Agency Report

A year after Myanmar’s elected government was ousted in a military coup, the anniversary on Tuesday has been marked with a silent strike, fresh sanctions, and grim warnings about the country’s trajectory.

Here is a selection of comments and reactions from around the world:

– ‘A dark era’ –

“We are still living in a dark era… We have to think how we can struggle on through our daily lives under this military dictatorship rather than about our goals, our dreams in the future.” Yangon market-goer Htoo Aung — using a pseudonym for fear of reprisal.

– ‘The regime bears responsibility’ –

“Over 14 million people are in humanitarian need, the economy is in crisis, democratic gains have been reversed, and conflict is spreading across the country,” a joint statement from the European Union, United States, South Korea and others read.

“The military regime bears responsibility for this crisis… We reiterate our call on the military regime to immediately end the state of emergency, allow unhindered humanitarian access, release all arbitrarily detained persons, including foreigners, and swiftly return the country to the democratic process.”