Geneva, Apr 17 (EFE).- Human rights expert Tom Andrews will travel to Japan on April 19 to call for pressure against Myanmar’s ruling military junta, the United Nations said Monday.

“As a strong Asian democracy, Japan is well-placed to provide regional leadership on the crisis in Myanmar,” the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar said.

“I will urge the Government of Japan to use this influence to isolate and disempower the brutal military junta and to be the strongest possible ally of the people of Myanmar,” he added.

The situation in Myanmar has been deteriorating amid intensifying military attacks on civilians, an increasing number of political prisoners, and growing humanitarian needs, according to Andrews.

During his 10-day visit, Andrews is expected to meet with Japanese government officials and Myanmar refugees and businessmen, as well as visit UN agencies in the Asian country.

The UN expert will give a lecture at a local university in Kyoto and hold a press conference in Tokyo at the end of his visit on April 28.

Andrews’ trip to Japan comes after at least 165 people, including 19 children, were killed in a military airstrike in the Sagaing region in the northwest last week, the deadliest so far since the military seized power in a coup in February 2021.

More than 3,000 people have been killed, 1.3 million have been forced to flee their homes and some 16,000 remain in prison since the coup, which ended a decade of democratic transition and plunged the country into a spiral of violence and semi-anarchy.EFE

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