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Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

September 11, 2024/in News

Mirjana Spoljaric warns that conflict has cut off ‘countless people’ from essential services. Myanmar’s junta must allow greater aid access to civilians, the Red Cross chief said at the end of a visit to the war-torn country, warning that the conflict has created a humanitarian crisis that’s put “countless people” at risk. The United Nations […]

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

September 11, 2024/in News

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday The Arakan Army (AA) claimed that more than 50 people, including prisoners of war, were killed during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on the No. 2 Border Guard Post in Maungdaw Township, located near the Burma-Bangladesh border in northern Arakan State on […]

Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

September 11, 2024/in News

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

September 11, 2024/in News

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Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

September 11, 2024/in News

Mirjana Spoljaric warns that conflict has cut off ‘countless people’ from essential services.

Myanmar’s junta must allow greater aid access to civilians, the Red Cross chief said at the end of a visit to the war-torn country, warning that the conflict has created a humanitarian crisis that’s put “countless people” at risk.

The United Nations says about 3 million people have been forced from their homes by fighting between junta troops and those who oppose the military’s Feb. 1, 2024, coup d’etat, many since clashes surged at the beginning of the year.

The comments from International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric came as aid workers told RFA Burmese that 40,000 people had been displaced in central Myanmar’s Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions by junta airstrikes and troop raids between Aug. 1 and Sept. 10.

In a statement following her Sept. 5-9 trip, Spoljaric warned that a breakdown of healthcare services in Myanmar is leading to a rise in preventable diseases, while a lack of medical supplies is worsening the suffering of the wounded and chronically ill.

“Many families in Myanmar are going without basic medicines and health care, face food shortages and have limited access to clean water and sanitation. They live with the fear of conflict and violence,” she said in a statement. “The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves.”

Spoljaric noted that the military’s regular use of explosive weapons in populated areas has led to an increase in civilian casualties, while restrictions on the movement of people and goods has limited access to essential services for many communities.

During her visit, Spoljaric met with junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to discuss the ICRC’s goals in the country and urged him to allow greater access to conflict-affected areas – particularly in Shan, Kachin, Rakhine, Chin, Kayah, and Kayin states.

She also traveled to Rakhine state, where the military killed 70 people, including its troops in rebel captivity, in airstrikes on Sunday and Monday.

International humanitarian organizations have been helping civilians displaced by fighting in the region but most groups have withdrawn staff and suspended their work as the security situation has deteriorated.

Spoljaric said that the ICRC is engaging in dialogue with all stakeholders in the conflict “to remind them of their obligation to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian actors.”

Airstrikes displace 40,000

On Tuesday, residents and relief workers told RFA that junta troops had resumed offensives against villages in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, and that the air force is carrying out bombardments more frequently there.

A resident of Su Yit Kone village, in Mandalay’s Natogyi township, told RFA that nearly everyone had fled into the jungle because of the threat of airstrikes.

“The junta is intentionally destroying local houses every day to make the people afraid,” said the resident who, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be named due to security risks. “The villages aren’t active anymore. When it becomes dark, everyone beds down in the jungle.”

In Pa Zi Gyi village, in Sagaing region’s Kanbalu township, residents have been sheltering in the jungle since April 2023, when a junta airstrike killed more than 170 people and leveled all but three of the village’s 400 homes.

A building smolders following a junta airstrike, April 11, 2023, Pa Zi Gyi village in Kanbalu township, Sagaing region, Myanmar. (Citizen photo)

With airstrikes on the rise in the region, “we still don’t dare go back home,” one resident said, adding that junta planes are “constantly seen flying overhead.”

“Our village has turned into a wilderness,” he said. “We survive on collecting herbs and vegetables from the forest.”

The resident said that the displaced are only occasionally visited by small charity groups, who help supplement their food supplies.

Central region under assault

Meanwhile, junta ground forces are also stepping up raids on villages in the region.

On Tuesday, Data For Myanmar, which monitors arson attacks in Myanmar, reported that junta troops razed more than 1,043 houses in Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions in the first half of 2024 alone.

Attempts by RFA to contact junta spokesperson Major Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the reasons for the uptick in attacks in central Myanmar went unanswered Tuesday.

Buildings lie damaged from junta bombing, Sept. 2, 2024 in Maung Kone village, Tigyaing township, in Sagaing region. (Tigyaing Township People’s Administration via Facebook)

An official with the insurgent People’s Defense Force in Mandalay said that the junta sees central Myanmar as a militarily strategic region because it connects northern Shan, Kachin and Chin states to the rest of the nation.

“The people of central Myanmar have suffered a lot from the fighting, but they will persevere,” he said. “Victory by the armed opposition could present huge challenges to the junta because of the region’s strategic value, which is likely why the military is making a push there.”

RFA News

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

September 11, 2024/in News

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday

The Arakan Army (AA) claimed that more than 50 people, including prisoners of war, were killed during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on the No. 2 Border Guard Post in Maungdaw Township, located near the Burma-Bangladesh border in northern Arakan State on Monday. It reported that members of pro-military Rohingya armed groups and the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) were among the dead.

