Aid Corps: Myanmar is accused of banning rescue efforts after a fatal earthquake

Just hours after the devastating earthquake, which amounted to 7.7 size in central Myanmar last Friday, appealed to the head of the military council that controls the country, Min Aung Hinging, on any international assistance that is quickly sent to the isolated country.

Hlaing claimed that he “opened all roads for external aid”, as he asked countries and organizations “coming and assisting” with the rescue efforts that affect the need after the earthquake collected roads and the longest thousands of buildings, besieging countless people.

Nearly a week after the earthquake, the death toll was 3,145 people, with more than 4,500 people suffered much and more in the shadow of debris. The actual numbers are expected to be much higher.

Haleing’s appeal was a very rare step for the military leader, who seized power in a coup that the democratically elected government took off in Aung San Suu in early 2021, and the country immediately concluded the rest of the world.

The seizure of the authority was followed by a bloody campaign against the opposition throughout the country, and a continuous civil war.

The invitation to obtain a small glimmer of hope among experts in the political situation of Myanmar has provided that this catastrophe may differ from the previous catastrophe that reaches the country, such as the 2023 Mocha Hurricane, when relief efforts were impeded.

But this hope is dispelled quickly.

Several relief organizations and human rights groups have confirmed that the fast assistance allocated to those in Myanmar who needed to ban it more, as the 72 -hour “gold” rescue window was closed after a huge earthquake – which is likely to find survivors trapped under passengers.

“I turned into a disaster,” Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. (The skyscraper has collapsed under construction, surrounded more than 80 workers. More than ten deaths were confirmed.)

Andrews said: “We know that the aid (in Myanmar) has hindered.

“There is a weapon of this aid.”

“I have seen this movie before”

In the days after the earthquake-the worst witnessed in the region in a century-the army continued air strikes and bombing in the rebel-controlled lands. JUNTA currently controls less than a third of the country, with its strength in large cities.

But on Wednesday, Myanmar Army leaders announced a three -week temporary ceasefire to support relief efforts, after the military government set up a wide -ranging condemnation of the shot on the Chinese Red Cross convoy in an attempt to deliver food and medicine survivors.

Junta spokesman confirmed that the soldiers shot the vehicles because they were not notified that the convoy would arrive.

The rescue teams from JUNTA allies – including China and Russia – were the first to enter the country to provide assistance, along with crews from countries such as India, which maintained friendly relations with the leaders of the Myanmar army.

The ruling military council was recruited and punished by most Western countries.

According to Androz, JUNTA follows a familiar book by obstructing decisive aid, especially in areas where the armed resistance of the coup is strong. It is a tactic used in the past to unify the army’s strength in Myanmar.

Andrews said: “I have seen this movie before and has no happy end,” Andrews said.

Click on Junta

He added that the ongoing air strikes also created a “full level of fear and terrorism” across the war -torn country, as about 20 million Burmese was already deprived of appropriate access to food and shelter before hitting the earthquake.

Andrews said: “We need all hands on the deck in Myanmar. But instead it is converted away and instead of rescuing lives, they are taken,” Andrews said.

The disaster raised questions about whether the military council would be able to adhere to power while deepening the resistance.

The earthquake caused severe damage in the new capital of Naypyidaw, a highly fortified city created by a former military general to support the army’s grip on Myanmar and isolate its leaders from the popular opposition. He threw the city’s air traffic control tower and has collapsed many pavilions of the Ministry of Government.

One retired school principal The New York Times was told Myanmar has a “saying that a huge earthquake like this is the way of nature to punish a cruel and corrupt ruler.”

“After many people were killed, Min Aung Hinging is now facing the rule of nature,” she added.

In November, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Hlaing for crimes against humanity, related to the country’s persecution and the deportation of the Muslim Rohingya society.

Despair

Six days after the disaster, there was chaos among hundreds of collapsed buildings near the earthquake center. Many residents flourish in gardens and other open spaces at night, are very terrified to enter their partial homes, while others are unable to return to the homes that were destroyed.

“In the city of Mandalay, most of us do everything ourselves,” said Khan Thazin Ong, 31, who is unable to fight tears when she described local rescue efforts.

“We need everything – things like food and shelter. But (our government) cannot help us,” CBC News told CBC News, adding that she hopes to know the world how Myanmar needs urgently.

Ong said that many residents are struggling with shock.

With a major bridge collapsed in the earthquake, Tin, who only gave his first name to serve the Reuters wire, was combing the river of his daughter’s body.

“I am looking for it myself, because there are no rescue operations here,” he said. “No one is here to help me.”

Myanmar’s military leaders refused to allow foreign journalists to enter the country to cover the destruction.

Mikhail de Souza, project manager at Médecins Sans Sans Frontières in the former capital, Yangon, said that some relief organizations have also had difficulty entering Myanmar.

But he still hopes that the scale of destruction, in addition to the international lights, will swing to the roaming council to allow more aid.

“We have teams and a lot of materials are waiting for the country to enter, and I have good hopes for this to happen soon,” De Souza told CBC News on Thursday.

However, he admitted that Myanmar is a “difficult and complex state” whose military government was challenging negotiation in the past.

The damaged infrastructure is also obstructing the speed of rescue and recovery efforts, while driving the Yangon, the largest city, to Mandalay near the earthquake center, which is now busy twice the usual eight hours.

De Souza said that interest in the initial health is the lack of electricity and clean water in the disaster area, with fears that lack of control of infection in damaged hospitals can raise the cholera epidemic.

The seasonal wind season is just around the corner, which will already double the catastrophic conditions in the middle part of the country.