UN expert calls for emergency Security Council action to address ceasefire violations after devastating Myanmar earthquake

The UN Security Council should convene and consider adopting a resolution to address ongoing attacks by the military junta in Myanmar in areas devastated by a major earthquake last month, a UN expert said today.

“After refusing to curtail its attacks to allow earthquake relief to reach those in need, the junta finally announced last week that it would suspend military operations,” said Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.

“Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, it has chosen to violate its own ceasefire, launching dozens of new attacks with devastating results. Meanwhile, it continues to obstruct aid from reaching untold numbers of those in desperate need. This is making a terrible situation devastatingly worse,” the expert said.

Andrews said the people of Myanmar need and deserve action by the Security Council. Since the Council issued a press statement last week welcoming ceasefire announcements by the junta and opposition armed groups, and expressing sympathy for those impacted by the earthquake, the junta has doubled down on its military operations, making things significantly worse in Myanmar, he warned.

“The Security Council should urgently consider a resolution that demands that all parties to the conflict in Myanmar cease offensive military operations and that the junta immediately end its human rights violations and obstruction of humanitarian relief efforts,” the Special Rapporteur said.

He said the Security Council should also call on UN agencies, UN Member States and other humanitarian actors to work with the National Unity Government, ethnic resistance organisations and Myanmar civil society to ensure that assistance reaches all those with humanitarian needs.

“The 28 March earthquake is the latest in a litany of tragedies suffered by the people of Myanmar over the past four years,” Andrews said.

There have already been more than 3,500 confirmed fatalities resulting from the earthquake, but the true death toll is likely far higher. The number of casualties continues to rise, fueled by military attacks as well as the lack of access to food, water, shelter and medical care.

“I have received reports of humanitarian workers being stopped, interrogated and extorted at military checkpoints. The junta has blocked access to opposition-controlled areas, including in Sagaing Region, which was severely impacted by the earthquake. Junta soldiers opened fire on a convoy by the Red Cross Society of China,” the expert said.

Andrews noted that the junta had reportedly continued its conscription programme in the days since the earthquake, abducting young men and severely hampering relief efforts. “Instead of supporting earthquake relief efforts, junta soldiers have been seen looting destroyed buildings,” he said.

“Given the dire humanitarian crisis in Myanmar and the junta’s active obstruction of humanitarian relief efforts, it is imperative that the UN Security Council act to protect the people of Myanmar,” Andrews said.

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