ND Burma
ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.
Recent Posts
- Open letter: Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest signal urgent need for investigation and complete end of mandate
- Myanmar children, monks among dozens killed in heavy airstrikes
- UN chief: Discussing humanitarian aid corridor from Bangladesh to Myanmar
- Rodrigo Roa Duterte makes first appearance before the ICC: confirmation of charges hearing scheduled for 23 September 2025
- Myanmar junta troops massacre 11 villagers, most too old to flee, residents say
Covid-19 deaths spike amid coup-induced collapse of healthcare system
/in NewsThe third wave of the pandemic—and the first to hit Myanmar since the coup—has been the deadliest so far
Myanmar’s largest city is in the middle of a full-blown public health crisis, as Covid-19 patients die at an unprecedented rate due to the unavailability of medical oxygen.
While official figures for the country are dire, with 3,461 new cases and 82 deaths on Sunday alone, the actual situation is far worse, according to social welfare groups in Yangon.
The former capital saw at least 105 Covid-19-related deaths over the weekend in just four townships—Mingalar Taung Nyunt, Tamwe, and North and South Dagon—the groups told Myanmar Now.
A volunteer with one organization said that it had received 40 requests for funeral services between Friday and Sunday. Most of the deceased had died of Covid-19 due to a lack of oxygen, he said.
According to another local group called Shin Than Khwint (“Right to Survive”), there were 50 deaths from hypoxemia in South Dagon in the first 11 days of July.
Shwe Thanlyin, another group that assists with final rites for the dead, said that since last Friday, it has handled five more funerals than its usual 15 per day to help families cope with Covid-19 deaths.
Myanmar Now attempted to contact cemetery and municipal government officials responsible for Covid-19-related funerals to confirm these numbers, but its calls went answered.
At a press conference on Monday, junta spokesperson Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun attempted to allay concerns about the surge in cases, claiming that military hospitals are prepared to deal with the third and deadliest wave of the pandemic.
What he ignored, however, was that the nation’s healthcare system has been all but paralyzed since February 1, when the military seized power in a coup that continues to sow chaos more than five months later.
Signal-2021-07-11-164916_003.Jpeg
Among the first to resist the junta were medical professionals at public hospitals, who refused to work under a military dictatorship. This led to the arrest of many who were at the forefront of the battle against the pandemic last year.
Last week, Myanmar reported its worst numbers since the peak of last year’s second wave. The latest death rates are now nearly double what they were in October 2020.
Even more disturbing is the infection rate—figures released by the Ministry of Health and Sport show that nearly a third of those tested for Covid-19 have been found to be infected. This is based on only 15,128 swab tests conducted on Saturday, but gives some sense of the magnitude of the challenges now facing an overwhelmed nation.
Desperate need
Social media has been awash in images and accounts of families desperately trying to track down oxygen and other medical supplies for ailing loved ones. Long lines have formed in Yangon and elsewhere, attesting to the scale of the emergency.
Shwe Thanlyin, which provides medical services for the living as well as funerals for the dead, said that it is receiving more than 300 calls a day from families in need of oxygen.
“We get so many phone calls, it’s like we have smoke coming out of our ears. Hardly a minute goes by without another call asking for oxygen,” said a spokesperson for the group.
Three large oxygen tanks that Shwe Thanlyin received on Sunday morning were empty within 30 minutes, as people flocked to its office in Dagon Seikkan from as far away as Hlaing Tharyar, Insein, and Ahlone townships.
“The important thing is to get enough oxygen. Most cases start with someone coming down with a fever and aching in the first few days, and right after that, their oxygen levels begin to drop. If we don’t give them oxygen in time, we lose them. We have a lot of cases like that,” the spokesperson explained.
A healthy person’s blood oxygen level is around 95%, and anything below 90% is seen as requiring medical attention. However, many patients say they have been turned away from hospitals even when they are clearly in need of assistance.
“According to some patients, there are hospitals that just send people away after a brief examination and others that won’t even let them in, saying they’re full. They’re even sending away the ones with oxygen levels lower than 90%,” said Than Than Soe, who heads South Dagon-based Shin Than Khwint.
Although Shin Than Khwint has a total of 80 oxygen tanks, many who come to the group for help have to wait up to three days to receive oxygen due to overwhelming demand, said Than Than Soe.
“To be honest, it’s been exhausting. It really takes a toll on us to have to keep saying ‘sorry’ to all those people who are so desperate,” she said.
Signal-2021-07-12-170253_001.Jpeg
Pushed to the brink
As demand for oxygen continues to climb, the junta has stepped in to ensure that it has complete control over the available supply, by prohibiting both private and state-owned producers from distributing to individuals.
While it denied rumours that it has “raided” oxygen-producing factories, the military said in a statement released on Monday that it has restricted sales of oxygen.
