Human rights organization: HRW: Myanmar’s junta blocks important aid supplies

Human rights organization
HRW: Myanmar’s junta is blocking important aid supplies

An empty street in Mandalay during a nationwide “silent strike” against the military junta last week. Photo: Uncredited / AP / dpa

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“Human Rights Watch” speaks of a “nationwide humanitarian catastrophe” with a view to the situation in Myanmar and complains, among other things, of the destruction of supplies.

According to human rights activists, the military junta in Myanmar is blocking urgently needed aid deliveries for millions of people in all parts of the crisis country.

The generals denied citizens suffering from the aftermath of the military coup in early February “heartlessly life-saving aid, apparently as a form of punishment,” the human rights organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday. This triggered a “nationwide humanitarian catastrophe”.

In recent months, the military has not only imposed new travel restrictions on humanitarian aid workers, but also blocked access roads and aid convoys, destroyed supplies, attacked aid workers and switched off telecommunications services. HRW called on the United Nations, the Asean community and governments in the region to put pressure on the generals so that aid could reach those in need.

More than 284,000 people have fled

The former Burma has been sinking into chaos and violence since an overturn. The military had ousted the de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi and have been ruling with an iron fist ever since. Any resistance is suppressed with brutal severity.

According to HRW, more than 284,000 people are currently on the run because of the crisis. About 22,000 of them fled to India and Thailand. Fighting is intensified in areas where there are ethnic minorities. There are also war crimes.

According to UN estimates, the number of people in Myanmar in need of help will increase from 1 million before the coup to 14.4 million next year, a third of them children. Around 25 million people – almost half of the total population – could then live below the national poverty line.

dpa

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