COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Individual Documents
Sub-title:
Tom Andrews urges the junta to stop attacking healthcare workers during a COVID-19 outbreak.
Description:
"Tom Andrews, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, recently warned that a steep increase in the number of COVID-19 cases during a third wave of the coronavirus coupled with the public mistrust of the junta following its Feb. 1 coup d’état had created “a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar.”
In an interview with RFA’s Myanmar Service on Thursday, he said the crisis will not end until the junta ends its attacks on healthcare professionals, and he called on the international community to exert more pressure on the military. He said there has been an “exponential increase” in cases of COVID-19 in the Southeast Asian nation since the latest outbreak began in May.
RFA: What is your opinion of the situation in Myanmar right now?
Andrews: There's very, very deep concern within the United Nations about conditions in Myanmar. Needless to say, there's been an explosion of COVID cases. We're still unclear exactly what the count is of people that have been infected or people who have succumbed to the disease, but we know that there has been a significant increase, almost an exponential increase in the number of cases. And so, it is a very dangerous situation and we're very deeply concerned about what's going on in Myanmar right now.
RFA: Are you positive that the junta will allow the U.N. and international NGOs to come in and provide assistance in Myanmar?
Andrews: Well, that's the key question right now. I mean obviously, the junta will play the most decisive role in terms of stopping, of preventing, the care, the support and the help that the people of Myanmar desperately need. I mean let's face it, the best thing that could possibly happen would be for [junta chief] Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and the military junta to stand down for a civilian government, a legitimate government to be immediately reinstated so that this emergency response to this crisis could go on.
Since the coup, all of that [prevention and vaccine roll out by the civilian government] has collapsed. We know that the healthcare system as a whole has collapsed since the coup. So that's been just simply a disaster. That's the only way to put it.
Short of stepping down, the next step would be for the junta to at least agree to stop attacking doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. These attacks continue as I speak. And the fact is, you can't attack COVID-19 and attack doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals. All hands have to be on deck, and as long as the junta continues this extraordinarily destructive path, then there's really not going to be the kind of help and support for the people of Myanmar that the people of Myanmar desperately need and deserve.
So, I think what has to happen, frankly, is for those interlocutors or potential interlocutors who have the ear of the junta, those who have a direct interest in stopping COVID to speak with the junta and appeal to them to at least take the minimal steps that would be required to stop this disaster from getting any worse. And the first step of that, of course, is to stop attacking those who are providing health care or could be providing health care to the people of Myanmar in their hour of desperate need.
Pressure needed
RFA: You are calling for an emergency coalition for Myanmar from the United Nations with U.N. member states, so how far does that go? What kind of action can we expect from that coalition in the near future?
Andrews: Well, an emergency coalition is, I think, important. I continue to call for it and encourage countries to consider it. There are two major areas that I think it could have a significant impact on. One, of course, is in confronting this healthcare crisis—nations coming together in a very coordinated and focused way to provide for the extraordinary needs that exist right now within Myanmar and working together to try to create the conditions necessary for that aid to get through.
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and his generals are not going to end this horrible reign of terror because they wake up one day and realize they've made a terrible mistake. They're only going to do this when there is the requisite pressure, when they feel that there is no alternative but to stand down. And that is exactly what we have to focus on.
The suffering that the people of Myanmar are suffering through, it's hard to imagine. The hopelessness that's being felt. I've spoken to people in the country. I know that there are people who are losing their families. I understand just the horrific conditions that are being confronted by the people of Myanmar and I'm so deeply, deeply sorry for what is happening to you. And I'm just so amazed at the courage and the tenacity of the people of Myanmar, dealing with this crisis and standing up as best as they can against this military junta.
The international response to this crisis is painfully slow. And I want you to know that that there are those of us who are working very, very hard and focusing as much energy and attention as possible to move the international community forward as directly and as powerfully as possible. So please know that we are with you, that we will continue to work with you and that this crisis that you are facing, you are not facing it alone. And I fully understand the suffering and the frustration that is being felt by the people of Myanmar. And I'm sorry that it is taking as long as it's taking, but we will persevere..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Human Rights and international relations
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"The people of Burma, already suffering under the hands of an oppressive military dictatorship, are now facing a third wave of COVID-19. Prior to the coup, during the first and second waves of the pandemic, volunteers, medical staff, and civilians organized under the civilian government were coordinating an effective response. Burma was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to receive the vaccine, gaining international recognition for its pandemic prevention.
On 1 February, a junta seized power, and since then, the country’s key sectors in economy, education, and health have all been deteriorating. The people of Burma face a pandemic but without adequate healthcare services. Across the country, testing facilities have been eradicated, the true number of civilians infected is impossible to calculate.
Basic medicine is now in short supply, prices are soaring. The military has imposed severe restrictions on the importation of essential medicines and medical supplies. In addition, the junta has been closing hospitals and clinics, and stopping civilians from being able to purchase lifesaving oxygen. This terrorism has resulted in escalating death tolls throughout the country. Much of this is going undocumented. The junta are withholding facts and figures, covering up cases and presenting only an insignificant number of cases.
From the very start of the coup, and throughout this third wave of the pandemic, the junta has been arresting, issuing arrest warrants, and conducting raids on the homes of doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals, who have been helping treat civilians affected by the junta’s violence.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), (67) medical professional are currently detained, and nearly (600) are evading arrest warrants. In addition, 221 medical students have been arrested this coup, including 9 currently detained. A total 7 medics have been killed by the junta since the coup. This is just the number confirmed by AAPP.
Some medical professionals could not be contacted by AAPP, and their condition remains unknown. Below are some cases of medical professionals who have been affected by the junta’s terrorism:
On the night of July 13, junta troops raided the home of Dr. Kyaw Kyaw Thet. He was beaten and arrested by the so-called police and junta soldiers. He is currently detained in the Mandalay Palace military base interrogation center, where he has been facing torture in interrogation for some time. Kyaw Kyaw Thet is also a close friend with Dr. Thiha Tin Tun, was shot dead by the junta on March 27. He also volunteered at a charity clinic and taught medical students.
On July 16, Dr. Thet Htay, a well-known surgeon in Mandalay who worked at a charity clinic and in a hospital was detained, and beaten, when he was on his way back from treating a patient. Dr. Thet Htay is a doctor who has been active in treating civilians injured in the junta’s brutal crackdowns.
The junta has also been taking hostage family members and friends of medical experts. On 10 June, Director of the National Immunization Program, Dr. Htar Htar Lin, was arrested together with her husband, son, her friend, and her friend’s daughter. Htar Htar Lin played a key role in the NLD government’s civilian COVID-19 vaccination program. During detention, she has become infected with COVID-19.
On July 19, Martyrs’ Day, in North Dagon Township, Rangoon Division, junta forces pretending to be patients suffering with COVID-19 called up doctors known to be treating those affected by the pandemic. They then arrested these doctors and raided their clinics. The terrorist group arrested a total of 5 medical professional, they were 2 doctors giving medical advice to patients online, and 3 volunteer doctors who were going into communities to treat civilians. In addition to this, during the raid on the doctor’s offices, five 40-liter oxygen tanks, which had been donated by civilians, along with eighteen 15-liter oxygen tanks, 1 sets of oxygen equipment, medicine, and all the doctors’ PPE equipment, were stolen by the junta who claimed it was illegitimate material.
Regardless of the country, civilians should be able to have access to urgent healthcare. The junta is using the COVID-19 pandemic as a weapon to further torture the people and put civilian’s lives at risk. The unlawful arrest, prosecution and torture of medical professionals are clear genocide and crimes against humanity. Targeting doctors, nurses, and medical students is a grave violation of international law. The international community has a specific responsibility to protect healthcare workers, who are being systematically detained, abducted and murdered by a terrorist group. 2016 UN Security Council passed Resolution 2286 in 2016 resolutely condemning attacks on medical personnel, hospitals, and medical supplies, maintaining “states to ensure that those responsible do not operate with impunity, and that they are brought to justice”. But international inaction, and a lack of accountability in Burma has allowed these brutal crimes to continue with impunity.
Article 24 of the 1949 Geneva Convention, the pinnacle of international law states medical personnel, particularly those involved in the “transport or treatment of the wounded or sick, or in the prevention of disease… shall be respected and protected in all circumstances”. The UN General Secretary also released a statement at the outbreak of COVID-19, “it is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives”. Instead of initiating a ceasefire, the junta is methodologically using covid as a tool to inflict further violence upon civilians. The global community must adhere to these commitments made to protect the healthcare providers in Burma and no longer neglect these blatant crimes against humanity.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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" Angered by doctors' support for anti-junta protests, Myanmar's military has arrested several doctors treating COVID-19 patients independently, colleagues and media said, as the health system struggles to cope with a record wave of infections.
Since the military overthrew the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February, the ensuing turmoil and protests have thrown Myanmar's COVID-19 response into chaos, as activists say scores of doctors have been arrested for their prominent role in a civil disobedience movement.
Myanmar registered on Thursday over 6,000 new COVID-19 infections after reporting 286 deaths a day earlier, both record highs. Medics and funeral services say the real death toll is far higher, with crematoriums unable to keep pace.
