United Nations Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) Martin Griffiths has today called for expanded humanitarian access and increased funding to assist the 18 million people in need of aid across Myanmar. The call comes as Myanmar’s overall humanitarian and human rights situation has deteriorated to alarming levels, exacerbated by the military’s strategy to prevent life-saving humanitarian aid from reaching those who desperately need it.
“Successive crises in Myanmar have left one third of the population in need of humanitarian aid,” Griffiths said at the end of a three-day visit to the country. “They expect more and better from their leaders and from the international community.”
Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have surged in recent years, with the number of displaced people increasing fivefold in less than three years, from 380,000 at the start of 2021 to 1.9 million at present.
During the visit, Griffiths met with families affected by conflict and natural disasters, including with Rakhine and Rohingya communities and with Myanmar authorities. The Emergency Relief Coordinator visited Rakhine state, still reeling from the impact of cyclone Mocha three months ago. The cyclone flattened homes, damaged displacement camps, destroyed farmland, and killed livestock, leaving thousands of people vulnerable.
“Families are struggling to cope after the successive blows of the COVID-19 pandemic, conflict and cyclone Mocha. We stand ready to do more both in Rakhine and nationwide, but we urgently need greater access and more funding to do so”, he said.
In the capital Nay Pyi Taw, Griffiths met with the State Administration Council Chairman, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, with whom he discussed what humanitarians need to scale-up direct aid to affected populations in areas affected by conflict and natural disasters.
“My meetings were an opportunity to raise the need for expanded access,” Griffiths said.
“I also expressed my concerns about the protection risks facing civilians in conflict areas and the bureaucratic constraints we humanitarians are facing in reaching them. It is critical for us to have the humanitarian space we need for safe, sustained aid deliveries around the country.”
Despite rising needs, the humanitarian operation in Myanmar is facing a huge resource gap, with just 22 per cent of required funds received more than half-way through the year.
“Over the past three days, I spoke with brave aid workers about their efforts to help those in need. However, a severe lack of funding means aid agencies are forced to make tough decisions about cutting assistance at a time when they should be scaling up even further. This needs to change,” Griffiths said.
According to a UN report published in July, Myanmar’s overall humanitarian and human rights situation has deteriorated to alarming levels, aggravated by the military’s strategy to prevent life-saving humanitarian aid from reaching those in need, including in the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Mocha in May.
Myanmar’s human rights and humanitarian crisis is massive. The country faces multiple overlapping humanitarian needs caused by genocide, persecution, protracted armed conflicts, intercommunal violence and natural disasters. Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have continued to grow due to ongoing armed violence and political unrest since the military coup in February 2021.
Between February 2021 and April 2023, credible sources verified that at least 3,452 people have died at the hands of the military and its affiliates, and 21,807 individuals have been arrested. Approximately 60,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been reportedly burned or destroyed over the past two years.
A report to the UN Human Rights Council, released this month, found strong evidence that the Myanmar military and its affiliate militias are committing increasingly frequent and brazen war crimes. These war crimes include indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks on civilians from aerial bombing, such as the military airstrike in Sagaing in April 2023 that reportedly killed more than 155 people.
The report by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar (IIMM) said there has also been an increase in the mass executions of civilians and detained combatants, and the large-scale and intentional burning of civilian homes and buildings, resulting in the destruction of entire villages in some cases.
“Every loss of life in Myanmar is tragic, but the devastation caused to whole communities through aerial bombardments and village burnings is particularly shocking,” said Nicholas Koumjian, Head of the Mechanism last week.
“Our evidence points to a dramatic increase in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country, with widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, and we are building case files that can be used by courts to hold individual perpetrators responsible.”
Myanmar is also one of the most vulnerable countries in South East Asia to natural disasters, facing numerous hazards such as floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. On May 14, 2023, Tropical Cyclone Mocha - one of the most powerful storms in decades - hit western and northern Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh. The cyclone has caused widespread damage, affecting over 2.4 million people in both countries.
Fighting across Myanmar continues to endanger the lives, safety, and health of civilians. Heavy armed clashes, including airstrikes, artillery fire and ambushes are reported predominantly in the northwest and southeast of the country, as well as in Rakhine and southern Chin state.
As of August 2023, there were an estimated 1.9 million internally displaced people (IDP) across Myanmar, including some 1.6 million people who have been displaced within the country since the military takeover on February 1, 2021. 330,000 people are internally displaced due to conflict prior to February 2021, mainly in Rakhine, Kachin, Chin, and Shan state.
The United Nations estimated that before Tropical Cyclone Mocha hit 17.6 million people, or one-third of the overall population, in Myanmar were in need of humanitarian assistance. This includes 5.8 million children. According to the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 15.2 million people in the country were food insecure.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs coordinates the work of non-governmental organizations and other national and international actors in humanitarian emergencies. It is the principal international player on humanitarian assistance issues.
The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar was created by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018 to collect and analyze evidence of the most serious international crimes and other violations of international law committed in Myanmar since 2011. It aims to facilitate justice and accountability by preserving and organizing this evidence and preparing case files for use in future prosecutions of those responsible in national, regional and international courts.
Further information
Full text: Lack of access and funding hampering aid to 18 million people in Myanmar, UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths says following visit to the country, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, press release, published August 17, 2023
https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/myanmar/lack-access-and-funding-hampering-aid-18-million-people-myanmar-un-humanitarian-chief-martin-griffiths-says-following-visit-country
Full text: Report of the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, fifth report submitted by the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar to the Human Rights Council, released August 8, 2023
https://iimm.un.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/G2312500.pdf