Miss Universe hopeful holds 'Pray for Myanmar' sign
Ma Thuzar Wint Lwin walked on stage dressed in a costume which, according to the show's presenter, was not the one she had originally planned to wear, as that one "got lost in the mail."
Myanmar has been in crisis since a Feb. 1 coup ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her NLD government, ending a decade of economic reform and tentative steps towards democracy.
According to an advocacy group, 788 people killed in a brutal suppression of protests by security forces. Reuters is unable to independently verify casualties and the military has imposed restrictions on the media, internet services and satellite broadcasts.
The United Nations Development Programme said last month that Myanmar faces economic collapse due to the combined effect of the new coronavirus and the coup, which in its worst-case analysis could put nearly half the country’s 54 million people into poverty, compared to about a quarter in 2017.
Millions are expected to go hungry in the coming months, the United Nations’ World Food Programme said in an analysis published in April.
