Myanmar civil society groups warn of weaponisation of aid as earthquake response intensifies

The groups say the regime must not be allowed to exploit overseas assistance or deny access to resistance-held areas hit by last Friday’s massive quake

Following Myanmar’s devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake last week, 265 civil society groups have issued a statement calling for aid to be effectively channelled to affected communities and frontline responders through civil society, the National Unity Government, and ethnic resistance organisations.

“The junta’s callous contempt for human life, even in the face of widespread earthquake devastation, underscores its unsuitability to oversee aid—and more importantly, its willingness to manipulate any humanitarian response,” the civil society groups stated.

The statement’s signatories, who include the Emergency Management Committee—Mandalay, Sagaing Strike Force, and Progressive Voice, wrote that many of the hardest-hit areas are under resistance control and warned of the military’s history of weaponising disaster relief.

In 2008, the previous military regime obstructed humanitarian assistance after widespread devastation from Cyclone Nargis and then manipulated distribution to coerce survivors to vote in a constitutional referendum.

The military also obstructed disaster relief after Cyclone Mocha in 2023, and, even before the cyclone hit, denied requests by international humanitarian organisations to provide cyclone education to displaced Rohingya people, who were then heavily impacted.

The groups urged for humanitarian assistance to be “guided by principles of humanity, neutrality, ‘do no harm,’ and operational independence.”

Khin Ohmar, chair of Progressive Voice and a spokesperson for the signatories to the statement, said the United Nations must act now to stop the military’s attacks, amid reports that the regime has continued to carry out airstrikes since the earthquake.

“What is the UN Security Council doing? What is the UN Secretary-General doing? When will they act to save Myanmar people?” she asked.

“They haven’t taken any effective action when the ruthless military keeps bombing and slaughtering our people for years. Now, with this earthquake, how can they provide emergency relief without stopping the military’s continued terror campaign and aerial attacks?”

The civil society statement comes as the Association for Southeast Asian Nations held an emergency meeting pledging to strengthen relief and recovery efforts. Other countries in the region, including China, India, and Malaysia, are sending rescue teams and humanitarian assistance to Myanmar in coordination with the military junta.

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