‘Forgotten’ humanitarian crisis in Myanmar affects millions

Aung Naing Soe / NOS

NOS Nieuws•dinsdag, 19:03

• Mustafa Marghadi

  Southeast Asia correspondent

• Mustafa Marghadi

  Southeast Asia correspondent

Children in a mountain village in eastern Myanmar wait enthusiastically in line with a metal sign. School in their refugee camp has just ended, and they heard that an organization is coming to donate food. “We are very happy about that,” says Caroline, a 16-year-old girl. “They bring bread and snacks to feed us,” says her 12-year-old classmate Jospel. “I’m very grateful and praying for that.”

Because these types of donations are rare in this village. The children and their parents ended up here because they had fled the heavy fighting in their own village or city. “We were praying in church when a bomb fell next to it,” says Caroline. “But luckily it didn’t explode.” So she is not one of the 50,000 deaths in Myanmar since the 2021 coup.

But of course the parents have no work. “They work for a farmer and are often paid in handfuls of rice. That is how they survive,” says Thinzar Aye. She works for the local aid organization that brings the food to this village today. She watches as rice and tea leaf salad are spooned onto the children’s plates. “We are happy that we can help the children in this camp. But it means that we cannot help the children in a hundred other camps.”

Since the civil war broke out in Myanmar after the coup, a humanitarian drama has been unfolding in the country. The healthcare system and economy have collapsed and according to the United Nations, 18.6 million people – a third of Myanmar’s population – need humanitarian assistance. But that hardly ever happens.

• Aung Naing Soe / NOS

• Aung Naing Soe / NOS

• Aung Naing Soe / NOS

• Aung Naing Soe / NOS

• Aung Naing Soe / NOS

The reasons for this are complex. In 2023, the UN wanted to raise a billion dollars to provide humanitarian aid to the Myanmar people. The counter remained stuck at more than 390 million. According to the European Commission, more aid was not forthcoming due to “the growing number of humanitarian crises in the world and fleeting media attention that threatens to turn Myanmar into a forgotten crisis.”

But even the money that is collected has difficulty reaching its intended destination. The Myanmar army allows almost no international aid. So citizens are mainly dependent on local aid organizations that lack hands, money and food to help everyone in need.

No aid was delivered to the refugee camp of 40-year-old Treza today. But she still had some left. In her bamboo and plastic tent she stirs a yellowish soup with a few pieces of chicken. “We rely on donations and I am grateful for that,” she says. Tears well up in her eyes as she looks at her three daughters. “But how am I supposed to keep them safe? I don’t have a car, nothing. I can’t sleep because I’m so worried. It makes me depressed.”

Refugee in your own country

Because it is still unsafe in her refugee camp. There is fighting in the area, and the army is still carrying out air strikes on civilian targets. That’s why she, like almost all other camp residents, had an air raid shelter dug next to her house.

Refugees like Treza would prefer to flee to a safe country. But Myanmar’s neighboring countries only allow this to a limited extent. Thailand has received roughly 150,000 refugees, India 75,000. China does not allow any refugees from Myanmar. So 2.6 million citizens are refugees in their own country, where they are still in danger.

Correspondent Mustafa Marghadi was able to join the armed opposition and saw the effect of the conflict on the population:

Face to face with Myanmar’s junta: ‘Even refugees are not safe’

Officially no military aid is offered to the resistance. Diplomats say the international community is now doing its utmost. Sanctions have been imposed on the military regime and several Western countries have imposed a ban on the sale of weapons to Myanmar. Although companies from Israel, Germany, France and the United States still sell raw materials to Myanmar that can be used to produce weapons.

But diplomats say the West cannot take risks in arming pro-democracy resistance. From a geopolitical point of view, Myanmar does not seem important enough to antagonize China. That neighboring country does have major interests in Myanmar and has no need for Western influences in the country.

‘Street by street’

“We have to do it all by ourselves,” says Khun Bedu. He is the chairman of the KNDF, one of the resistance groups in eastern Myanmar. He is aware that this struggle to overthrow the military regime will continue for a long time. If it even works. “If all goes well, at least five years. We have to win back our democracy street by street and neighborhood by neighborhood. So I think the international community should help this fight.”

Caroline and Jospel’s bellies are full today, but they are far from out of trouble. And leave it to children to come up with the simplest solution. “I want peace,” says Jospel. “Yes,” Caroline adds. “Because I want to go home and be close to my family.”