Myanmar military junta blocks access to desperately needed humanitarian aid

Thousands of people in Myanmar who need urgent humanitarian aid are being left alone as the military junta has obstructed the delivery of aid supplies. According to aid workers, many people, including children, have lost their lives due to the lack of assistance.

According to the international rights advocacy group, Human Rights Watch, security services in Myanmar have introduced new travel restrictions for aid workers as well as blocking roads and aid convoys. The junta has also destroyed non-military supplies that were intended to bring relief to citizens in need, attacked aid workers, and disabled the internet and telecommunication systems thus preventing humanitarian organizations from maintaining contact.

“Myanmar’s junta has worsened a self-created humanitarian catastrophe by displacing hundreds of thousands of people and then blocking the critical support they need to survive,” said Shayna Bauchner, Asia researcher in Human Rights Watch.

Humanitarian crisis overview

Since Myanmar faced a military coup on 1st February 2021, about 284,000 people have been displaced, increasing the total number to 638,000. Around 22,000 refugees from Myanmar have fled to India and Thailand.

See also: Myanmar plunged into wave of violence after coup d’etat

The United Nations has assessed that while before the coup last February, about 1 million people required humanitarian assistance, by 2022 this figure will soar to about 14.4 million, including 5 million children. Almost half of the country’s population, i.e., 25 million people, could be living below the national poverty line of US$1 per day, the UN has warned.

“Access to the many people in desperate need across the country remains extremely limited due to bureaucratic impediments put in place by the armed forces,” said Martin Griffiths, the UN relief chief.

Moreover, the UN has reported that the junta has carried out targeted attacks such as airstrikes and heavy artillery barrages on civilians. The security services regularly confiscate humanitarian assistance and the health care system has practically collapsed as many doctors and nurses have been arrested for helping those people wounded as a result of the junta’s attacks.

“The junta is directly to blame for the lack of humanitarian access to internally displaced persons, where its forces have deliberately blocked access roads and turned back aid convoys,” said Thomas H. Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on Myanmar.

Humanitarian needs

Aside from the problems on the ground, the humanitarian response to the crisis in Myanmar has been challenged by other constraints. As of now, the UN and other humanitarian actors have received only 18% of the funds necessary to deal with the current humanitarian emergency whereas the total amount needed stands at US$109 million. Due to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, aid organizations estimate that they will need about US$826 million in 2022 to address this which will be twice as much as last year. Human Rights Watch recommends humanitarian resources are not channeled through the junta bearing in mind its track record of corruption and misuse but instead via local civil society groups to ensure that the funds reach those in need.