To help people who either refuse to go to a state hospital, because of opposition to the military, or find hospitals are too strapped to treat them, some doctors participating in the anti-junta campaign have offered free medical advice over the telephone, and visited the sick at home in some cases.
But according to doctors and media reports in the past few weeks nine volunteer doctors offering tele-medicine and other services have been detained by the military in Myanmar's two largest cities - Yangon and Mandalay.
The information team of the army-led State Administration Council issued a statement denying reports that five doctors had been arrested in Yangon, but omitted any reference to the alleged arrests in Mandalay, which included doctors active in the civil disobedience movement.
All telephone calls from Reuters to a spokesman for the junta were unanswered.
A doctor, who asked not to be named for fear of being targeted by the military authorities, said four of his colleagues from the "Medical Family - Mandalay group" had been arrested.
They included Kyaw Kyaw Thet, who had been tutoring medical students, and senior surgeon Thet Htay, who the doctor said witnesses had seen handcuffed and bruised before being led away on July 16.
Their group was set up to advise virus sufferers over the telephone how to breathe, how to use an oxygen concentrator, which medicines to buy and how to administer them.
"We have been giving medical treatment to hundreds of patients per day," the doctor said, adding that many more of those patients could have died if they had not been attended to.
Media reports from Yangon, which have been denied by the junta, said three doctors from a COVID-19 response group were arrested after being lured to a home by soldiers pretending to need treatment. The junta also denied Myanmar News portal reportthat security forces had arrested two doctors during a followup raid on their offices in the North Dagon district of Yangon.
The National Unity Government, set up as a shadow body by army opponents, and media reports had also accused security forces of taking oxygen cylinders, protective wear and medicine for their own use during those raids.
"WEAPONISING COVID"
It was unclear why any of the doctors would have been detained, but the military has arrested medical staff previously for their conspicuous support for the civil disobedience movement.
An activist group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, has said hundreds of doctors who joined the anti-junta campaign have been charged with spreading false news and 73 have been arrested.
The consequent shortage of staff at hospitals and clinics has added to public mistrust of the junta.
A junta spokesman urged people last week to cooperate with the government in order to overcome the epidemic. And according to some doctors, the latest arrests could be an attempt to force people to rely more on the military authorities.
Denying the reported arrests in Yangon, the military administration referred to information about COVID-19 patients being secretly treated and charged high prices or being directed to online cures, adding that lives were being lost unnecessarily.
Yanghee Lee, a former U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar now on an advisory council, has accused the junta of "weaponising COVID-19 for its own political gain."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
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Type:
Individual Documents
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"Two senior detained members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) have been moved from Insein Prison to Yangon General Hospital, according to their lawyers.
NLD legal adviser U Kyaw Ho was taken to hospital on Wednesday with difficulty breathing. He tested negative for coronavirus and is likely to be tested again next week, said U Kyaw Ho’s lawyer.
“He had heart surgery and needed hospital treatment and is still on oxygen support as he is out of breath,” said his lawyer.
U Kyaw Ho has been detained since early February by Myanmar’s regime.
U Han Thar Myint, another NLD central executive committee member, was infected with coronavirus in Insein Prison and taken to hospital last week.
“His oxygen level keeps falling. His oxygen saturation drops to 80 once oxygen is disconnected. He needs oxygen support at all times. His condition is poor,” said U Han Thar Myint’s lawyer.
The military regime has detained senior NLD leaders, including older members. While most of them are on medication for health problems, they were denied bail and forced to remain in crowded prisons as the country is gripped by a fresh wave of COVID-19.
NLD’s CEC member and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s long-time personal lawyer U Nyan Win died of COVID-19 on Tuesday, while detained. The 79-year-old was arrested on the morning of the Feb.1 coup and held in Insein Prison, where he caught coronavirus.
NLD government’s Yangon Region chief minister U Phyo Min Thein and his wife have also been reportedly been infected with coronavirus while being detained at a military interrogation center in Mingaladon Township, Yangon. He was taken to a military hospital after he lost consciousness on July 17.
There were also reports that the NLD’s Yangon region minister U Naing Ngan Lin and Dr. Htar Htar Lin, who pushed for Myanmar to receive COVID-19 vaccines under the NLD government, have also caught the virus in Insein Prison. The Correctional Department has denied the two were infected.
While COVID-19 deaths are increasing across the country, many political prisoners are sick and displaying COVID-19 and flu symptoms, said lawyers and recently released inmates.
On Friday morning, inmates staged a protest inside Insein Prison, complaining about overcrowding, COVID-19 infections and a lack of proper protection and treatment of the virus.
Inmates at Shwe Bo Prison in Sagaing Region and Obo Prison in Mandalay Region have also protested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The Australian, Canadian, European Union, French, German, US and nine other embassies issued a joint statement urging the junta to respect the basic right to proper healthcare for all prisoners.
The shadow National Unity Government (NUG) formed to rival the military regime accused the junta of using COVID-19 as a weapon to persecute political prisoners. The military regime will be held responsible for COVID-19 deaths in prisons, warned the NUG.
The military regime, however, is keeping political prisoners locked up and has released numerous criminals jailed for drug dealing, theft and illegal logging..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights Defenders, Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
www.nugmyanmar.org
အပတ်စဉ်သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက် (၉/၂၀၂၁)
၂၃ ဇူလိုင် ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်
၁။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ ထုတ်ပြန် ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁၀/၂၀၂၁) ဖြင့် ဝန်ထမ်း (၂၁) ဦး၊ ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၁၁/၂၀၂၁) ဖြင့်ဝန်ထမ်း(၈) ဦး၊ (၁၂/၂၀၂၁) နှင့် ဝန်ထမ်း (၂၅) ဦးတိုကို ဆက်လက်၍ အမည်ပျက်စာရင်းကြေညာခဲ့သည်။
၂။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လျှပ်စစ်နှင့်စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာန အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် (၇/၂၀၂၁) ဖြင့် ဌာနခွဲအသီးသီးရှိ CDM ဝန်ထမ်းများကို ဖိနှိပ်ခြင်း၊ ခြိမ်းခြောက်ခြင်း၊ ရာထူးမှထုတ်ပယ်ခြင်း၊ ဝန်ထမ်းအဖြစ်မှ ထုတ်ပစ်ခြင်း၊ ဝန်ထမ်းအိမ်ရာများ ပြန်သိမ်းခြင်း/ နှင်ထုတ်ခြင်း၊ ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရက ပြန်ဆပ်ရန်မလိုဟု ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသည့် ၂လစာချေးငွေများ ပြန်လည် တောင်းခံခြင်း တို့ကိုကျူးလွန်နေသည့် တရားမဝင်အာဏာ သိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံ အောက်ပါ ဝန်ထမ်းအကြီးအကဲ(၁၅) ဦးကို အမည်ပျက်စာရင်းဝင်သူများအဖြစ် သတ်မှတ် ကြေညာလိုက်ပြီး အလုပ်မှ ထုတ်ပစ်လိုက်သည်။
