Myanmar junta blocking delivery of earthquake aid to resistance-held territory

Myanmar’s military council has used various means to obstruct the transport of emergency humanitarian supplies to victims of a March earthquake in parts of the country controlled by anti-junta groups, according to officials of the anti-junta National Unity Government (NUG). The powerful, 7.7-magnitude quake hit central Myanmar on March 28 of this year, devastating the cities of Mandalay, Sagaing, the junta’s administrative capital, Naypyitaw, and several surrounding towns. There were also significant damages reported in territories controlled by the NUG and its armed wing, the People’s Defence Forces (PDF), as well as in so-called “brown zones”—contested regions where neither side holds full control and clashes are ongoing. International rescue teams mobilised in the following days to assist in freeing people trapped under the rubble. Pledges of hundreds of millions in international aid came from China, India, the United States, Australia, and European Union members, as well as the United Nations allowing for the provision of food rations and emergency supplies. However, instead of prioritising the delivery of this aid to victims, Myanmar’s military council instead took advantage of the crisis to pursue its own political interests and make gains on the battlefield in the country’s ongoing, multifront civil war, according to Kyaw Zaw, a spokesperson for the NUG president’s office. In other words, Kyaw Zaw told Myanmar Now, the junta had effectively weaponised humanitarian aid for its own strategic advantage. “They are enforcing a multitiered set of restrictions at checkpoints and requiring numerous permits, obstructing aid from reaching the liberated zones,” he said, referring to areas under anti-junta forces’ control. “Even in major cities like Naypyitaw and Mandalay, where aid has arrived, it is not being properly distributed to the people but is instead used for political display.” Myanmar Now was unable to reach the military council’s spokespersons for comment regarding these claims. Even before the March earthquake, the military regime had already been blocking the flow of essential goods to regions no longer under its control, having lost wide swathes of territory to anti-junta armed groups on battlefronts across the country. The devastating earthquake claimed thousands of civilian lives and caused widespread destruction of residential homes in areas under control of the NUG’s armed wing, including parts of Singu, Thabeikkyin, and Madaya townships in Mandalay Region, as well as Sagaing, Wetlet, and Shwebo townships in Sagaing Region. While the junta still has control of the major cities in Sagaing Region, many rural villages are controlled by PDF fighters under the command of the NUG’s defence ministry. Notwithstanding the devastating damage from the disaster throughout Sagaing Region, the military has blocked the flow of humanitarian supplies to impacted areas and insisted on referring to the quake, which had its epicentre in Sagaing Region, as the “Mandalay earthquake.” The junta has also intensified its crackdown on Sagaing Region due to the heavy presence of resistance fighters there, according to NUG prime minister’s office spokesperson Nay Phone Latt, enforcing strict limitations on travel and the transport of goods throughout the region. “I am certain that no supplies or donations have been allowed through the military’s checkpoints to reach NUG-controlled areas,” he said. “Furthermore, there are regions where neither side has full control, and it appears that aid is not reaching those areas either.” He added that it appeared most donations were being funnelled to military authorities and international aid supplies were falling directly into their hands. These post-disaster conditions have been reminiscent of the situation that followed Cyclone Nargis in 2008, when officers at various levels in the military regime ruling at the time reportedly profited from selling humanitarian supplies on the black market, Nay Phone Latt said. He also emphasised the urgent need for oversight mechanisms to guarantee that aid would reach earthquake victims. Incidents of mass deaths or casualties are rarer in the sparsely populated, rural NUG-controlled territories than they have been in the cities, Nay Phone Latt acknowledged. However, he said, some had occurred due to collapses resulting from the quake in gold mines and residential buildings, the details of which had yet to be confirmed. He also noted that the NUG was coordinating with international donors to deliver aid but did not disclose details about these efforts. The numbers of casualties from the earthquake recorded by the military council—a total of 3,649 people killed, 5,018 injured, and 145 missing—have not been updated since the month after the quake. Data from other sources points to a death toll close to 5,000, with around 7,000 injured and 500 missing. While the military’s figures probably do not include casualties from rural areas not under the junta’s control, hope has faded for finding anyone alive who went missing after the disaster. NUG relief workers distributing aid to earthquake victims in an area of Sagaing Region under resistance control (Photo: NUG) ‘All we’ve gotten is bombs’ Residents of Sagaing in the region of the same name—located on the opposite bank of the Ayeyarwady River from Mandalay—say their town was the place hit hardest by the March earthquake, which destroyed some three-quarters of buildings in the urban wards and killed at least 600. Notwithstanding the severity of the damage, the military council reportedly prevented rescue teams from going to Sagaing for three days after the earthquake, they said, practically guaranteeing that more people trapped under the rubble in the city would die. Junta chief Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing did not visit Sagaing himself until April 6, nine days after the quake. In addition to delaying rescues of people trapped under the rubble, rescue personnel reported that the military council heightened restrictions at checkpoints around Sagaing, throttling the transport of both international and domestic supplies. At checkpoints near the town’s exits, junta soldiers and members of the junta-trained Pyu Saw Htee militias confiscated