Nepali-speaking citizens of Myanmar have participated in a demonstration in London against a military coup in their country.

According to Namaraj Gyawali, vice president of Gurkha Society of Myanmar, UK, ethnic Nepalis took part in the demonstration outside the British parliament on Thursday along with 10 other ethnic communities from the country.

Since the military seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi there have been widespread protests across Myanmar. Security forces have used excessive force against the protestors and killed more than 500 to quell the uprising but protests are continuing.

A memorandum was handed over to British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab through a first secretary at the British Foreign Office after an hour-long demonstration in which the demonstrators carried placards with slogans calling for the protection of human rights in the country.

Baba Rayamajhi, Pooja Pandey and Gyawali had gone to the Foreign Ministry to hand over the memorandum on behalf of the Gurkha Welfare Society.

A memorandum calls not to recognise the unconstitutionally established government in Myanmar, to take immediate global action to stop the sale of arms to the Myanmar army to prevent further casualties, and remind the authorities of Myanmar of the United Nations principle of Responsibility to Protect.

“Even though we are in the UK, we are saddened to see bloodshed in our motherland," Gyawali told Kantipur. “The protests will continue until democracy that has been usurped by the military is restored. We will continue to show our solidarity against the protests.”

According to Gyawali, the army has so far arrested 35 Nepali-speaking people and killed two.

There are about 120 Nepali-speaking Burmese households in the UK and they have sent more than 5,000 pounds from the UK to help treat the injured protesters, he said.