၃။ ပုဂ္ဂလိကဆေးရုံများ၊ ပရဟိတဆေးရုံ၊ ဆေးခန်းများနှင့် သက်ဆိုင်သော Covid-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေးနှင့်ပတ်သက်သော အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာ တစ်ရပ်ကို အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေးကော်မရှင်က ၂၀၂၁ ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၇ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး အဆိုပါ ကြော်ငြာစာတွင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် Covid-19 တတိယလှိုင်း ကူးစက်ပြန့်ပွားမှုသည် ကြောက်ခမန်းလိလိ ပျံ့နှံ့လျှက်ရှိကြောင်း၊ လက်ရှိ ပြည်သူ့ဆေးရုံများသည် ဆေးရုံတွင် ကုသမှု ခံယူရန်လိုအပ်သော လူနာများအားလုံးကို ကုသပေး ရန် အတွက် လုံလောက်သော အရင်းအမြစ် အင်အားမရှိကြောင်း၊ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ အများပြည်သူများ လိုအပ်သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုကို အတတ်နိုင်ဆုံးရရှိစေရန်အတွက် ပုဂ္ဂလိက ဆေးရုံများ၊ ပရဟိတ ဆေးရုံ များတွင် ဆေးရုံတက်ရောက် ကုသမှုခံယူရန် လိုအပ်သော ပြည်သူလူထုအား ကမ္ဘာ့ကျန်းမာရေးအဖွဲ့ (WHO) မှ ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသော စံချိန်စံညွှန်းများနှင့်အညီ ကုသပြုစု စောင့်ရှောက်မှုပေးရန် တိုက်တွန်းကြောင်းတို့ပါဝင်သည်။
၄။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး လုပ်ဆောင်မှုများအား ပြည်သူသို့ အစီရင်ခံတင်ပြစာ ၁ကို ၂၀၂၁ ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၇ ရက်နေ့တွင်ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး အဆိုပါ ထုတ်ပြန်ချက်တွင် ကိုဗစ်ရောဂါ ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသနိုင်ရေးအတွက် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရနှင့် တိုင်းရင်းသားဒေသအဖွဲ့အစည်းတို့ ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်နေမှုများအကြောင်း၊ ပြည်သူလူထုအားကာကွယ်ဆေးထိုး နှံနိုင်ရေး နိုင်ငံတကာအဖွဲ့အစည်းများသို့ အကြံပြုထားသော နည်းလမ်း(၃) သွယ်အကြောင်းနှင့် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက လုပ်ကိုင်ဆောင်ရွက်နေသော ပညာပေးအစီအစဉ်များအကြောင်းတို့ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
၅။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ဆက်သွယ်ရေး၊ သတင်းအချက်အလက်နှင့် နည်းပညာဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊ လျှပ်စစ်နှင့် စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများ၏ တရားဝင် အင်တာနက် စာမျက်နှာများကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၂၈ ရက်နေ့တွင် ထုတ်လွှင့်ခဲ့သည်။
ဆက်သွယ်ရေး၊ သတင်းအချက်အလက်နှင့် နည်းပညာဝန်ကြီးဌာန
https://mocit.nugmyanmar.org/
လျှပ်စစ်နှင့် စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာန၊
https://moee.nugmyanmar.org/
၆။ ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ဝန်ကြီးချူပ်ရုံး ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၈ ရက်နေ့စွဲဖြင့် ကမ္ဘာ့ကုလသမဂ္ဂအထွေထွေ အတွင်းရေးမှူးချူပ်နှင့် နိုင်ငံတကာအသိုင်းအဝိုင်းများ၊ နိုင်ငံတကာ အဖွဲ့အစည်းများ၊ အမျိုးသားအစိုးရများ၊ စေတနာ သဒ္ဓါတရားထက်သန်သော လူပုဂ္ဂိုလ်များထံသို့ အိတ်ဖွင့်ပေးစာတစ်စောင်၂ ပေးပို့ခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါ အိတ်ဖွင့်ပေးစာတွင် လက်ရှိမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် လူပေါင်း ၉၄၅၀၀၀ ကျော်မှာ အကူအညီလိုအပ်နေပြီး၊ ၃၃၆၀၀၀ ကျော်မှာ စစ်ဘေးဒဏ်ကို ပြေးရှောင် နေရသလို၊ အနည်းဆုံး လူပေါင်း ၆.၂ သန်းမှာ အစားအစာပြတ်လပ်မှုကြုံနေရပါသည်။ တရားမဝင် စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ညံ့ဖျင်းလှသော စီမံခန့်ခွဲမှုကြောင့် ကိုဗစ် ၁၉ တတိယလှိုင်း၏ ပြင်းထန်သော ရိုက်ခတ်မှုသည် မထိန်းသိမ်းနိုင်တော့သည့် အခြေအနေသို့ရောက်ရှိနေပြီး သေဆုံးမှုများမှာ တိုးပွားလျက် ရှိကြောင်း၊ ဆေးရုံများတွင် လူနာများအတွက် အိပ်ယာများမလုံလောက်ခြင်းနှင့် ကိုဗစ်ရောဂါ ကူးစက်သူများကို ကုသရန် ငြင်းဆန်မှုများဖြစ်ပေါ်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ အောက်စီဂျင်ပြတ်လပ်မှုမှာ တစ်ဖြည်း ဖြည်း ပိုမိုဆိုးရွားလာပြီး စစ်ကောင်စီမှ အောက်ဆီဂျင်ထုတ်လုပ်မှုများနှင့် အောက်ဆီဂျင် ထုတ်လုပ်သည့် စက်ပစ္စည်းများကို လူမဆန်စွာ ပိတ်ပင်တားဆီးပြီး သိမ်းပိုက်ထားကြေင်း၊ စစ်ကောင်စီသည် ကျန်းမာရေးစနစ်နှင့် ကျန်းမာရေးလုပ်သားများအပေါ် ပစ်မှတ်ထား နှိမ်နှင်းနေပြီး ကိုဗစ် ၁၉ ကပ်ရောဂါအား စစ်လက်နက်တစ်ခုအဖြစ် ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ အသုံးချနေကြောင်း တစ်ဖြည်းဖြည်း ပေါ်လွင်လာနေပါသည်။ ယခုအခါ မြန်မာပြည်တွင် ကျန်းမာရေး ဝန်ဆောင်စောင့်ရှောက်နေသည့် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်းများကို ပစ်မှတ်ထားတိုက်ခိုက်မှု ၂၅၀ ကျော်ရှိပြီဖြစ်ပြီး တိုက်ခိုက်ခံရမှုအများဆုံး တိုင်းပြည်ဖြစ်သလို၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာ ပညာရှင်များအတွက် အန္တရယ်အရှိဆုံး တိုင်းပြည်တစ်ခုဖြစ်လာနေကြောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတကာမှ ချက်ခြင်းကူညီဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းမရှိလျှင် မြန်မာနိုင်ငံသည် မျိုးကွဲရောဂါသစ် အပါအဝင် ကိုဗစ် ၁၉ ပြန့်ပွားစေသည့် အဓိက နိုင်ငံတစ်ခုဖြစ်လာနိုင်ပါသည်။ မြန်မာ့ပြဿနာသည် ဒေသတွင်းနှင့် တစ်ကမ္ဘာလုံး၏ ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာကပ်ရောဂါကို ပြန်လည်ဖြစ်ပွားလာစေမည့် နိုင်ငံငယ်တစ်ခုအဖြစ် ရှိနေသည့်အတွက် နိုင်ငံ တစ်နိုင်ငံ၏ ပြည်တွင်းအရေးတစ်ခုတည်း မဟုတ်တော့ပါဟု ပြောလိုပါသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် နိုင်ငံတကာ အသိုင်းအဝိုင်းမှ ကောင်းမွန်စနစ်ကျသော ဝင်ရောက်စွက်ဖက်မှုကို အမြန်ဆုံးဆောင်ရွက်ပေးပါရန် တောင်းဆိုကြောင်းတို့ပါဝင်သည်။
၇။ ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၉ ရက်နေ့တွင် ကျရောက်သည့် (၇၄) နှစ်မြောက် အာဇာနည်နေ့အခမ်းအနားများသို့ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရအဖွဲ့က သဝဏ်လွှာတစ်စောင်ပေးပို့ခဲ့သည်။ အဆိုပါ သဝဏ်လွှာတွင် အာဇာနည် ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီး များသည် တောင်တန်း နှင့် မြေပြန့်မကွဲခြားဘဲ တန်းတူညီမျှရှိမှု၊ လွတ်လပ်မှု၊ တရားမျှတမှုစသည့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီစံနှုန်းများဖြင့် ပြည်ထောင်စု မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်သစ်တစ်ရပ် ကြိုးပမ်းထူထောင်နေစဉ် လမ်းခုလတ်၌ ကျဆုံးခဲ့ကြရ ကြောင်း၊ နိုင်ငံတော်လုပ်ကြံမှုကြီး ကြောင့် လွတ်လပ်စမြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ ကံကြမ္မာမှာ တဆစ်ချိုးပြောင်းလဲသွားခဲ့ရသလို အကြမ်းဖက်လုပ်ကြံမှုကို ဦးဆောင်ခဲ့သော ဂဠုန်ဦးစောမှာလည်း ကြိုးစင်ထက်တွင် ဘဝဆုံးခဲ့ရပြီး လူသိများသော နိုင်ငံရေးသမား တစ်ဦးအဖြစ်မှ ပြည်သူလူထုတစ်ရပ်လုံး ရွံရှာစက်ဆုပ်သည့် လူယုတ်မာတစ်ဦးအဖြစ် သမိုင်းတွင် မှတ်တမ်းဝင် ကျန်ရစ်ခဲ့ကြောင်း၊ ယနေ့ နွေဦးတော်လှန်ရေးတွင် ရှေးကအာဇာနည်ကြီးများ၏စိတ်ဓာတ်အတိုင်း အများအတွက် အသက်စွန့်ခဲ့ကြတဲ့ သူရဲကောင်းတွေပေါ်ပေါက်လာခဲ့ရပြန်သည့်အပြင် ကိုဗစ်ကပ်ရောဂါ ကာကွယ်စောင့်ရှောက်ရေးအတွက် အသက်စွန့်ကြိုးပမ်းခဲ့ကြတဲ့ သူရဲကောင်းတွေ ကိုလည်း မြင်တွေ့နေရလျက် ရှိကြောင်း၊ ဤကဲ့သို့ အများအကျိုးအတွက် စွန့်လွှတ် အနစ်နာခဲ့ပြီး ဆောင်ရွက်တတ်သော အာဇာနည်စိတ်ဓါတ်သည် မိမိတို့ ဦးတည်ချီတက်နေတဲ့ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်ပျက်သုဉ်းရေးနှင့် ဖက်ဒရယ်ဒီမိုကရေစီပြည်ထောင်စု တည်ဆောက်ရေး အတွက် အင်အားများပင် ဖြစ်ကြောင်း၊ ယနေ့ ၇၄ နှစ်မြောက် အာဇာနည်နေ့တွင် အာဇာနည် အမျိုးသား ခေါင်းဆောင်ကြီးများနှင့် တကွ ခေတ်အဆက်ဆက် မတရားမှုကို ဆန့်ကျင်တော်လှန်ခဲ့ကြသော၊ အများအကျိုးအတွက် စွန့်လွတ် အနစ်အနာခံခဲ့ကြသော အာဇာနည်တိုင်းရင်းသားပြည်သူလူထုအပေါင်းတို့ကို အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေး အစိုးရကိုယ်စား အလေးပြုဦးညွတ်လိုက်ကြောင်းတို့ပါဝင်သည်။
၈။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ “အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး ကော်မရှင်မှ ပြည်သူသို့ ပန်ကြားလွှာ” ၃ တစ်စောင်ကို ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၉ ရက်နေ့နေ့စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့ပြီး အဆိုပါ ပန်ကြားလွှာတွင် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ အာဏာမသိမ်းခင်က ပြည်သူနှင့် ပြည်သူအစိုးရ တသားတည်း ရောဂါန္တရကပ်ဖြစ်သည့် COVID-19 ပထမလှိုင်းနှင့် ဒုတိယလှိုင်း ကို ညီညီညွတ်ညွတ် ဝိုင်းဝန်း၍ တွန်းလှန် တိုက်ဖျက်ခဲ့ကြသည်။ ကမ္ဘာ့အဆင့်အတန်းမှီ၊ အဆင့်မြင့်နိုင်ငံ များတွင်တောင် ကောင်းမွန်စွာ ကုသ၊ ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်မှု မပေးနိုင်ခဲ့သည့်အချိန်တွင် ပြည်သူ့အစိုးရ၏ စနစ်တကျ စီမံခန့်ခွဲမှုကြောင့် မြန်မာပြည်သူပြည်သားအားလုံး စနစ်တကျ တည်ငြိမ်အေးချမ်းစွာဖြင့် ဖြေရှင်းကျော်လွှားနိုင်ခဲ့ကြောင်း၊ မတရားအာဏာသိမ်း အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ၏ ပြည်သူအပေါ်တွင် စာနာထောက်ထား မှုကင်းမဲ့စွာ စေတနာလုံးဝမရှိဘဲ မိမိတို့အာဏာတည်မြဲရေးတစ်ခုကိုသာ ရှေးရှု၍ လုပ်ဆောင်နေပြီး COVID-19 တတိယလှိုင်းကို စနစ်တကျ စီမံခန့်ခွဲ ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ခြင်းမရှိကြောင်း၊ အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီနှင့် ပူးပေါင်းဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းမရှိဘဲ CDM ဆက်လက် လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိသော ပြည်သူများကို တတ်အားသရွေ့ ပံ့ပိုးကူညီနေသည့် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်းများ၊ အရပ်ဖက် ပြည်သူ့အဖွဲ့အစည်းအများ၊ ပရဟိတအသင်းအဖွဲ့များ၊ ပုဂ္ဂလိကဆေးရုံများကို အမျိုးမျိုးသော ဖိနှိပ်ချုပ်ချယ်မှုများပြုလုပ်၍ အများ ပြည်သူ လိုအပ်သော ရောဂါ၊ ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ် ကုသမှုများ မပေးနိုင်ရန် နည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် နှောင့်ယှက် ဖျက်ဆီးလျှက်ရှိကြောင်းနှင့် ပြည်သူသို့ အကြံပြုချက်များပါဝင်သည်။
