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Myanmar: 3 million in need of humanitarian aid, ‘world is watching’ UN relief chief warns generals

November 8, 2021/in News

“The humanitarian situation in Myanmar is deteriorating”, Martin Griffiths said in a statement, adding that “without an end to violence and a peaceful resolution of Myanmar’s crisis, this number will only rise”. Growing displacement Since a military takeover on 1 February ousted the democratically elected Government, hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to violent crackdowns across the country. […]

Myanmar’s Military Regime Has Weaponized Public Health

November 6, 2021/in News

Myanmar: 3 million in need of humanitarian aid, ‘world is watching’ UN relief chief warns generals

November 8, 2021/in News

Myanmar’s Military Regime Has Weaponized Public Health

November 6, 2021/in News

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Myanmar: 3 million in need of humanitarian aid, ‘world is watching’ UN relief chief warns generals

November 8, 2021/in News

Growing displacement

Since a military takeover on 1 February ousted the democratically elected Government, hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes due to violent crackdowns across the country.

At the same time, 223,000 Burmese remain internally displaced, including 165,000 in the country’s southeast – adding to those already displaced in Rakhine, Chin, Shan and Kachin states prior to the takeover.

“Long-term displacement remains unresolved, with 144,000 Rohingya people still confined to camps and camp-like settings in Rakhine, many since their displacement in 2012, and more than 105,000 people displaced in Kachin and Shan, many for years”, said the humanitarian affairs chief.

“I am also increasingly concerned about reports of rising levels of food insecurity in and around urban areas, including in Yangon and Mandalay.”

Hostilities escalating 

In recent weeks, Mr. Griffiths noted that the situation in the northwest has become “extremely concerning”, with an escalation in hostilities between the Myanmar Armed Forces, the Chinland Defence Force in Chin state and the People’s Defence Forces in Magway and Sagaing regions.

“More than 37,000 people, including women and children, have been newly displaced, and more than 160 homes have been burned, including churches and the offices of a humanitarian organization”, he detailed.

Support humanitarian efforts

Underscoring that attacks directed against civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian workers and facilities, are “clearly prohibited under international humanitarian law”, he stressed that they must “stop immediately”.

Humanitarian workers have reached more than 1.67 million people in Myanmar with food, cash and nutrition assistance this year alone and although they are ready to do more, remain barred from access and extra funding is proving hard to come by.

“Access to many people in desperate need across the country remains extremely limited due to bureaucratic impediments put in place by the armed forces”, Mr. Griffiths explained.

He called on the Myanmar armed forces and all parties to “facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access” and on the international community to “fund the response”.

Secure dignity

Less than half of the $385 million required under the Humanitarian Response Plan and Interim Emergency Response Plan launched after the armed forces’ takeover has been received.

“The people of Myanmar need our help to ensure that their basic rights are upheld and they can live with dignity”, said the Emergency Relief Coordinator.

Urging all parties to “fully respect their obligations” under international humanitarian and human rights law to protect civilians and allow humanitarian assistance to be provided, including to those being forced to flee violence, Mr. Griffiths spelled out: “The world is watching”.

Restore democracy

Meanwhile, marking one year since the people of Myanmar voted in by a landslide, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, independent UN Special Rapporteur, Tom Andrews, described the election as having been “stolen by a junta systematically violating rights”.

To help end the crisis, he urged the Security Council’s closed-door discussion on Monday to dramatically increase aid and cut “junta access to revenue and weapons”.

Mr. Andrews and all Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. He holds an honorary position and is not paid for his work.

Myanmar’s Military Regime Has Weaponized Public Health

November 6, 2021/in News

Since the military overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar in February 2021, the situation in the country has continued to deteriorate and people live in a state of terror that deeply affects their right to health, as well as many other human rights. At the time of writing, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners rights group has reported that more than 9,800 people have been arrested and over 1,200 people killed since the first reported fatality, Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, a 19-year-old woman shot dead by a sniper at a rally near the city of Naypyitaw in February 2021.