An employee of a state-owned factory located at the Thein Phyu shipyard in Botahtaung Township confirmed this, saying that the factory was under orders to supply the gas exclusively to Covid-19 centres run by the regime.
Unity, a privately-owned producer based in Yangon’s Shwepyitha Township, was similarly instructed not to sell oxygen to civilians after the military bought 62 of its 40-litre tanks on Sunday morning, a source there said.
Meanwhile, crowds continue to gather in hopes of acquiring some of the precious commodity, creating conditions that could actually make matters worse for those already at risk.
“We didn’t know who was or wasn’t infected,” said one man who had joined many others in trying to buy oxygen at the Naing oxygen factory on Sagaing Road in South Dagon.
“If even one person was infected, then we would all be infected. I was only there because I couldn’t stand to watch people around me suffer,” he added.
Volunteer groups say they are also finding it difficult to replenish their stockpiles.
“Right now, a large tank of oxygen will cost you 400,000 kyat [$243]. Even so, you won’t be able to buy it easily. I went to buy some as an emergency backup, but they said they were all out,” said a member of the Yangon Youth Covid Control Task Force.
“I don’t know if it’s because the military council told them not to sell to us anymore. I mean, we’re buying it with our own money, after all,” he added.
A resident of Myawaddy, a town on the Thai-Myanmar border, told Myanmar Now that the flow of oxygen from outside the country has also stalled.
“We can’t import oxygen tanks anymore. They said they were out of stock. We have to wait until the end of the month, even if we order direct from Bangkok,” he said.
All of this has left little room for hope in the near future, as the situation continues to deteriorate in the face of the unchecked spread of a deadly disease and ongoing oppression by a regime that has pushed the country’s people to the brink.
“We survived the first and second waves, but I’m starting to think we’re not going to make it out alive this time. Even if the disease doesn’t kill us, the despair will,” said Shin Than Khwint’s Than Than Soe.
Myanmar Now
Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Post-Coup (July 5-11)2021
/in HR SituationCOVID19 cases on the rise in conflict-coup torn #Myanmar where the junta’s increased presence has worsened the state of the country’s affairs. Health workers targeted as oxygen shortages leave thousands in despair.
Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Post-Coup (28 June -4 July)2021
/in HR SituationThe people have not lost momentum in their commitment to reject the coup & ongoing militarisation. Protests continue amid calls for more support to IDPs living in remote areas and more international accountability for military crimes committed. The impunity must end! See more in our weekly update
Myanmar Now multimedia reporter among hundreds of detainees released from Insein Prison
/in NewsMyanmar Now’s multimedia reporter Kay Zon Nway was among the more than 700 people released from Insein Prison on Wednesday afternoon, according to a family member.
She was arrested on February 27 while covering a protest in Yangon and had been charged under Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement, which carries a prison sentence of up to three years.
The 27-year-old journalist spent 124 days in detention.
“She called us with someone else’s mobile and told us that she was coming back home,” a relative of Kay Zon Nway told Myanmar Now.
During her four months detention, she had been separated from the other prisoners and placed in a smaller cell with one other female inmate for more than a month until the end of May.
Kay Zon Nway’s separate confinement began weeks after the mid-April start of Ramadan. As a Muslim, she was fasting, and was accused of staging a hunger strike. Prison officials later attributed her punishment to a case of mistaken identity, according to her lawyer.
Also released along with Kay Zon Nway was Ye Myo Khant, photojournalist at the Myanmar Pressphoto Agency, and Aung Ye Ko, a reporter at 7Day News, who were detained on the same day in late February. They were also facing the same charges of violating Section 505a.
_m4a6415.Jpg
Since Wednesday morning, relatives of detainees had been waiting outside prisons across the country to welcome the release of their loved ones. Prison officials only began the release in the late afternoon.
The Irrawaddy reported that six journalists, including Kay Zon Nway, were freed on Wednesday.
Some young activists, protesters, and poets who were arrested for their involvement in anti-coup demonstrations were among the released detainees, according to their family members.
Myanmar Now is still gathering further information on those who were released.
According to the Detained Journalists Information Myanmar, a local project which compiles data on arrested reporters and news outlets under prosecution, 50 journalists were facing trial as of Tuesday four had been convicted of incitement.
Myanmar Now News
Weekly Update on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar Post-Coup
/in HR SituationThe junta is continuing its campaign of terror as it indiscriminately shoots at civilians and arbitrarily arrests them with no evidence or just cause. People in Myanmar are continuing to resist
Conflict increased in Kachin State with civilians forced to flee for their safety. Aid is needed, alongside greater protection for the most vulnerable. See more in our weekly update
Released American journalist says Myanmar military using torture to hunt down opposition leaders
/in NewsBy Helen Regan, Anna Coren, Sandi Sidhu and Salai TZ, CNN Business
Weeks of ‘hell’
Stopping the junta’s violence