Dhe people in Myanmar have already suffered greatly under brutal military rule. Now a cyclone is attacking them. Tropical cyclone Mocha swept from the Bay of Bengal across the coastal areas of Bangladesh and Myanmar at speeds of more than 250 kilometers per hour earlier this week. The extent of the destruction in Bangladesh, which has been expanding its disaster preparedness for several years, was still limited. The neighboring country was hit much harder. However, military restrictions in Myanmar prevent the flow of information and help.
According to the UN emergency relief organization OCHA, around 5.4 million people in Myanmar have been affected by the cyclone. Among them, more than three million are particularly at risk. The World Food Program (WFP) estimates that at least 800,000 people will need food support for three months. OCHA said it was negotiating humanitarian access with all relevant stakeholders. The partner organizations are ready to start coordinated relief efforts as soon as approval is given. Aid has already been provided in some areas where projects are already underway.
“The world must exert maximum pressure”
Human rights activists are calling for the entire disaster area to be opened up for help. “The world must exert maximum pressure on the military regime so that it grants humanitarian organizations unrestricted access to all affected areas,” says Frankfurt-based activist Nay San Lwin, who works for the Rohingya in Myanmar, the FAZ He recalls Cyclone Nargis killed more than 135,000 people in Myanmar. The military in power at the time had concealed the extent of the disaster and initially denied aid organizations access. “The current regime is now doing the same.”
The Muslim Rohingya are being persecuted in Myanmar, which is largely controlled by a nationalist-Buddhist military dictatorship. Of the 600,000 remaining Rohingya in Myanmar, around 140,000 live in refugee camps. According to reports from the disaster area, they were hit particularly hard by the cyclone. Nay San Lwin says that 90 percent of the camps in Sittwe, the capital of the northwestern Myanmar state of Rakhine, have been destroyed. “So far, no humanitarian aid has reached the affected communities, not even the Rohingya.” The regime only asked the Rohingya to leave the camps a few hours before the cyclone arrived, without offering them any reasonable accommodation. Therefore, the number of deaths is higher than expected.
More than four days after the cyclone’s arrival, there are hardly any reliable casualty figures from Myanmar. The resistance government of the deputies who were ousted in the coup assumes at least 400 dead. Footage from the disaster area shows that many of the shacks people live in have been leveled. “The situation is extremely desperate in the areas that were directly in the path of the cyclone. It has destroyed whole communities and villages,” said Stephen Anderson, WFP’s Myanmar country director. However, the communication with the areas is very patchy. Access to the areas themselves is also difficult because the cyclone destroyed bridges. In addition to Rakhine, the regions of Sagaing and Magwe are also affected, where resistance to military power is particularly strong.
Criticism of generals grows
According to Anderson, a clearer picture of the extent of the disaster is slowly emerging. Initial coordination difficulties are normal, the situation in Myanmar is complex. His organization has been able to provide food for several thousand people in Sittwe and several hundred in the Magwe region. More help is to follow shortly. “We’ve received authorization — something called a travel permit here — to deliver support and assistance to the most affected communities,” Anderson said. But the organization needs more resources for this: “We urgently need support from the international community. It’s going to be a big challenge. The topic will soon disappear from the news.”
Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar, had previously pointed out that many other aid organizations had not received the travel permits. “This is extremely worrying,” Andrews said, according to CNN.
In this situation, criticism of the generals is growing. Scot Marciel, a former US ambassador to Myanmar, wrote on Twitter that no one can hope to negotiate with the military regime in Myanmar. “The refusal to allow humanitarian aid for the victims of Cyclone Mocha is the last straw,” said the former diplomat. In Southeast Asia, the regime in Myanmar is the worst since the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
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