Nine months of resistance is taking a toll on society, with many people reporting feelings of anger, anxiety and helplessness, and the young despairing over their lost future. Affected families are overwhelmed by the loss of relatives to disease and violence. Insomnia, depression and suicide are on the rise in this context of indiscriminate violent repression.

Healthcare professionals have not remained neutral. They were among the first to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), going on strike to pressure the junta to return power to the elected government for the well-being of the country and its people. The military regime responded by announcing that they would revoke permission to provide services from any health facility employing or supporting health workers involved in the CDM, and would prosecute anyone helping those on strike.

Violent repression of public health professionals involved in the anti-coup resistance movement is but one of the ways in which the junta has weaponized public health in order to crush the civilian opposition, regardless of the wider public health, human and social costs of pursuing this strategy. The military has arrested and detained doctors and nurses simply for treating civilians who had been injured in anti-coup protests.

*Yangon General Hospital staff protest against the military coup outside the emergency department on Feb. 3. / Htet Wai / The Irrawaddy*

In their strong condemnation of the junta’s action, the World Medical Association stated that, “the violence of the security forces is intolerable. Private clinics, medical personnel carrying out emergency treatment and ambulances have been shot at without any reason. We have reports of doctors being arrested and others fleeing from their homes to hide from the military regime.” These reports have been confirmed by the Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights Network and corroborated by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Surveillance System for Attacks on Health Care, which now considers Myanmar one of the deadliest places on earth for healthcare workers, with 260 documented attacks this year alone, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of the global total.

This has happened in the context of a catastrophic third wave of COVID-19 that peaked in July 2021, with the population and volunteer medics having to fend for themselves to find oxygen and treatment places amidst attacks. The increasing number of people arrested by the junta has worsened prison overcrowding, thus compounding the risks of transmission of COVID-19, and there is a lack of information about what treatment, if any, prisoners may have received, especially political prisoners. Released detainees told Human Rights Watch that masks were often not available and sanitary conditions were abysmal.

People stand by the side of the health professionals since they all share the same motivation of seeing the coup fail as soon as possible. Many people do not trust the military and refrain from seeking healthcare for fear of being targeted. This even when concerned that they might have been exposed to COVID-19 infection or would wish to get vaccinated.

While doctors and nurses continue to assist people outside of government structures at great risk, the junta has accused them of genocide for leaving their jobs. But who is committing atrocities? The violence of the junta has spared no-one, not even children, and during the first two months alone after the coup at least 43 were reportedly killed by regime forces. Sexual assault is also rife. In a country where the military is known to use rape as a tool of war against ethnic minorities, women who are bravely standing in the frontline of protests have been exposed to sexual violence, especially when in custody. LGBTI activists involved in the resistance movement have also suffered the same violent fate and experienced humiliation compounded by entrenched prejudice.

*Medical Professionals staged a protest against the military regime on March 13 in Yangon. / Kaung Htet*

Restoration of health and wellbeing requires a strong condemnation of the junta for the appalling violations of basic human dignity that they have committed and continue to perpetrate, of which the weaponization of health is only one tragic and inexcusable example. As global health professionals we fail our ethical imperative to do no harm if we remain passive observers of this situation.

We believe that the military junta must be denied any form of recognition and legitimacy. It is time for organizations responsible for global health governance to take a firm stand and exclude the junta from their bodies, an action that should be taken first and foremost by the WHO. We welcome the decision to exclude the junta from the recent 74^th Annual Assembly and we await more decisive and permanent actions against the military government in order for WHO to provide leadership, uphold its own principles, and realize its rights-based mandate. We echo Sarli, D’Apice and Cecchi’s call for the global health community to take a stand and support the health professionals and the people of Myanmar in their CDM because “democracy means health, and health means democracy. They are intrinsically linked, mutually becoming one precondition of the other”.

Irrawaddy News

Spring Revolution

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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.

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Growing displacement

Hostilities escalating

Support humanitarian efforts

Secure dignity

Restore democracy

UN News

ND Burma

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Hostilities escalating 