The AA added that a fighter jet opened fire on U.N. buildings in Waithali village and at 3 Mile Point in Maungdaw on Sept. 9. The AA seized control of the No. 2 Border Guard Post on July 6. Another 17 people, including children and healthcare workers, were also reportedly killed and 10 were injured during airstrikes on a healthcare center in Pauktaw Township, south of the Arakan State capital Sittwe, on Sunday.

“It is the place where the AA provided healthcare for prisoners and prisoners of war. They dropped bombs with their aircraft twice,” an anonymous source from the AA told DVB. Pauktaw came under the control of the AA on Jan. 24. Min Aung Hlaing said during a visit to the Shan State capital Taunggyi on Sept. 3 that the military would launch retaliatory attacks in areas controlled by resistance forces.

Military prepares for resistance attacks in eastern Kachin State

Kachin Independence Army (KIA) General Sumlut Gun Maw condemned the regime’s order for heightened defense against the KIA and People’s Defense Force (PDF) in the Kachin State Special Region 1, which is located in northeastern Kachin near the China border, on Monday. The area is controlled by the pro-military Kachin Border Guard Force (BGF).

“The order should not have been issued,” Sumlut Gun Maw posted on his social media account. The martial order was issued in June and signed by Zahkung Ting Ying, the chief of the Kachin Special Region 1. He directed the BGF and militias based in Chipwi, Tsawlaw, Kanpaikti – which make up the special region – to “implement strict defense measures.”

The regime order claimed that “the KIA and PDF are conducting offensives to disrupt the peace of local ethnic communities and the country” in the region. Much of Burma’s lucrative rare earth mining is conducted in the Kachin Special Region 1. The Kachin BGF was formed by the New Democratic Army – Kachin under military chain of command in 2009.

President of the International Committee for the Red Cross Mirjana Spoljaric met with regime officials in Naypyidaw on Sept. 9. (Credit: Regime media)

ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

A delegation led by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyidaw on Monday. Spoljaric called on the regime to allow greater humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas of the country.

“Many families in Myanmar are going without basic medicines and health care, face food shortages and have limited access to clean water and sanitation. They live with the fear of conflict and violence. The disruption of livelihoods is leaving countless people without the means to sustain themselves,” Spoljaric stated in a press release on Monday.

Spoljaric visited Burma from Sept. 5-9 and met with colleagues at the Myanmar Red Cross in Naypyidaw on Sunday. This is her first trip to Burma since becoming ICRC president in October 2022. The previous ICRC president, Peter Maurer, visited Burma in June 2021 – four months after the military coup. The regime claimed that it is adhering to international humanitarian law.

News by Region

KACHIN—At least four civilians were killed and at least six were injured during fighting between the KIA and the military in Saitaung village of Hpakant Township on Sept. 5. Ywat Zaw Khaung from the Peace-talk Creation Group, which mediates between the military and resistance forces, was among the injured.

“I heard the representatives of the Peace-talk Creation Group negotiated with the military not to use violence against the public, but it seems the military did not accept and is conducting retaliatory shelling,” Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson told DVB. Around 1,500 civilians living around Saitaung village have been displaced from their homes due to the fighting.

KAREN—Cyber scam centers operating in Shwe Kokko, located 12 miles (20 km) north of Myawaddy, have reportedly relocated to territory under the control of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in Karen State, as well as Laos and Cambodia, since the Karen BGF issued a warning for them to leave by October.

“They may move to Cambodia or Laos but they will return to Burma. I have seen a lot of job postings for these businesses,” an anti-human trafficking group working along the Thailand-Burma border told DVB. The Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar has documented that there are nearly 50 cyber scam compounds operating along the Thai border.

SHAN—Heavy flooding has affected towns in eastern Shan State, including Kengtung and Tachileik, since the remnants of Typhoon Yagi arrived in the region on Monday. The flooding has also impacted areas under the control of the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA).

“The stream on the [Mongpawk] outskirts near the Chinese border overflowed. In the morning, the water began to rise, and by evening, it had started to gradually recede,” a Mongpauk resident told DVB. Water levels exceeded critical thresholds in Tachileik on Monday, according to local sources. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology has issued a heavy rainfall warning for most of Burma.

Residents wade through floodwaters in Mong Kung Township, located 120 miles (193 km) north of the Shan State capital Taunggyi, after heavy flooding. (Credit: CJ)

DVB News

Other Human Rights Reports

Human rights situation in Myanmar plummets to new low amid unrelenting violations and unregulated exploitation of natural resources – UN reportAugust 26, 2026 - 8:34 am
GENEVA – The human rights situation in Myanmar, in particular that of minority communities, has plummeted to a new low, from the ever-worsening brutal abuse of the Rohingya population to the devastating impact of illicit economies, notably illegal mining for rare earths, a new UN Human Rights report has found. The report details how unrelenting violence and a […]

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
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The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
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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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Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

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Red Cross chief calls for greater aid access after visit to Myanmar

Over 67 killed by airstrikes in Arakan State since Sunday; ICRC requests humanitarian access during visit to Naypyidaw

ND Burma

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