Myanmar’s military government has come under fire over continued airstrikes amid the recent earthquake in the country and claims it is blocking aid to survivors.
International agencies are urging ‘unfettered access' to humanitarian aid in the conflict-riven nation.
DAILY POST reported recently that a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit central Myanmar, causing widespread destruction, killing more than 2,700 people.
Two Australia-based doctors helping coordinate the emergency response at the epicentre in Mandalay and Sagaing said the junta is blocking emergency aid from reaching the people.
Dr Nang Win said, “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.”
Nang is said to have been in touch 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.
She said one medical colleague in the city had signed paperwork to receive $1,000 in aid but received only about $100 of it, claiming the skimmed supplies would probably end up in a disaster black market.
She added, “Then there is a market that happens and they have to go around and buy their own.”
The military carried out a coup and seized power in February 2021, with an armed resistance movement made up of various groups forming to oppose the junta.
The country has been locked in a chaotic and deadly civil war with the junta.
Dr. Nang added, “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.”
Dr Tun Aung Shwe, a medical doctor and Australian representative of Myanmar’s exiled opposition National Unity Government, NUG, added, “Outside of the major cities, the military already checks and then tries to block the flow of aid.
“They’re finding other ways. So it’s getting there, but it’s taking longer.”;
