How aid becomes a weapon in Myanmar’s war zone

There is a 72-hour “golden screen” during which those trapped beneath dust are most likely to succeed in the immediate fallout of an earthquake.

However, several support and human rights organizations told the BBC that military officials blocked rescue and relief staff seeking entry to some of the worst-hit areas in the 72 hours after a 7.7 scale earthquake struck Myanmar on Friday.

This was despite a unique appeal for worldwide humanitarian aid by junta key Min Aung Hlaing.

In a statement a few days after the catastrophe, he claimed he had “opened all avenues for international help” and that he had “invited any country, any organization, or anyone in Myanmar to come and help.”

Items moved less easily on the ground.

” I’ve talked to a few people today that were part of the recovery efforts in both Sagaing and Mandalay, and they said that]the defense ] imposed a curfew … the roads were blocked, the gates were really long, and there was a great viewing of goods and services going in and a lot of questioning”, John Quinley, chairman of international human rights group Fortify Rights, told the BBC.

” It could have just been much simpler to let those persons in,” he continued. ” Of course, the Myanmar junta said it was for health reasons, but I don’t think that’s entirely legitimate.”

However, the gold windows closed.

More than 2, 886 individuals have been confirmed dead in Myanmar as a result of the disaster, as of the time of writing.

An attack on an aid fleet on Tuesday evening heightened concerns even more.

At 21: 21, a convoy of nine Chinese Red Cross Society vehicles carrying earthquake relief supplies was attacked by the military, according toTa’ang National Liberation Army ( TNLA ), a resistance group in Shan State.

The fleet was heading toward Mandalay when it was shot at by troops with device guns, forcing it to move around, according to the TNLA in a Telegram post later on Tuesday.

Eventually, a coup spokesperson confirmed that men had shot at the fleet while they were unaware that it was passing through and had fired warning shots at it after it failed to stop.

But this is not the first moment the junta has attacked support staff, Mr Quinley said.

He said that they can select when aid you arrive, and that they may restrict it if they can’t control it or use it however they want. ” They positively also, on top of that, deliberately target philanthropic workers.”

The junta, which began fighting a civil war with opposition forces in Myanmar after it seized control of the country in 2021, has a record of weaponising aid and humanitarian help: funnelling it towards places that are under its control and restricting it in places that are not.

The BBC assessed the power balance in more than 14,000 village groups as of mid-November last year, and found the military only has full control of 21% of Myanmar’s territory, nearly four years on from the start of the conflict.

The military hampered relief efforts in resistance-held areas by refusing to release supplies from customs, authorise travel for aid workers, or relax restrictions on lifesaving assistance in previous natural disasters, such as Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and Typhoon Yagi in 2024, which left hundreds of people dead.

” It’s a worrying trend that happens in times of crisis, like the earthquake”, Mr Quinley said. The junta says it is “blocking any aid to what they perceive as groups that are connected to the wider resistance.”

Further, James Rodehaver, the High Commissioner for Human Rights for Myanmar, suggested that the junta deprives Myanmar’s population of aid as a form of punishment.

” They do that because the local population, by and large, does not support them, so by depriving them of humanitarian aid, they are both punishing them but also cutting off their ability to support themselves and be resilient”, he told the BBC.

In Sagaing, there are already indications that the junta may be using this tactic.

Although central Myanmar, which includes the cities of Sagaing and Mandalay, is formally run by the junta and where aid can only be distributed through their cooperation, is considered a stronghold for resistance in the regions of Sagaing and Mandalay.

The likelihood that the junta might tactically deprive these areas of aid has prompted outcry from hundreds of human rights and civil society organisations, who have urged the international community to ensure relief efforts get to where they’re most needed, and aren’t channelled through the military government.

One such statement, signed by 265 civil society organizations and made public on Sunday, states that the majority of the worst-hit areas are under the effective control and administration of pro-democracy resistance groups.

The military junta’s history “provides stark warnings about the dangers of channeling aid through Myanmar,” it reads.

In Sagaing, the impact of aid shortfalls can already be seen in troubling ways, according to relief agencies.

