Myanmar’s military is facing criticism over continued airstrikes and claims it is blocking aid to earthquake survivors, as international agencies urged “unfettered access” to humanitarian aid in the conflict-riven nation.
The 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit central Myanmar on Friday has caused widespread destruction, killing more than 2,700 people and leaving affected areas in dire need of basic necessities such as food and water.
Two Australia-based doctors helping coordinate the emergency response at the epicentre in Mandalay and Sagaing have accused the junta of blocking supplies of emergency aid.
“Some of the supplies of aid, well most of it, was not given to the people who need it. In some areas in Mandalay the aid did not arrive. The aid was confiscated by the military junta,” said Dr Nang Win.
Since the earthquake hit, Dr Nang has been communicating with colleagues in Mandalay, where she says aid has been scarce and makeshift clinics are being set up in lieu of a proper emergency response system.
One medical colleague in the city, she said, had signed paperwork to receive $1,000 in aid, but received only about $100 worth of it, claiming the skimmed supplies would probably end up in a disaster black market.
“Then there is a market that happens and they have to go around and buy their own,” she said.
Since Myanmar’s military seized power in a February 2021 coup, an armed resistance movement comprised of different ethnic groups has been locked in a chaotic and deadly civil war. Over the past year the junta has been consistently losing ground, controlling less than 30% of the country’s territory, though it retains control of the biggest cities.
In areas where the military does not have full control, the military has been blocking aid and preventing teams of rescuers from entering, said Dr Nang. “If a group of rescuers comes and say we want to enter, especially in Sagaing, they will not let you, they will say you need a permit and once you get a permit it is too late,” she said.
A spokesperson for the junta did not immediately respond to the claims.
Dr Tun Aung Shwe, a medical doctor and Australian representative of Myanmar’s exiled opposition National Unity Government (NUG), said the military was leveraging control of checkpoints to block medicine flowing to areas controlled by the NUG and ethnic resistance groups.
“Outside of the major cities, the military already checks and then tries to block the flow of aid,” he said, adding that local communities were forced to seek alternative routes.
“They’re finding other ways. So it’s getting there, but it’s taking longer.”
Emergency aid had been being blocked to areas such as Sagaing as well as Mogwe, he said.
The claims come as the junta faces criticism for conducting airstrikes on villages.
The Karen National Union, one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armies, said in a statement the junta “continues to carry out airstrikes targeting civilian areas, even as the population suffers tremendously from the earthquake”.
International agencies have condemned the response.
Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur on Myanmar, said confirming what was happening on the ground was challenging due to communication outages but that there were “consistent reports of aid being blocked” and that airstrikes were continuing.
“Instead of focusing every ounce of energy, attention and resources on saving lives the junta is taking lives. That’s the first thing. Secondly, yesterday there have been consistent reports of aid being blocked, of aid workers being denied access at checkpoints,” he said.
These reports were emerging from areas that are under opposition control or contested, he said, adding that the military should “stop killing people and focus on saving people”.
On Monday night, airstrikes were reported in Singu Township, Mandalay region, and Nawnghkio township, Shan State.
“Myanmar’s military junta still invokes fear, even in the wake of a horrific natural disaster that killed and injured thousands,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
“The junta needs to break from its appalling past practice and ensure that humanitarian aid quickly reaches those whose lives are at risk in earthquake-affected areas.”
Scot Marciel, a retired US diplomat and ambassador to Myanmar from 2016-2020 said the military had a bad track record when it came to providing assistance to its citizens in need.
“Myanmar has very poor infrastructure, and where the military government, where to the extent it controls things, [it] is not really going to lift much of a finger to help,” he said, “It’s a really bad place for it to happen.”
During the Covid pandemic, he said, the military heavily restricted aid, providing oxygen mostly only to its supporters. During cyclone Nargis in 2008, a disaster that claimed almost 140,000 lives, the military leaders initially rejected all international aid.
“Their history shows that they basically are willing to stand by and let lots of suffering and even death happen, if not inflicting it themselves, rather than do anything that might risk their power position,” Marciel said.