၉။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေးကော်မရှင်က COVID-19 တတိယလှိုင်းတွင် ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုများ ပေးနေကြသော ပြည်သူ့ကျန်းမာရေး သူရဲကောင်းများအား အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီမှ မတရား ဖိနှိပ်၊ ဖမ်းဆီး၊ ချုပ်နှောင်ခြင်း၊ ပြည်သူများ လိုအပ်နေသည့် ဆေးဝါးများကို ဖျက်ဆီးသိမ်းယူခြင်းများကို ပြင်းထန်စွာ ကန့်ကွက်ရှုံ့ချသော ကြေညာချက်တစ်စောင်၄ကို ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည်။
အသေးစိတ်သိရှိလိုပါက လေ့လာရန်လင့်ခ်များ..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), Anti-coup protesters, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), World Health Organisation (WHO), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Format :
pdf
Size:
1.05 MB
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Description:
"The MIMU 3W gathers inputs from participating humanitarian and development agencies on Who is doing What, Where, across Myanmar. It is normally conducted every 6 months and provides information on agencies’ activities at various levels (village/village tract/township, and IDPs camps). Given the changing situation, there has been a 9 month gap since the last 3W round documenting agencies activities as of August 28th 2020.
In total, 159 agencies participated in the May 2021 3W, providing information on their humanitarian and development activities across 22 sectors and 157 sub-sectors as defined by technical/sector working groups. 3W reporting is quite comprehensive for projects of INGO, UN and Red Cross agencies, but there is under-reporting of activities for local NGOs and CBOs, since not all are participating. This indicates 54 less agencies reporting than in the last MIMU 3W in August 2020, possibly due to the pressures of the COVID pandemic and/or uncertainty re the situation for agencies’ activities countrywide. Note that Agencies must report to a sufficiently detailed level (village or camp level) for their work to be reflected fully in the MIMU 3W products.
This Overview describes projects under implementation in Kachin as of May 31, 2021. Further information on planned and recently completed projects is available from the 3W dataset, which can be requested by 3W Partners. Projects under implementation can also be viewed on our interactive dashboards - 3W Township Dashboard and 3W Village Tract Dashboard..."
Source/publisher:
Myanmar Information Management Unit
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Burma: Internal displacement/forced migration of several ethnic groups.
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Format :
pdf
Size:
1.49 MB
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Description:
"At around 8 am this morning, anti-dictatorship chants were heard from inside Insein Prison, Yangon Region. The protest began in the women’s detention block annexe to Insein Prison. This block detains female prisoners arrested for pro-democracy protests and the CDM movement. The protest has now spread across the prison and some staff have joined. Currently, junta forces are storming the prison compound and confiscating all of the prison staffs’ weapons. Some of these staff have confirmed to us military vehicles have entered the prison compound.
The situation COVID-19 situation has been deteriorating in the two female detention blocks, but the prison authority has only given treatment to those in special cells and prison hospital. The protest reportedly began because prisoners have not been provided with medical care, and neither have prison staff been given protection from COVID-19. These events follow an announcement by the director of Yangon Imprisonment Department they plan to release more than 1000 inmates from Insein Prison on 22 July who were incarcerated for narcotics and theft.
In September 1990 dozens of political prisoners in this same Insein Prison as today staged a hunger strike to demand the military transfer power to the democratically elected National League for Democracy. In the brutal crackdown that followed, over 40 prisoners required hospitalization and six were reportedly beaten to death. Prison guards had played songs over loudspeakers from security towers to drown out the sound inside and outside the compound’s walls, of the prisoners screams, the guard’s verbal assaults, and sound of beating bodies. In response, the SLORC said “internationally-recognized batons” had been used and that only three prisoners had been “slightly injured”.
AAPP has great concern the protests in Insein Prison will be viciously suppressed and there will be a massacre and rampant use of torture. Like-minded governments must apply pressure on junta officials to protect the lives of these pro-democracy supporters and secure their release from arbitrary detention.
In Solidarity,
AAPP..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Format :
pdf
Size:
83.12 KB
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Description:
"1) COVID-19 Task Force (CTF) was formed on 21st July 2021 by the Ministry of Health,
National Unity Government in collaboration with Ethnic Health Organisations, in
order to prevent, mitigate and control the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
2) COVID-19 Task Force (CTF) is headed by Chair of Ethnic Health Committee, Dr.
Cynthia Maung as Clinical Lead and Union Minister for Minister of Health, Dr. Zaw
Wai Soe as Deputy Clinical Lead. Relevant staff from the Ministry of Health and Ethnic
Health Organisations and various experts will act as members of the task force.
3) COVID-19 Task Force (CTF) will be responsible for issuing directives relating to
COVID-19 prevention and control public health information and will be giving urgent
priority to discussions and cooperation with international associations in order to
procure, not only the COVID-19 vaccines but also prerequisite assistance and
equipment needed for vaccination programmes. This will be part of the recovery
programme for coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
4) In order that CTF achieves the above objectives:
a) To be able to procure the COVID-19 vaccines, related vaccine strategy plans,
etc., and financial support, discussions and consultations will need to be held
with organisations from the United Nations, International Non-Government
Organisations, International Governments and ASEAN Countries.
b) To be able to control and manage COVID-19 pandemic the public will need to
comply strictly with the public health directives issued..."
Source/publisher:
COVID-19 Task Force of Ministry of Health, NUG & Ethnic Health Organisations
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Health, right to: standards and mechanisms, National Unity Government (NUG)
Language:
Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
225.99 KB 268.2 KB
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Description:
"HURFOM, Mawlamyine: A new briefing paper by the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM), “Running Out of Air: How the Junta in Burma is Abandoning Civilians in the COVID-19 Pandemic,” finds that the Burma Army is ill-equipped to handle the response to COVID-19. Since the military seized power in a coup on 1 February, the lives of civilians have been under constant attack. Hundreds have been killed by state-sponsored forces and thousands remain imprisoned for their role in pro-democracy activities, include health care providers. With multiple crises unfolding nationwide, the junta’s poor handling of the pandemic threatens to only worsen the already dire situation in the country.
