Imagine waking up due to a hubbub with a hungry stomach and a fearful heart worried about your safety, all the time! Would you be able to live at an overcrowded camp at a time when social distancing is the need of the hour? Such is the life of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) at the disrupted states of military-controlled Myanmar.
If you feel this is worse, wait! The worst is yet to come. Have you ever empathized with people who survive low on rations for days? If it affected you so much that, you are ready to sneak past people more powerful and intimidating than you, all for the greater good for such people, would you still be ready to sacrifice your life?
Such a nightmare is the life of many humanitarian responders. The future is a lead sky for the thousands of IDPs of Myanmar who are caught in the crossfire between the Military and the Covid-19 Pandemic. The recent military coup has re-kindled or aggravated Myanmar’s long-standing Civil war.
The military coup which took place on 1st February, of 2021, has made it far more worse for people living in areas controlled by Ethnic Insurgent groups such as Kachin Independence Organization (KIO).
KIO is the largest of such 20 ethnic insurgent groups who conflict with the Military Junta at the borders of Myanmar. This is diminishing the Humanitarian Aid coming towards Myanmar.
This has also become a grave concern for the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). In a tweet at the end of February, OCHA Myanmar reported that it would continue its operations despite the setback faced due to the conflicts. Further, it reported a spike in casualties in the Northern state of Shan.
The rising conflict in the northern Shan State has made more than 10,000 people flee from their home this year alone. This figure comprises the 6,000 who fled since the coup.
The past decade has witnessed about 97,000 people across Kachin fleeing their homes fearing for their life. Such people survive in Camps and Church compounds.
The past decade has witnessed about 97,000 people across Kachin fleeing their homes fearing for their life. Such people survive in Camps and Church compounds.
About 39,000 people of those people live in areas controlled by the KIO. Yet, there have been 50 clashes since mid-March this year. It has also left 5,000 people getting displaced which is the largest ever since 2018 as reported by the UN.
Many people are being sheltered and supported by local churches. Such groups have long been the frontline humanitarian response to the areas in Kachin which is out of reach of the international community or where people live in poorly built camps.
Restricted Humanitarian Ingress
Even before the military coup, humanitarian access or ingress was very lean during the Aung San Suu Kyi led democratic government.
Few months into the new term in 2016, UN agencies were restricted from travelling to remote areas and areas controlled by the militant group KIO. This left more than two-thirds of the IDPs without humanitarian aid. The nation has plunged into a crisis.
The military coup had however worsened the situation. With the military in power, critical challenges on foreign policies are in store for countries who had worked out on notable bilateral and multilateral foreign aid commitments.
A grim future awaits many foreign aid groups, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and local organizations that provide humanitarian services across the country. The nation which is torn apart by conflicts, suffering from a pandemic has now got a severe blow due to the coup.
The Unsung and the Invisible Heroes
Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS) a Catholic non-profit humanitarian organization based in Myitkyina (Capital City of the Kachin State) is one of the many unsung heroes helping the people who have no access to proper food, shelter, medicines, protection and education.
But the coup and the Covid Pandemic has affected KMSS also, which happens to be the largest humanitarian operations in the state. There have also been instances where aid workers risk their life travelling illicitly against curfews to provide humanitarian aid to the IDPs.
Such people risk their lives travelling long distances, evading face-offs and enquiries by the military and the shelling and mortars due to the ongoing clash between the KIO and military junta forces.
There have also been instances where aid and workers sold their jewellery to cope with the dwindling cash flow. International Donations are also yet to reach Myanmar. At a time when cash flow is an issue, banks being closed on account of nationwide civil disobedience, many Christian churches and charities have become the good samaritans.
Humanitarian aid cannot be publicly transported. Many aid workers are also afraid of getting hurt if caught by the Burmese army. Yet, Christian churches and charities have made donations, collected funds and are supporting the aid workers secretly.
A Shining Ray of Hope amidst the Darkness
Though dark times, there is scope for a brighter future in this crisis, due to recent happenings. Great empathy has been evoked in the Bamar people. Bamar people happen to be the ethnic majority of Myanmar.
After years of not heeding to the plight of non-Bamar people struggling because of the military violence and cursing them, many have come forward and publicly apologized for their past mistakes.
A few of the Bamar people have gone a step further by collecting donations and transporting relief aid for the displaced people. A group of Bamar men have built a well and a dispensary for the IDPs taking refuge near the city of Myitkyina.
Such a positive response from hams across the nation of Myanmar promises a better future for the country torn apart by Military violence, suffering a pandemic and facing a Humanitarian Crisis. In other words, light awaits at the end of the tunnel!
Written by - Shek
Edited by - Piyush Pandey
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