Dhaka Tribune, April 6,2024
Myanmar's escalating conflict and worst violence since the military takeoverin 2021 are having a devastating impact on human rights, fundamental freedomsand basic needs of millions of people — as well as “alarming spillover effects”in the region, UN officials said on Thursday.
Assistant Secretary-General for political affairs Khaled Khiari told the UNSecurity Council (UNSC) that “the civilian toll keeps rising” amid reports ofindiscriminate bombing by Myanmar's armed forces and artillery shelling byvarious parties.
The nationwide armed conflict in Myanmar began after the army ousted theelected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressedwidespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule, reportsUNB citing AP.
Thousands of young people fled to jungles and mountains in remote borderareas as a result of the military’s suppression and made common cause withethnic guerrilla forces battle-hardened by decades of combat with the army inpursuit of autonomy.
Despite its great advantage in armaments and manpower, the military has beenunable to quell the resistance movement.
Over the past five months, the army has been routed in northern Shan state,is conceding swaths of territory in Rakhine state in the west, and is undergrowing attack elsewhere.
Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group said on Thursday its armedwing launched drone attacks on the airport and a military headquarters in thecapital, Naypyitaw, but the ruling military said it destroyed the drones asthey attacked.
It wasn’t possible to independently verify most details of the incident, butthe military’s acknowledgement that it had taken place in one of the country’smost heavily guarded locations will be seen by many as the latest indicationthat it is losing the initiative.
Khiari did not mention the attack but said the National Unity ConsultativeCouncil — formed after the 2021 military takeover to promote a return todemocracy and comprising ethnic, political, civil society and resistance groupsconvened its Second People’s Assembly on Thursday “to further define theircommon vision for the future of Myanmar.”
He singled out the fighting between the Arakan Army and the military inRakhine State, Myanmar’s poorest, which he said “has reached an unprecedentedlevel of violence.”
“The Arakan Army has reportedly gained territorial control over most ofcentral Rakhine and seeks to expand to northern Rakhine” where many minorityRohingya Muslims still live, he said.
The Buddhist Rakhine are the majority ethnic group in Rakhine, which is alsoknown by its older name of Arakan, and have long sought autonomy. They have setup their own well-trained and well-armed force called the Arakan Army.
Khiari urged all parties in Rakhine to support the Rohingya, who are caughtin the middle of the conflict and continue to experience “significantrestrictions” on their freedom of movement as well as denial of citizenship anddisproportionate vulnerability to abduction or forced recruitment.
The crisis continues to spill over the borders and added that conflicts inkey border areas have weakened security, Khiari said.
The breakdown in the rule of law has enabled illicit economies to thrive,with criminal networks preying on vulnerable people with no livelihoods.
“Myanmar has become a global epicenter of methamphetamine and opiumproduction, along with a rapid expansion of global cyber-scam operations,particularly in border areas,” he said.
“What began as a regional crime threat in Southeast Asia is now a rampanthuman trafficking and illicit trade crisis with global implications.”
Senior UN humanitarian official Lisa Doughten said the ongoing escalationhas left 12.9 million people — nearly 25% of Myanmar’s population — withoutenough food, stressing that children and pregnant women face malnutrition.
“Across Myanmar, the humanitarian community estimates that some 18.6 millionpeople will need humanitarian assistance in 2024 — a nineteen-fold increasesince February 2021,” she said.
Doughten said the health system is also in turmoil, with medicines runningout. She appealed for urgent funding to assist millions in need, saying the2023 appeal for $887 million was only 44% funded, causing 1.1 million people tobe cut off from aid.