The UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, said Monday she still hopes to visit the country after seven weeks spent in the region waiting for the junta that staged a coup in February to allow her in.

During a meeting in Indonesia at the end of April with the head of the Myanmar junta, General Min Aung Hlaing "didn't say that he doesn't want to speak with me anymore," the Swiss diplomat said at a virtual press conference in Bangkok, where she has spent most of her time since early April.

The general said "it's not the right time to come to Myanmar," she said. "That was 'not yet' but not a 'no'... So I will not give up to continue this discussion.

Burgener said she would travel on Wednesday to Japan for meetings with officials there.

Asked about her relations with China, Myanmar's main backer but which she has not visited since her appointment, the envoy said she was available.

"It's a very unstable situation for everybody in the region and clearly I'm ready to talk with the Chinese government wherever they like because I think dialogue is needed with all member states," she said.

Asked about a draft UN resolution proposed by Liechtenstein, and supported by the United States and the European Union, that includes "an immediate suspension" of all arms shipments to Myanmar, the envoy expressed caution.

"I think a resolution must be very strong to be effective. But what is also very important is to show unity in the General Assembly," she said.

A vote had been scheduled for May 18 but was suddenly postponed indefinitely at the behest of Paris, backed by Washington and London, due to a lack of support from Asian countries in the region, diplomats told AFP.

A meeting is scheduled to take place this week between the drafters of the text and the Asian countries, but the latter want the paragraph relating to an arms embargo to be removed and language linked to the field of human rights to be reduced, said one diplomat on condition of anonymity.

US journalist detained in Myanmar
Yangon (AFP) May 24, 2021 - An American editor of a Myanmar-based news outlet was detained by authorities in Yangon Monday as he attempted to board a flight out of the coup-hit country, his employers said.

United States citizen and managing editor of Frontier Myanmar Danny Fenster was detained at Yangon International Airport, the outlet said in a statement on its verified Twitter account.

The US State Department said it was "aware of reports" of the arrest.

"We take seriously our responsibility to assist US citizens abroad, and are monitoring the situation," a spokesman said, while declining to provide further details for privacy reasons.

Myanmar has been in uproar since the military seized power in a February 1 coup, with near-daily protests and a nationwide civil disobedience movement.

More than 800 people have been killed by the military, according to a local monitoring group.

The press has been caught in the crackdown as the junta tries to tighten control over the flow of information, throttling internet access and revoking the licences of local media outlets.

"We do not know why Danny was detained and have not been able to contact him since this morning. We are concerned for his wellbeing and call for his immediate release," Frontier said in a tweet.

"Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs."

Fenster, 37, had been working for the outlet for around a year and was heading home to see his family, Frontier's chief editor Thomas Kean told AFP.

The outlet had learned at around 10 am that Fenster had not been allowed to board his flight from Yangon, he added.

In a message shared with AFP, Fenster's brother Bryan said the family was "stunned and extremely confused" by the detention.

"We've been assured that there is no concern for his safety but no doubt we are very worried," he said.

At least 34 journalists and photographers remain in custody across Myanmar, according to monitoring group Reporting ASEAN.

- 'No one outside their grasp' -

Frontier said it understood Fenster had been transferred to Yangon's notorious Insein prison.

"With the arrest of a US citizen and a respected journalist, it is signalling a new normal," Herve Lemahieu, an expert on Myanmar at Australia's Lowy Institute, told AFP.

The junta "will hope this serves as a deterrent for local journalists. A sign that no one is outside their grasp".

Japanese reporter Yuki Kitazumi was detained by authorities in Myanmar in April and was also held in Insein until being freed earlier this month.

On his return to Tokyo he said Burmese political prisoners in the jail had told him they were tortured with beatings and sleep deprivation.

In March a BBC journalist was briefly detained after being seized by plainclothes officers while reporting outside a court in the capital Naypyidaw.

Separately, Polish photojournalist Robert Bociaga -- who was also arrested while covering protests -- was released in March after nearly two weeks in detention.

The arrest comes as civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi voiced defiance Monday in her first court appearance since being detained in the coup, vowing her ousted political party would live on.

In the 2021 Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, Myanmar ranked 140 out of 180 countries.

Since the coup, journalists in Myanmar "face systematic arrest campaigns and censorship", the watchdog said.

"Many will resign themselves to working clandestinely in order to be free to report what is happening and to evade the police," it added.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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