In HURFOM target areas of Mon State, Karen State and Tanintharyi region, hospitals and various health infrastructure are running out of supplies. This has crippled civilian livelihoods who are struggling to access oxygen, masks and medicine from pharmacies. With prices of material goods increasing, and the junta blocking all pathways to access life-saving support, civilians are being pushed to the brink of survival. Our findings indicate that the military is deliberating excluding the most vulnerable from access to healthcare, in order to preserve their own interests.
HURFOM is greatly concerned for the people of Burma. A lack of effective coordination to secure life-saving access to personal protective equipment and medical supplies has resulted in human lives paying the cost for the junta’s negligence. Without an immediate recourse in the response plan, the situation on the ground is only likely to worsen. Health providers must be protected and civilians guaranteed pathways to accessible, affordable care. Millions are at risk, and they are running out of options. HURFOM calls for immediate, urgently needed intervention by the international community and for regional actors including the Association of South East Asian Nations. The people of Burma cannot afford to wait any longer..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"22 July 2021: The UN Security Council must urgently mandate an international humanitarian intervention in Myanmar, including aid workers on the ground, to get life-saving assistance to millions of people suffering under a devastating third wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
The military junta in Myanmar has allowed COVID-19 to run free since it attempted to seize power six months ago. The impacts of its failed coup on 1 February have included the destruction of the country’s healthcare system, and a massive third wave of COVID-19 is devastating Myanmar as a result. People are lining the streets in search of oxygen supplies, families are losing multiple loved ones, and crematoriums are filled beyond capacity.
“The situation has become a humanitarian disaster of such proportions that an international presence of health and medical personnel has become critical,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M. “The junta has demonstrated that it has neither the will nor the capacity to tackle a crisis on this scale – a crisis that it has deliberately fuelled.”
SAC-M is calling for the UN Security Council to mandate an urgent humanitarian intervention under a joint initiative with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. This is the only way to ensure life-saving assistance reaches the millions of desperate people in Myanmar’s heartlands and in the junta’s jails, where thousands of political prisoners have been detained arbitrarily.
SAC-M called last week for urgent cross-border assistance, with supply lines into Myanmar from neighbouring countries. This remains vital for the ethnic service providers, civil society organisations, humanitarian groups and others aligned with the National Unity Government and Civil Disobedience Movement who are already fighting to keep people alive.
The National Unity Government has called for assistance from the international community. Myanmar does not have time to wait for the junta to ask for help, as was the case after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country in May 2008. However, the UN Security Council and ASEAN can use the experience gained in the aftermath of Nargis as a precedent for much-needed humanitarian intervention.
“This is a crisis the world cannot afford to ignore, much less the region,” said Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “The makeshift efforts to ease the plight of people crossing into Thailand and India are far from being able to roll back the epicentre of the pandemic within the country, which needs to be the primary strategic objective of massive regional and international action.”
The junta’s forces are seizing supplies of oxygen and personal protective equipment and medical professionals are being detained by the junta if they are caught supporting volunteer relief efforts. Community preventative measures such as checkpoints are also being destroyed. Meanwhile, the junta is drastically under-reporting case numbers.
“The junta is not a partner for the delivery of aid. That is why a humanitarian presence on the ground is needed,” said Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “Assistance must be delivered through international medical personnel, and international protection given to Myanmar’s own medical professionals who are desperate to come out of hiding and work to save their country. No one will trust anything from the junta now.”..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"A severe Covid-19 wave is devastating Myanmar -- a country already on its knees following February's military coup -- with people queuing for hours for oxygen in major cities and the seriously ill dying at home because they are too scared to visit understaffed, ill-equipped hospitals.
Images from the biggest city, Yangon, show families of the sick waiting at oxygen plants in the hopes of refilling tanks, crematoriums packed with mourners and coffins, and funeral workers and volunteers in white hazmat suits working non-stop at cemeteries to bury rows of shrouded bodies.
During months of bloody political turmoil, Myanmar's security forces have killed more than 900 people, including shooting protesters dead in the streets, and laid siege to entire villages. Thousands have been detained in the ongoing crackdown, with widespread reports of torture.
Civil society has been eroded and the already-vulnerable health care system has collapsed. Doctors and other health workers, many of whom went on strike to protest the coup, have been forced into hiding to escape attacks and arrest from junta forces.
As Myanmar now faces its worst Covid-19 outbreak, doctors and volunteers who spoke to CNN accuse the military of using the pandemic as a weapon against the people. They said the military has restricted critical oxygen sales to the public and refused sick patients at military-run hospitals. Covid-19 outbreaks have also reached prisons, including the main jail, Insein, housing anti-coup protesters.
Terrified residents are choosing to self-treat at home, doctors say. When they do go to hospital they are often turned away as the facilities are running out of oxygen, treatments and beds, and there's not enough staff to treat patients, they said.
eople wait to fill up empty oxygen canisters outside a factory in Mandalay on July 13.
On Wednesday, the military-controlled health ministry reported 6,093 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total confirmed to 246,663. There were also 247 reported fatalities, with the confirmed death toll from Covid-19 5,814. But doctors and volunteer groups say those numbers are woefully under-reported. A once-promising vaccine program has crumbled under junta rule, and minimal testing, a lack of official data, and widespread public distrust of the military means no one has a clear idea of the extent of the crisis.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg," said one doctor who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals. "We are seeing patients deteriorating and people dying everyday."
Joy Singhal, head of the Myanmar delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the "rapid rise of Covid-19 in Myanmar is deeply concerning and in recent days around a third of people tested are positive."
"This rise of cases has placed the entire health system under huge strain," he said. "We urgently need greater levels of testing, contact tracing and vaccinations in all areas of the country."
In the absence of a functioning medical system or official national Covid-19 plan, and with a public distrustful of anything linked to the military junta, a network of underground doctors and volunteer groups are trying to plug the gaps.
Desperate search for oxygen
Every day, desperate family members scour Facebook groups and encrypted apps searching for oxygen supplies for their loved ones. The words "urgent," "emergency" and "please help me" repeated in a constant flow of desperate messages.
"My grandpa is very low in oxygen. Please help him. Is there any place where he can get oxygen?" asks one worried user on a Facebook group helping those in need of oxygen. Others offer tanks after their loved ones have died.
Snowy, 25, is part of a group of 12 in Yangon who try and deliver oxygen tanks and other supplies to those posting on social media. Each day she contacts private oxygen suppliers and delivers tanks to those in need. But the supply is never enough.
"They say, 'save us, save us.' But how can I save them? I'm not a doctor. I can only give them access to oxygen when I can get it. There are some people who die because we couldn't get the oxygen in time," she said. Snowy requested to use a pseudonym to protect her safety.
It's not just oxygen in short supply. Snowy said she tries to source oximeters -- devices used to test oxygen levels -- oxygen concentrators, flow meters, ventilators and other equipment but they are expensive and scarce.
The military junta said it banned some private oxygen plants from selling to the general public to stop citizens from hoarding, according to Reuters. Charities have also been prevented from procuring oxygen by the military, according to several doctors and volunteers CNN spoke to.
Volunteers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) pray in front of bodies of people who died from Covid-19 during their funeral at a cemetery in Mandalay on July 14.
"My friend, whose mother was low on oxygen levels, he queued and the military soldiers arrived with more than 50 tanks in their trucks and they sent everyone back out and filled their tanks first," said Snowy. CNN cannot independently verify the details of the accounts.
In state media, the military at first denied there was a lack of oxygen, blaming shortages on "unscrupulous persons" spreading rumors.
"We have enough oxygen," coup leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar. "Some try to do negative activities while gaining political profits. They buy the oxygen cylinder and spread the rumor that the country does not have oxygen anymore."
In recent days, however, the military-controlled health ministry said it was ramping up its coronavirus response. State media has been full of stories of oxygen deliveries to hospitals across the country, the building of Covid-19 centers and oxygen plants and more treatments being made available for coronavirus patients.
But residents say the situation on the ground is different. Kyaw Naing, not his real name, said nine members of his family in Yangon have contracted Covid-19. He said it's almost impossible to get oxygen or be admitted to a hospital.
"We saw notices being put up saying that now they (the military) will stop giving oxygen supplies to members of the public, because the notices say they are not being stocked for use in private hospitals," Kyaw Naing said. "On the one hand, they're saying they are using this oxygen for private, public hospitals. At the same time, these public hospitals are not accepting or not admitting Covid-19 patients."
CNN was unable to reach the military and military-run health ministry for comment on the outbreak and the state of oxygen supplies.
Underground doctors treat patients
The regime has also called on doctors, nurses, and other experts to volunteer at public hospitals and Covid-19 centers "due to a lack of manpower." But doctors say the military cannot guarantee their safety and they fear arrest and possible torture.
Doctors were key drivers of the initial protest movement, and many have been arrested by the junta for their involvement.
