- Web Master
- May 23, 2024
Dhaka Tribune, April 6,2024
Myanmar's escalating conflict and worst violence since the military takeover
in 2021 are having a devastating impact on human rights, fundamental freedoms
and 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 UN
Security Council (UNSC) that “the civilian toll keeps rising” amid reports of
indiscriminate bombing by Myanmar's armed forces and artillery shelling by
various parties.
The nationwide armed conflict in Myanmar began after the army ousted the
elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 and suppressed
widespread nonviolent protests that sought a return to democratic rule, reports
UNB citing AP.
Thousands of young people fled to jungles and mountains in remote border
areas as a result of the military’s suppression and made common cause with
ethnic guerrilla forces battle-hardened by decades of combat with the army in
pursuit of autonomy.
Despite its great advantage in armaments and manpower, the military has been
unable 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 under
growing attack elsewhere.
Myanmar’s main pro-democracy resistance group said on Thursday its armed
wing launched drone attacks on the airport and a military headquarters in the
capital, Naypyitaw, but the ruling military said it destroyed the drones as
they attacked.
It wasn’t possible to independently verify most details of the incident, but
the military’s acknowledgement that it had taken place in one of the country’s
most heavily guarded locations will be seen by many as the latest indication
that it is losing the initiative.
Khiari did not mention the attack but said the National Unity Consultative
Council — formed after the 2021 military takeover to promote a return to
democracy and comprising ethnic, political, civil society and resistance groups
convened its Second People’s Assembly on Thursday “to further define their
common vision for the future of Myanmar.”
He singled out the fighting between the Arakan Army and the military in
Rakhine State, Myanmar’s poorest, which he said “has reached an unprecedented
level of violence.”
“The Arakan Army has reportedly gained territorial control over most of
central Rakhine and seeks to expand to northern Rakhine” where many minority
Rohingya Muslims still live, he said.
The Buddhist Rakhine are the majority ethnic group in Rakhine, which is also
known by its older name of Arakan, and have long sought autonomy. They have set
up their own well-trained and well-armed force called the Arakan Army.
Khiari urged all parties in Rakhine to support the Rohingya, who are caught
in the middle of the conflict and continue to experience “significant
restrictions” on their freedom of movement as well as denial of citizenship and
disproportionate vulnerability to abduction or forced recruitment.
The crisis continues to spill over the borders and added that conflicts in
key 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 opium
production, 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 rampant
human trafficking and illicit trade crisis with global implications.”
Senior UN humanitarian official Lisa Doughten said the ongoing escalation
has left 12.9 million people — nearly 25% of Myanmar’s population — without
enough food, stressing that children and pregnant women face malnutrition.
“Across Myanmar, the humanitarian community estimates that some 18.6 million
people will need humanitarian assistance in 2024 — a nineteen-fold increase
since February 2021,” she said.
Doughten said the health system is also in turmoil, with medicines running
out. She appealed for urgent funding to assist millions in need, saying the
2023 appeal for $887 million was only 44% funded, causing 1.1 million people to
be cut off from aid.