humanitarian supplies on the pretext that they might be diverted to resistance forces, according to Soe Moe Aung, founder of the disaster response organisation S&C Assistance Group for Fire and War Hazards Education (S&C Group). According to the S&C Group, which has delivered aid to Mandalay as well as the Sagaing Region townships of Sagaing, Shwebo, Monywa, and Depayin, the military council had mandated that all rescue teams cooperate with them by consolidating aid supplies at designated locations, effectively giving the junta full control over their distribution. “They are confiscating supplies on the routes from Sagaing to Monywa, as well as in Min Kun. At the entry and exit points of Min Kun, many confiscations are happening. It seems they have set up checkpoints at all locations and routes leading to resistance areas to block aid,” So Moe Aung explained. He recalled how when international aid planes landed, the distribution of the cargo on board always seemed to be limited to junta-controlled major cities such as Naypyitaw and Mandalay. Organisations were unable to move the supplies through the junta-controlled checkpoints at the towns’ entrances and exits. Paing Paing, a representative of the Shin Than Kwint Social Welfare Group, said his organisation had unrestricted access throughout the city of Sagaing, but faced restrictions in various parts of Min Kun. They ultimately had no choice but to concentrate their assistance efforts on areas where the authorities had granted access. “It seems they are blocking our access due to the severity of the situation. Even locals and other organisations don’t dare enter. The further we went, the more security checkpoints we encountered, which discouraged us from continuing,” he explained. Villages and towns across Sagaing Region including Min Kun have experienced extensive damage and high casualties from the quake. According to residents, it toppled ancient monasteries, pagodas, stupas, and several civilian homes in villages along the Ayeyarwady River north of Min Kun and beyond the boundaries of Sagaing Township. A resistance fighter removes debris from a collapsed building in Sagaing Region. (Photo: NUG) The earthquake caused ground cracks, structural collapses, and landslides along the riverbank, including damage to the wall of the levy on the river. Cracks have also been seen on the Sagaing-Kyaukmyaung road, with residents reporting that damage is visible all the way to Wetlet Township, some 40 miles northwest of Sagaing. Across the river in Mandalay Region, the Mandalay People’s Defence Forces (MDY-PDF) says at least 30 people lost their lives in resistance-controlled areas along the east bank including Singu, Madaya, and Thabeikkyin townships. Most of the fatalities occurred in Singu Township, when a local rare earth mining site collapsed. A male resident of Madaya Township said there had been no aid deliveries from either international or domestic sources, and people in the area are threatened every day by ongoing junta airstrikes. “We’ve received no aid whatsoever. All we’ve gotten is bombs,” he said. The NUG announced a two-week ceasefire starting on March 30 in earthquake-impacted areas to enable effective disaster relief efforts, extending offers of assistance to rescue operations in major junta-controlled cities like Mandalay. Despite ostensibly agreeing to a 20-day ceasefire on April 2, the Myanmar military continued to carry out airstrikes in Sagaing and Mandalay regions, the NUG said. Aid must reach all affected areas regardless of who controls them, said NUG president’s office spokesperson Kyaw Zaw, before calling on the international community to ensure that the military council does not exert control over the distribution of aid to further its own interests. “During Cyclone Nargis, the army neglected to aid the people and used the crisis for their own advantage,” he said. “We are witnessing a repeat of this behaviour now. Therefore, I urge the international community to remain vigilant and ensure aid truly reaches those in need.” “It is crucial to closely monitor and prevent the terrorist military council from misusing these resources for their political and military advantage,” he added. “We must ensure that aid is not exploited just for their gain.” The military council has prioritised rescue and relief operations in Naypyitaw, its administrative capital, headquarters, and home to the junta’s top generals. On April 8, military authorities declared that reconstruction would initially concentrate on government offices to restore administrative functions swiftly. The junta also promised to set up short-term temporary shelters, water, electricity, and sanitation service for administrative staff and their families after extensive damage to government-provided housing. On April 5, eight days after the quake, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported estimates that 17 million people in almost 60 of Myanmar’s 330 townships had been impacted by the earthquake. UNOCHA also warned that millions in the most severely affected areas would likely experience disruptions of access to electricity, clean water, food, and medical services. Communities in conflict-affected areas were already experiencing severe food insecurity before the earthquake. In a statement released on January 29, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) projected that as many as 15 million people in Myanmar could be at risk of hunger by 2025. WFP country director and representative for Myanmar Michael Dunford wrote to Myanmar Now on April 11 that more than 950 tons of food aid had been delivered to earthquake-affected areas. “WFP has provided emergency food and cash assistance to more than 120,000 people across Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, and Naypyitaw,” Dunford said. “We began delivering aid within 48 hours of the earthquake.” He acknowledged, however, that difficulties in communication and transportation had made access to remote areas a challenge.

Myanmar junta blocking delivery of earthquake aid to resistance-held territory

The NUG has accused the regime of weaponising international aid received after the natural disaster to advance its political ends, a tactic used more than once by military regimes in Myanmar’s recent history

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