‘Urgent’ response needed to solve crisis: Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an "urgent" international response to the political crisis created in Myanmar by the February 1 military coup, in a new report released by the United Nations on Wednesday.

In the document on "the situation of human rights of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar," the UN chief also said he feared that the military's grip on power would become increasingly difficult to counter.

"It is urgent to mount a unified international and regional response to help to put Myanmar back on the path to democratic reform," he said in the document dated August 31.

No explanation was given by the UN for the long delay in its publication.

The text was approved by 119 countries, with 36 including China abstaining and one, Belarus, voting against.

The international effort "must be accompanied by the immediate release of President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government officials," Guterres said in his report.

There must also be "immediate humanitarian access and assistance, especially to vulnerable communities, among them the Rohingya Muslims, many of whom are living in exile in Bangladesh and elsewhere," he added.