The unending crisis
The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake that hit a wide swath of Myanmar that is ridden with conflict and violence has caused significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyitaw.
The humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands of survivors remain desperately pressing a month after Myanmar’s deadly earthquake, compounded by airstrikes that the military government is reportedly carrying out despite ceasefires meant to aid relief efforts during the country’s civil war.
Ironically, the quake’s death toll had reached 3,769, with 5,106 people injured and 107 still missing. The earthquake left many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaged roads and bridges, in addition to tens of thousands of buildings.
In some quake-hit areas, bereaved relatives and friends of the disaster’s victims are offering donations to monks, a Buddhist tradition to transfer merit and blessings to the deceased.
A humanitarian group ‘Myanmar Witness’ project of the London-based Centre for Information Resilience has claimed 80 post-quake airstrikes by the military across multiple regions, including 65 after the army declared its unilateral ceasefire on April 2, following similar declarations by its battlefield foes.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army’s 2021 takeover ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance, uniting pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority guerrilla groups that have long been fighting for autonomy
The shadow National Unity Government, the main opposition group coordinating resistance to military rule is claiming that post-quake bombings have primarily targeted civilian areas — markets, residential zones, Buddhist monasteries, and Christian churches — resulting in the deaths of over 200 civilians, including at least 24 children, from March 28 to April 19.
The military government hasn’t directly commented on the airstrikes, but when it extended its ceasefire on April 22, it reserved the right to respond as ‘necessary’ to certain activities by the resistance forces.
Independent evaluation of most war claims by either side is impossible, due to the military’s restrictions on reporting and the remoteness of where many incidents take place.
What is ironic is that many humanitarian aid providing agencies have not shown interest to work in the conflict and quake ridden region and provide some relief to the people who have been suffering for decades together.
UN agencies and other humanitarian organisations, meanwhile, stress that living conditions remain dire for earthquake survivors. They note that even before the earthquake, the civil war had displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need.
Miserably, many who lost their homes are still in makeshift tents with little to protect them from pre-monsoon storms ahead of the months-long rainy season, which normally begins in May.
The displaced people are living outdoors in temperatures of up to forty degrees Celsius, with an overwhelming fear of further aftershocks.
