The number of people who have been displaced or become homeless in Myanmar has doubled in the last six months taking the total number to over 3 million, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator said in a statement last week. It also warned of the growing humanitarian crisis in the country and the failure of the world to hold the ruling military junta accountable for the atrocities it is committing against its own people.
The numbers of displaced in Myanmar have risen dramatically since October last year when the armed resistance led by People’s Defense Forces and several other smaller groups against the February 2021 military coup intensified in the country’s north and western parts.
Resistance fighters intensified their campaign in October last year by launching massive assaults against the government forces in northern Shan and western Rakhine states. This led to massive retaliation by the government forces and affiliated militias. The military junta has been accused of using “mass killings, torture, arbitrary arrests and indiscriminate attacks” on people by the human rights groups.
The government has also been accused of using fighter jets to bomb the rebel held areas in the country, killing hundreds of people so far.
A number of groups have taken up arms to resist the military takeover of power under senior General Min Aung Hlaing in February 2021 overthrowing the Aung Saan Suu Kyi led elected government at the time.
According to different estimates, over 6,000 people have been killed in Myanmar since February 2021 with the majority of them killed by the military. More than 20,000 people are in detention in the country including former Suu Kyi who is serving a 27-year sentence for alleged corruption when in power.
Even before the coup, Western Rakhine province was a center of violent conflict. In 2017, state-led repression forced over 750,000 Rohingyas, mostly Muslims, to leave the country and take shelter in different parts of the world including neighboring Bangladesh. Rohingyas have been forced to live in temporary shelters as refugees since then, as there is no prospect of peace in the country even after almost eight years.
The UN statement claims that more than 2.7 million people have fled their homes since the military took over and over one third of them are children. Displaced children face overwhelming barriers to access education and proper nutrition which jeopardizes their future, the UN warns.
According to the UN, half of all the displaced in Myanmar come from the country’s northwestern regions of Chin, Magway and Sagaing.
Myanmar’s army is also locked in fierce fighting against the Karen ethnic group in order to take control over the Myawaddy town near the border with Thailand. The town is seen as strategic due to its being the main trade center with Thailand.
“Displaced people are struggling to survive amid a widespread humanitarian crisis that has left a total of 18.6 million people in need. This is a million more than the previous year. Those in need include 6 million children” the UN statement says.
The UN figures mean nearly one third of the country’s total population now needs humanitarian assistance. The total population of Myanmar is just above 54 million.
Myanmar’s military junta has failed to implement a five point peace plan agreed upon with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April 2021 citing lack of stability in the country. The peace plan talks about immediate cessation of all hostilities and dialogue under the mediation of ASEAN officials. Myanmar is a member of the 10-nation grouping.
