UN warns of potential civil war in Myanmar as crisis deepens

Myanmar is descending further into an economic and political crisis that could send the country into civil war, the UN's special envoy for the country said on Monday.

Christine Schraner Burgener told a virtual press conference that civilians are progressively forming what are called "People's Defense Force" (PDF) groups as protesters "have started shifting from defensive to the offensive" against the junta's security forces.

"The people are really frustrated and fearing attacks, and they just told me that they need to have self-defense," she said, noting a civil war "could happen."

Schraner Burgener has been pursuing an inclusive dialogue from her home base in Thailand with Myanmar groups, including the PDF, the junta, ethnic armed groups, civil society and political parties in order to prevent such a scenario.

"Clearly it will not be easy to convince especially both sides to come to a table, but I offer my good offices to be a channel and also maybe a bridge," she said. "I hope I can play this role to avoid more bloodshed and a civil war, which would last for a long time."

In all, 824 people have been killed and 4,301 others detained by Myanmar's security forces since the military overthrew the elected civilian government on Feb. 1, according to data collected by Myanmar's Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitor.

Some 61,000 people have been internally displaced and another 12,000 have fled to the neighboring countries of India and Thailand, Schraner Burgener said.

The economic picture she painted was especially grim with 12 million people on the cusp of poverty, and about half the population set to live below the national poverty line by early 2022 amid rampant food insecurity.

"In the coming three to six months we will probably have 3.4 million people who could be at risk of food insecurity due to the economic showdown provoked by the political crisis," she said.

Multiple calls have been made for the military to return power to the elected government, but the UN envoy said that under current circumstances that is "very unlikely" to happen.