They mention food, water, and fuel shortages, and aid trucks stranded at military checkpoints throughout the city. Hundreds of residents are sleeping on the street outside, suddenly homeless. Rescue volunteers who were forced to dig through the rubble with their bare hands have run out of body bags for those they couldn’t save.

Other community members who want to help with the earthquake are being made to submit lists of volunteers and donated items, according to local media reports.

The junta regularly employs this tactic, which involves bombarding respondents with lengthy bureaucratic checklists and procedures, to stifle the activities of international aid organizations in Myanmar, according to humanitarian sources who spoke to the BBC.

According to a registration law imposed in 2023, such organisations must attain a registration certificate, and often sign a memorandum of understanding with relevant government ministries, to legally operate inside the country.

According to a source who spoke to the BBC on the condition of anonymity, aid organizations are frequently required to remove specific activities, towns or townships from their proposals, leaving little room for negotiation. The majority of the time, they continued, are the areas where the junta has no control over the aid work.

Aid agencies have found ways to navigate the junta’s restriction, however: a lot of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar happens underground, via local groups that can bypass checkpoints and distribute aid without attracting the attention of the authorities.

A source told the BBC that many financial transactions in humanitarian aid take place outside of Myanmar’s banking system, preventing actors from being subject to scrutiny and potential inquiries from the country’s central bank. In some cases, humanitarian organizations open bank accounts in Thailand so they can receive aid money from abroad and then transfer the funds in cash across the border to Myanmar.

Such covert methods take time, however, and could lead to potentially fatal delays of days or weeks.

Some aid workers are optimistic that it will be simpler to overcome obstacles and distribute aid more effectively given the magnitude of Friday’s earthquake and the international appeal for assistance by Min Aung Hlaing.

” In the past we have faced some challenges”, said Louise Gorton, an emergency specialist based in Unicef’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.

The severity of this emergency, however, is significantly higher. I believe there will be pressure on the government to grant unrestricted and unimpeded humanitarian access, and we’ll continue to repeat the same need and look for ways to provide aid, sometimes in subdued ways.

While it’s too early to say whether the junta will truly “open all ways for foreign aid,” Cara Bragg, country manager for the Catholic Relief Services ( CRS ) team in Myanmar, said her team is prepared to navigate the complex humanitarian situation.

” It’s certainly a concern that they]the military ] may direct the aid in specific places, and not based on need”, said Ms Bragg, who is based in Yangon.

However, CRS operates under a humanitarian mandate and will be very focused on getting aid to the places it needs to go, the hardest-hit areas, regardless of who controls them.

Despite Min Aung Hlaing’s plea to the international community, it seems unlikely that the troubled junta leader will prioritize the unrestricted flow of humanitarian aid.

Shortly after the earthquake, military jets launched a series of airstrikes on affected areas, killing more than 50 civilians, according to the National Unity Consultative Council ( NUCC).

Then, on Tuesday, resistance groups ‘ proposals for ceasefires were rejected by Min Aung Hlaing in an effort to facilitate aid. According to him, military operations would continue as “necessary protective measures.”

The junta changed its mind a day later, agreeing to a 20-day ceasefire to help relief efforts. However, whether the hostilities will end will remain to be seen. The military emphasized that it would “respond accordingly” if rebels launched attacks.

For many onlookers, this seeming contradiction- of asking for aid with one hand while conducting military strikes with the other- chimes with Min Aung Hlaing’s history of duplicity.

The junta leader has “lied on numerous occasions,” according to John Quinley of Fortify Rights, and he suggested that the most recent appeal for foreign aid would be more likely to be an appeal for international recognition.

In light of this, Mr. Quinley added, it is crucial to ensure that earthquake relief is delivered where it is most needed.

” I think as a human rights group we need to monitor: OK ,]Min Aung Hlaing ] allows aid in- but is it actually reaching people in need? Or is he using the aid as a weapon? Is he preventing aid from reaching communities in need? he said.

” I’m not optimistic when it comes to taking Min Aung Hlaing’s advice without any hint of truth.”