"There have been 240 documented cases of attacks on health care facilities and health care professionals. As of last week, you have over 500 outstanding arrest warrants for doctors and nurses," said Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar. "You can't attack Covid-19 and attack doctors and nurses and clinics at the same time. That is exactly what is making a bad situation exponentially worse in Myanmar."
Doctors forced to go into hiding to evade arrest have set up underground networks of clinics and tele-consulation services. Each day they answer hundreds of requests from sick patients, on apps, social media, and video platforms -- however they can reach the people.
"We are treating at least 150 people per day. More than half of those patients complain of fever, anosmia (lack of smell) and Covid-like symptoms," said the doctor, who did not want to be identified. "Half of patients are severe cases."
People wearing face masks wait while caskets with bodies are queued outside a crematorium at the Yay Way cemetery in Yangon, Myanmar, on July 14.
The doctor, who was an orthopedic surgeon before the coup, said his tele-consultation group EZ Care treated more than 1,000 patients in the past month.
"Yesterday, two patients died when we were doing the consultation because there was a lack of oxygen," he said. "Without oxygen we can do nothing."
Another young doctor in Yangon said six of her patients died in one day last week; the youngest was 49. She said she visits the very sick at home but feels helpless in the face of the growing crisis.
"I saw a patient at his home and it's heartbreaking to see him struggling to breathe. It's like he was drowning in water but he is actually drowning in air. He didn't get oxygen in his lungs and blood. After the visit I got a phone call from his family and they said he had gone," she said.
The young doctor, who also didn't want to be named for safety reasons, said people are in a state of panic.
"There is a shortage of medicine and proper care, people are very panicked as they don't know where to go or how to get treatment, so they just buy every medicine that says on online 'this one is for Covid'," she said.
She works all day and night, answering frantic messages on encrypted apps or giving consultations via video, but she said those at home don't have the necessary medical knowledge to treat their loved ones.
"They don't know how to handle oxygen concentrators, cylinders, how to assemble the lines from the concentrator to the patient, or how much oxygen to give to the patient," she said.
The doctor, who said she was a medic during the protests and helped demonstrators who had been shot, said the military has failed the people.
"We have lost so many lives here who aren't supposed to die this way. Some were shot, some were tortured to death, some died because they didn't get proper treatment, some died because they didn't get enough oxygen. These are not reasons why people should die in 2021, in the 21st century," she said.
What is causing the rise in cases?
The latest outbreak is believed to have started about a month ago in western Chin state, which borders India, and comes as the Delta variant is hitting countries across Southeast Asia.
The doctors CNN spoke to said while there were medical staff shortages and testing was lacking, previous coronavirus waves in Myanmar were brought under control. Before the coup, Myanmar was one of the first countries in the region to procure vaccines and civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi had planned to launch a nationwide vaccine program in April.
After the military takeover, Covid-19 testing, prevention measures and the vaccine program collapsed in the chaos of the upheaval. Several prominent medics involved in Myanmar's pandemic response were arrested, including the former head of its vaccination campaign, Htar Htar Lin, and the head of emergency medicine at Yangon's University of Medicine, who managed previous Covid-19 responses, Maw Maw Oo.
In recent days, the military-controlled health ministry said it is aiming to get 50% of Myanmar's 55 million population vaccinated this year, according to state media.
A man uses his mobile phone in front of empty oxygen canisters, which people are waiting to fill up, outside a factory in Mandalay, on July 13.
"More than 1.6 million people have been vaccinated, and vaccines are constantly being imported to ensure that 100% of the population is fully vaccinated. About 750,000 vaccines from China will arrive on July 22, and more will arrive on July 23 and 24. In addition, plans are underway to receive more vaccines in the first week of August," a statement said.
But even if those doses are procured, residents say there is deep distrust in the regime to give them a lifesaving shot, when it continues to kill and detain its citizens. Concerns are also growing for the fate of the people if the situation is left unmanaged.
"It staggers the imagination as to what will be happening just really over the next few days, this thing is out of control," said UN special rapporteur Andrews. "This is a complete catastrophe. The entire health care system is in shambles. The number of people being infected is just going through the roof, and no one trusts this junta to provide them with information or health care or vaccines that they need to confront this pandemic."
Snowy, the volunteer, continues to go out every day in Yangon to try and procure oxygen for the sick and desperate. She lives with her mother and grandmother but isolates when she returns home. She said she recently started to feel ill.
"I hope it's not Covid," she said..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
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COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Part 1: Situation Overview:
As COVID-19 devastates Burma, health workers and first responders are responding with strength and resilience: Burma is facing a public health crisis. The virus is sweeping
the nation with over 200,000 cases and nearly 5000 deaths
as Myanmar’s health sector struggles to keep up. To make
matters worse, people falling sick do not have adequate access
to life saving supplies, like personal protective equipment
(PPE), oxygen, or vaccines. At this moment, there is no clear
plan established by the junta to control the rising cases and
treat patients effectively.
Quite the contrary, hospitals and health care infrastructure are
struggling to cope with the influx of patients. The situation is
dire. Civilians suffering from the economic and social impacts
of the military coup, are now facing the worst outbreak the
country has seen yet.
The first COVID-19 case in Burma was recorded on 23 March
2020. In the months that followed, various committees were
established to coordinate a response to the pandemic. The
government proposed short sighted policies to tackle the
virus, but local humanitarian responders were not consulted.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) was attempting
to move forward with solutions to mitigate the impacts of
the virus, but when the military took over, these plans were
shattered.
By January 2021, the NLD purchased 30 million doses of
Covishield/AstraZeneca. These vaccine doses were to be
delivered in batches along with the 1.5 million doses of the
vaccine gifted by the Indian government.1
However, not long
after securing the vaccines, Burma descended into chaos on
February 1. The NLD’s plan to curb the spread of the virus was
effectively dead on arrival in the wake of the coup.
In the months that followed, COVID-19 cases remained
relatively low. But in recent weeks, cases have skyrocketed.2
Myanmar Doctors for Human Rights suggests this is partly
due to a lack of testing that took place before the coup.3
Now,
thousands are dying from COVID-19 nationwide as a third
wave has spread to nearly 90% of townships throughout
Burma.4 The outbreak is without a doubt, the worst the
country has experienced and comes as multiple crises are
threatening civilian safety, including internal conflict and
adjusting to post-coup authoritarian norms.
Against the backdrop of a wave of deadly cases, the junta
is committing extreme acts of warfare on medical officers
and their supplies. Junta soldiers have been seen forcibly
dispersing civilians for merely queuing up for oxygen.5 The
military has also turned their weapons on Burma’s health
workers for their role in actively condemning the military’s
violence since February. According to the United Nations, the
junta has attacked at least 158 medical personnel, killing over
60 people and injuring dozens more.6 Security forces have also
arrested and charged more than 139 doctors, and seized over
50 health facilities.7
The junta have continued to exercise their power to prioritize
their needs and well-being over civilians. Military leaders and
soldiers were among the first to be vaccinated in the country,
and are in the position to decide who is vaccinated, if at all.
As the crisis becomes more severe, civilians are losing trust
in health systems under the military.8 Meanwhile, tens of
thousands are being displaced as internal conflict in Burma’s
ethnic states continue to ravage communities.
Further, the junta’s lack of compassion is a troubling
indicator of what’s to come in the coming months. The junta
has undermined all efforts to respond to the humanitarian
disasters unfolding in the country – of which are not limited
to the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences of their
incompetence and inaction will be long-lasting, particularly
on those least prepared to make a strong comeback alongside
a crippling economy..."
Source/publisher:
Human Rights Foundation of Monland
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
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Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), HURFOM and other human rights material about the Mon, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Deadly third wave of COVID-19 is sweeping the nation
Description:
"United Nations member states should immediately form an Emergency Coalition to provide humanitarian aid and coordinate a mass-vaccination campaign in Myanmar to contain the spread of COVID-19, said Fortify Rights today. Donor governments and international agencies should ensure the localization of aid to relevant humanitarian actors and avoid legitimizing the military junta.
“COVID is killing untold numbers of people throughout the country,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer at Fortify Rights. “The junta is responsible for this crisis, which poses serious threats to the entire region and beyond. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing must step down and return the country to civilian rule before more lives are lost.”
Since the military seized power in an attempted coup d’état on February 1, its forces have arbitrarily arrested, beat, and killed medical professionals and destroyed medical supplies and facilities, leaving Myanmar’s healthcare system in disarray as COVID-19 spreads throughout the country.
Oxygen and medical supplies in Myanmar are scarce, hospitals and medical facilities are unable to treat a rising volume of patients, and bodies of those who have succumbed to the COVID-19 virus are reportedly piling up at morgues and crematoriums.
Fortify Rights documented the looting and destruction of medical supplies and equipment by junta security forces. For instance, a medical doctor described how Myanmar Army soldiers and police destroyed medical equipment at a clinic in Mandalay on two consecutive days in March: “They destroyed the blood pressure manometer, the sphygmomanometer, some of the oxygen measurement SpO2, and some medication they threw and some they took with them,” he said. “They robbed some of the medication.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports more than 260 attacks “on health care” in Myanmar since the coup, including attacks impacting medical facilities, patients, transport vehicles, medical personnel, and medical supplies. These attacks have severely limited COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccination.
