Devastation and Destruction by the Junta in the Earthquake Aftermath

One month ago, on 28 March 2025, a devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck Burma and neighbouring Thailand. In an instant, lives were changed forever. Buildings buckled and fell to the ground, leaving many trapped and buried under rubble, fearing for their lives. Places of worship and religious sites were also shattered. Aftershocks continued in the weeks after the initial earthquake.

The hardest hit areas included the Sagaing and Mandalay regions. Eighty percent of the townships in Sagaing were destroyed. Recent estimates at the time of writing indicate that at least 3600 people were killed and thousands more wounded and missing, with more than 17 million living in the areas affected who are in urgent need of assistance.

International and regional emergency response teams were dispatched, and even the junta made a rare appeal for humanitarian assistance, though not without preceding their agenda. Those with immediate access to the country were the junta’s long-time allies, including Russia, India and China, with others, such as Taiwan, being denied entry.

Civil society organizations immediately cautioned against the junta’s weaponization of aid, which predates their response to previous natural disaster relief efforts in the country, including Cyclone Nargis in 2008, Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and, most recently, Typhoon Yagi last year.

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