Families of Sri Lankans living in Myanmar say their loved ones are uncontactable after the Military coup that took place in the country this morning. According to reports at least 200 Sri Lankans are living and working in Mynmar.
According to one family member of a Sri Lankan living in Yangon told Lankasara said they are not able to reach him over the phone following the announcement of the coup. “There were several messages on Whatsapp but communication keeps getting cut off,” he said adding that in one message he was told that phone and mobile data connections are not working.
“He said he is only able to access communication at times through Sri Lankan roaming services and that the AirPort and Port have been shut down. He also said some service providers appear to be working on and off but those communications are largely disrupted” he added.
Last year one flight from Myanmar had repatriated a number of Sri Lankans back due to the Covid 19 situation. However, a number of others had opted to stay behind. Lankasara was not able to elicit a response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the wellbeing of the Sri Lankans in Myanmar at the time of writing.
Myanmar’s military today morning announced that that it had taken control of the country and declared a state of emergency for a year. Power has now been handed over to Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, its commander-in-chief.
Service for all four of the country’s telecoms companies have been cut off, some internet service providers were down and terrestrial television services were restricted to the military’s Myawaddy TV channel.