Doctors and medical professionals in Myanmar founded the anti-coup Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) on February 2, refusing to work under the military junta, making them a target of the junta and forcing many into hiding.
“The military is arresting every government service employee, especially the doctors,” an emergency physician who is now in hiding told Fortify Rights. “I did the CDM. So, they want me.”
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), junta forces have arrested more than 5,315 men, women, and children, including 66 medical personnel since February 1. Another 571 medical professionals including doctors, nurses, and medics are reportedly evading arrest warrants and are in hiding, according to AAPP
Political prisoners are also among those dying from COVID-19. On July 20, veteran politician and spokesperson for the National League for Democracy Party, Nyan Win, 79, died from the virus, according to media reports citing his lawyer. Other political prisoners in Myanmar are also reportedly showing symptoms of COVID-19, including Myanmar nationals as well as Australian economist Sean Turnell and American journalist Danny Fenster, both of whom face trumped-up charges related to the coup.
Political prisoners nationwide in Myanmar are at grave risk due to COVID-19 and other ill-treatment by the junta, and they should be released immediately, Fortify Rights said.
According to the WHO, Myanmar has 240,570 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 5,567 recorded deaths from the virus as of July 20. Fortify Rights believes the actual number of new infections and deaths from the disease are much higher than reported, based on communications with medical professionals and others in Myanmar.
The Acting WHO Representative to Myanmar told Fortify Rights that COVID-19 cases might be underreported due to limited testing capabilities, adding that efforts were underway to “re-operationalize testing and surveillance activities.”
“The test-positivity rate reported is as high as 35 percent as of July 12, 2021,” the Acting WHO Representative to Myanmar told Fortify Rights. “Because the data is limited, we cannot confirm how these figures reflect the real situation, but it reflects a rapidly increasing number of infections in the country.”
A test-positivity rate of five percent is considered dangerous and “too high,” according to faculty at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The WHO representative stressed that an effective response to the pandemic must include ensuring severe patients can “easily access COVID-19 treatment centers and hospitals.” It must also guarantee no limitation of lifesaving materials in treatment centers and hospitals and an adequate healthcare workforce capable of providing care and expert clinical management.
Due to a lack of healthcare workers, lifesaving materials, and safe access to hospitals and healthcare facilities, many COVID-19 patients in Myanmar are self-treating themselves at home.
“Although I am infected with COVID and feel some tightness of chest, [I] don’t have time to rest,” a Myanmar doctor-in-hiding and founding member of the CDM told Fortify Rights on July 19. He explained how he is treating home-based COVID patients by phone. “The situation is very bad here.”
On July 12, the junta’s Deputy Minister of Information, Major General Zaw Min Tun, admitted to placing restrictions on civilian access to much-needed oxygen supplies, telling journalists in Naypyidaw: “The reason we put these restrictions in place is, firstly, because we discovered scams on the internet. Some people are committing fraud, pretending to provide services refilling oxygen supplies, and we received complaint letters.”
Myanmar’s population exceeds 54 million. According to the junta-led Global New Light of Myanmar, an estimated 1.6 million people have been vaccinated to date.
A medical professional in Myanmar, unnamed here for security purposes, told Fortify Rights that some in the country, including himself, received a first vaccination shot before the coup. Due mainly to the junta’s ongoing attack against the people, he and others have not received a second shot, leaving them less protected from infection, to say nothing of the unvaccinated masses.
On July 20, the junta-led Global New Light of Myanmar reported that the Ministry of Health and Sports would vaccinate 50 percent of Myanmar’s population against COVID-19 this year.
On July 7, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, called for the formation of an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar” to stop what he described as the military junta’s “reign of terror” in the country. On July 14, Andrews reiterated his call for the formation of the coalition to coordinate urgent international help to address the “perfect storm” of factors fueling the COVID-19 crisis.
On July 18, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar—comprising elected members of parliament, leaders of anti-coup protests, and ethnic nationalities—requested the U.N. Secretary-General and the international community to urgently provide “humanitarian assistance and emergency support to the people of Myanmar” as the country grapples with a deadly third wave of COVID-19.
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), to which Myanmar is a State Party, the right to health requires States to ensure the “prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases” and to ensure “medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.” The right to health also requires that health services, facilities, and goods are adequately available and accessible on a non-discriminatory basis.
Furthermore, the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights clarified on November 27, 2020, that “States have a duty of international cooperation and assistance to ensure universal equitable access to [COVID-19] vaccines wherever needed.” Under the ICESCR, “States must strengthen their international cooperation to guarantee, as soon as possible, universal and equitable access to vaccines for COVD-19 globally, including for the populations of the least developed countries.”
“The junta has thwarted all basic factors necessary for an effective response to the COVID crisis, including access to hospitals, lifesaving materials, and sufficient healthcare staff to attend to patients,” said Matthew Smith. “The world is failing the people of Myanmar, and more lives will be lost if governments do not coordinate urgently.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Fortify Rights"
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports
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"Fueled by the regime’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis, July has been the deadliest month of the pandemic for Myanmar, with over 2,000 fatalities in three weeks, more than 40 percent of the country’s total death toll since the virus first emerged in 2020.
As of Tuesday, Myanmar has recorded 5,567 COVID-related deaths since March 31 2020, when the country reported its first coronavirus fatality, according to the junta-controlled Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS).
MOHS statistics show that 2,233 people died between July 1 and July 20, with the highly transmissible delta variant spreading rapidly as Myanmar endures a devastating third wave of COVID-19. The MOHS figures reveal that 40.11 percent of all fatalities since last year occurred in July and are widely believed to be an underestimate, as they don’t include many of the people who died at home rather than in hospital.
Previously, the highest death toll Myanmar experienced in the pandemic came in November last year during the second wave of coronavirus, when 1,053 people died.
Charity workers claim that the current surge in deaths has mostly been caused by overwhelmed hospitals turning away COVID-19 victims and the shortage of medical oxygen, a crucial lifeline for people infected with the deadly delta variant.
In Yangon, one of the country’s hardest hit regions, crematoriums are struggling to cope with piles of corpses, many of whom died gasping for breath due to the shortage of oxygen.
On Wednesday last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the situation on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, demanded an emergency international intervention to address a “third wave” of COVID-19 infections.
“An explosion of COVID cases, including the delta variant, the collapse of Myanmar’s healthcare system, and the deep mistrust of the people of Myanmar of anything connected to the military junta, are a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar without emergency assistance by the international community,” said Andrews.
Myanmar managed to cope with the first and second waves of the virus under the democratically-elected NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
By THE IRRAWADDY 21 July 2021
Fueled by the regime’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 crisis, July has been the deadliest month of the pandemic for Myanmar, with over 2,000 fatalities in three weeks, more than 40 percent of the country’s total death toll since the virus first emerged in 2020.
As of Tuesday, Myanmar has recorded 5,567 COVID-related deaths since March 31 2020, when the country reported its first coronavirus fatality, according to the junta-controlled Ministry of Health and Sports (MOHS).
MOHS statistics show that 2,233 people died between July 1 and July 20, with the highly transmissible delta variant spreading rapidly as Myanmar endures a devastating third wave of COVID-19. The MOHS figures reveal that 40.11 percent of all fatalities since last year occurred in July and are widely believed to be an underestimate, as they don’t include many of the people who died at home rather than in hospital.
Previously, the highest death toll Myanmar experienced in the pandemic came in November last year during the second wave of coronavirus, when 1,053 people died.
Charity workers claim that the current surge in deaths has mostly been caused by overwhelmed hospitals turning away COVID-19 victims and the shortage of medical oxygen, a crucial lifeline for people infected with the deadly delta variant.
In Yangon, one of the country’s hardest hit regions, crematoriums are struggling to cope with piles of corpses, many of whom died gasping for breath due to the shortage of oxygen.
On Wednesday last week, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the situation on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, demanded an emergency international intervention to address a “third wave” of COVID-19 infections.
“An explosion of COVID cases, including the delta variant, the collapse of Myanmar’s healthcare system, and the deep mistrust of the people of Myanmar of anything connected to the military junta, are a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar without emergency assistance by the international community,” said Andrews.
Myanmar managed to cope with the first and second waves of the virus under the democratically-elected NLD government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Despite a death toll of 3,131 on January 31—one day prior to the junta’s coup—no one was turned away from hospitals in January. With popular support, the NLD government prepared field hospitals and improvised COVID-19 treatment centers, making sure everyone who needed treatment received it. Scrambling for oxygen cylinders was unheard of.
However, the country’s healthcare system has collapsed since the Feb. 1 coup. The regime has arrested or issued arrest warrants for the thousands of healthcare workers refusing to work under military rule.
As a result, many hospitals are now understaffed and unable to treat people—especially those with severe COVID-19 symptoms—who show up at their emergency rooms.
Turned away by hospitals, many people are having to treat themselves at home, including sourcing their own medical oxygen. This has caused panic buying and shortages of oxygen cylinders.
