Myanmar’s Miss Universe contestant speaks out at pageant against military junta

Myanmar’s contestant in the 2021 Miss Universe pageant spoke out against the military junta in her country on Sunday.

“Our people are dying and being shot by the military every day,” Thuzar Wint Lwin, 22, said in a video message for the pageant, Reuters reports. “I would like to urge everyone to speak about Myanmar. As Miss Universe Myanmar since the coup, I have been speaking out as much as I can.”

As The New York Times reports, Thuzar Wint Lwin has repeatedly brought attention to her country’s plight. During the pageant’s national costume show Thursday, she held up sign reading “Pray for Myanmar.”

“Where is the humanity? Please help us. We are helpless here,” Thuzar Wint Lwin said in an interview before leaving Myanmar to compete in the pageant. 

Myanmar’s Miss Universe contestant, Thuzar Wint Lwin, used the pageant to urge the world to speak out against the military junta, whose security forces have killed hundreds of opponents since it seized power in a Feb. 1 coup https://t.co/lb4pP2UkFj pic.twitter.com/mKDqCeXlfi

— Reuters (@Reuters) May 17, 2021

Miss Universe Myanmar Thuzar Wint Lwin wins the national costume competition in the 69th Miss Universe. | Rodrigo Varela/AFP #MissUniverse pic.twitter.com/QyHvBqIslE

— Inquirer (@inquirerdotnet) May 17, 2021

She did not move on to the last round of the Miss Universe pageant, Reuters reported, though she did win best national costume for her costume from the Chin people from northwestern Myanmar.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, nearly 800 people in Myanmar have been killed by security forces and thousands more have been injured. Reuters notes that many celebrities in Myanmar have spoken out against the military junta that overthrew the democratically elected government in February.

Thousands of people have been imprisoned since protests began, including several celebrities.