal crackdown has triggered armed resistance in much of the impoverished country.

Mr Guterres made the case for an international response in a news conference today before joining the association leaders’ summit meetings in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. 

The UN chief expressed support for a five-point peace plan crafted by association leaders in 2021, calling for an immediate end to violence in Myanmar and the start of dialogue among contending parties, including the ruling generals and Suu Kyi’s camp.

Association leaders, however, acknowledged in a joint statement that their strategy has failed to make any progress in Myanmar.

Despite this, the 10-nation bloc’s leaders decided to stick with the plan and continue to prohibit Myanmar’s generals and their appointed officials from attending its high-level summits.