Myanmar Health Care Workers are Not a Target

The human rights situation in Myanmar is becoming increasingly unstable. Hundreds of thousands have been  forcibly displaced. Among those trying to help injured civilians, protesters and combatants from the People’s Defense  Forces are medical professionals. They too have been targeted by the Myanmar  junta who have used their weapons to destroy clinics and confiscate medicine. In the midst of a pandemic, these actions are increasingly volatile.

Doctors and nurses, who have joined the  Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) have  been forced into hiding. Despite mass  arrest warrants issued, many are still providing treatment and care in secret.  Their will and spirit cannot be marred  by the junta.

The war that the Myanmar military is waging in their cruel pursuit for power has  destabilized the country beyond repair. The health care sector is one of many which has been obliterated. Health care  services are now largely beyond reach of every day civilians who are struggling to  survive on the bare minimum as conflict  wreaks havoc across the country.

On World Health Day, the Network  for Human Rights Documentation – Burma recognizes the many injustices perpetrated against health care workers  by the soldiers of the Myanmar Army. We condemn these unlawful attacks and  call for their immediate protection, as  well as for those arrested and detained to be released and all charges dropped.