In response, the regime has imposed restrictions on oxygen plants, ordering them not to refill cylinders for individual use because “people are doing it unnecessarily”, according to a junta spokesperson at a press conference last week.
That ban has only led to more chaos. On Facebook, desperate family members beg to secure cylinders by any means as loved ones gasp for air. Many of these COVID-19 victims don’t recover.
Meanwhile, the junta is belatedly importing liquid oxygen from neighboring Thailand and China “to fulfil the people’s oxygen need”, according to regime-controlled state media.
But while the military launched a propaganda campaign on Myawaddy TV on Tuesday showing soldiers shouldering oxygen tanks to hospitals as a “donation”, the MOHS reported 286 deaths—the highest daily death toll since the coup.
Dr Zaw Wai Soe, a surgeon and the former vice chairman of the Yangon COVID-19 prevention, control and treatment coordinating committee under the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government, told local media that he was sick of the military regime’s poor management of the fight against the disease.
“What the junta is doing now is quite stupid,” said Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, who is now the health minister for Myanmar’s parallel National Unity Government, referring to the regime’s lack of foresight.
“They have to prepare in advance,” he said of the shortage of medical oxygen in hospitals, recalling how he struggled to secure more than 10,000 tanks per day during the second wave of coronavirus.
Myanmar’s vaccination program has stuttered under the junta, too. The ousted NLD government launched it on January 27, using vaccines donated and purchased from India. The program was scheduled to rollout nationwide on Feb. 5, but since the coup it has failed to move forward as expected.
Coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said on July 18 that more vaccines from China were on their way to Myanmar this week, boasting that he expected to inoculate half of Myanmar’s 54 million-odd people this year.
But as of July, only just over 1.6 million had been vaccinated, he said..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-21
[field_licence]
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COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Description:
"MYANMAR:
Available figures on hospitalization and cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) indicate that the number of COVID-19 infections is rapidly increasing.
Between 12-18 July, a total of 32,023 cases were reported with a test positivity rate of 35.3 per cent. At least 233 deaths attributed to COVID-19 were reported during last week, with the regions of Bago, Yangon and Sagaing most heavily affected. Stay-at-home orders have been issued in over 70 townships across the country. Information on the capacity of the health system to cope with the increasing workload of severe and acute cases is limited, but available data from last year suggests that capacities will be surpassed soon if the current trend continues. As access to health facilities is extremely limited, the provision of critical health services and COVID-19 vaccination are urgent priorities. Partners are working on re-operationalizing testing and surveillance activities and establishing COVID-19 treatment centers within the constraints of available resources and capacities..."
Source/publisher:
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (New York) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-21
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"On July 21, the Government of Japan decided to provide up to 700 oxygen concentrators, utilizing the fund for an ongoing project implemented by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in response to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Myanmar.
Since the end of June this year, the situation of COVID-19 has been deteriorating rapidly in Myanmar with the surging number of patients and hundreds of deaths per day. Under such circumstances, there is an urgent need to immediately provide oxygen concentrators for the necessary treatment of the people of Myanmar.
Through this assistance in collaboration with UNOPS, the Government of Japan will directly support the people of Myanmar by providing health care facilities in Yangon Region with oxygen concentrators necessary for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
In addition to this, the Government of Japan will soon grant 14 ambulances to health care facilities in different areas of Myanmar that treat COVID-19 patients. These ambulances will be used for emergency transport of patients suffering from COVID-19..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-21
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Japan-Burma relations
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Sub-title:
With an economy already weakened by the COVID-19 pandemic, a rapid assessment by the ILO reveals a deep employment crisis following the military takeover in Myanmar.
Description:
"Estimates released by the International Labour Organization (ILO) suggest a significant deterioration in labour market conditions in Myanmar since the military took power in February this year.
Employment contracted by an estimated 6 per cent in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, reflecting 1.2 million job losses. In the first half of 2021, an estimated 14 per cent of working hours were lost, which is equivalent to the working time of at least 2.2 million full-time workers.
In terms of both working-hour and employment losses, women are estimated to have been impacted more than men.
“Myanmar was already facing economic stress with jobs and livelihoods under threat as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However the estimates show a serious and rapid deterioration in employment in the first half of this year on a scale that could drive many in Myanmar into deep poverty,” said Mr Donglin Li, ILO Myanmar Liaison Officer/Representative.
All sectors of the economy have been impacted, with construction, garments and tourism and hospitality among the hardest hit. In the first half of 2021, employment in these sectors decreased by an estimated 35 per cent, 31 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, with even higher losses in relative working hours..."
Source/publisher:
International Labour Organization
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
International Labour Organisation (ILO), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Sub-title:
Urgently address overcrowding, protect prisoners’ health during COVID-19 crisis
Description:
"We, the undersigned national and international human rights organizations, reiterate our calls for the Ministry of Justice to take urgent measures to address ongoing overcrowding and the COVID-19 crisis in prisons across the country.
In mid-April of 2020, during the early stages of the pandemic, we sent a joint letter to the Department of Corrections in which we expressed our gravest concern over the potentially disastrous impact of the pandemic on the prison population and prison staff in Thailand. One year later, COVID-19 cases surged in the Thailand’s prison system amid a new wave of virus transmissions that hit many parts of the country beginning in April 2021.
On 12 May 2021, the Department of Corrections revealed that 1,795 out of 3,274 prisoners (72%) in Bangkok Remand Prison and 1,040 of the 4,475 inmates (30%) at the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok had tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. The severity of the COVID-19 situation in the Thai prison system only surfaced after several prominent pro-democracy activists held in these prisons tested positive for the virus during their pre-trial detention or shortly after being released on bail. Between 12 May and 15 July 2021, 38,019 inmates in prisons across Thailand were infected with COVID-19. This number represents about 12% of the total prison population.
Prison overcrowding and the spread of COVID-19 are closely interrelated and should be urgently addressed to prevent a further deterioration of conditions in correctional facilities.
Despite announcements relating to the provisional release of certain inmates in order to decongest prisons, Thailand’s prison population has not significantly decreased since the start of the third COVID-19 wave. According to statistics from the Department of Corrections, from 1 April to 1 July 2021 the total prison population decreased by a mere 0.2%, from 307,910 to 307,007.
We urge you to take all immediate and necessary steps, including at the policy level, to tackle the ongoing overcrowding in prisons. We welcome the Ministry’s plan to amend legislation on narcotics in a manner that would lead to the release of inmates incarcerated on minor drug-related offenses and we urge you to accelerate this amendment process.
We also recall the recommendations we previously made on the conditional release of certain categories of prisoners currently detained for non-serious and/or non-violent offenses. These include: prisoners over the age of 60; sick prisoners, particularly those with underlying medical conditions; prisoners awaiting trial; prisoners sentenced to terms of up to two years; prisoners with one year or less left to serve; prisoners detained for immigration offenses; pregnant women; and those detained without sufficient legal basis. Those released may be subjected to appropriate non-custodial measures, in accordance with the Standard Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (the “Tokyo Rules”).
Ongoing reports of many prisoners who test positive for COVID-19 raise concern over the seriously inadequate detention conditions, prevention measures, and medical care during the escalating COVID-19 outbreaks.
We welcome the various urgent measures - such as testing, quarantines, and transfer of certain infected inmates to medical facilities outside prisons - introduced by the Department of Corrections to control the further spread of the virus in correctional facilities since the latest rise of COVID-19 infections in prisons, and a testing as well as a 14-day quarantine requirement for released prisoners.
However, these measures do not go far enough to prevent further outbreaks of COVID-19 in correctional facilities. Since they are at high risk of contagion, authorities should accelerate the COVID-19 vaccine rollout across all prisons. Prisoners who have tested positive for the virus must have access to appropriate medical care and treatment equal to the general public, without discrimination and undue delay.
In addition, for those who remain detained, the Department of Corrections must ensure that prison conditions continue to adhere to international standards, in particular, the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the “Nelson Mandela Rules”) and the Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the “Bangkok Rules”). Adherence to such standards is vital during the pandemic, particularly with respect to sufficient space and ventilation, adequate sanitary facilities for personal hygiene, and healthcare, including gender-specific healthcare.
Lastly, the Department of Corrections should provide inmates, prison staff, and the general population with accurate and timely information about the COVID-19 situation in all correctional facilities in a transparent manner.
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter..."
Source/publisher:
International Federation for Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
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"U Nay Min, the Yangon-based rights lawyer and indefatigable democracy campaigner, has died of COVID-19 aged 75.
Few people in Myanmar will know his name, particularly not Generation Z. Yet ironically, at a similar moment of revolutionary fervor, this courageous activist seized the hour as demonstrators took to the streets against the dictatorship and at a pivotal moment in his country’s history, he changed it forever.
U Nay Min came to me like a gift from God. A cub reporter, I’d been sent to Burma — as Myanmar was then known — by BBC World Service Radio on an undercover assignment in July 1988. Tensions were at boiling point and people were too afraid to talk to a foreign reporter.
Enter U Nay Min.
With a fearlessness that was his hallmark, under the noses of the country’s ubiquitous Military Intelligence agents, he sought me out at my hotel and offered to arrange clandestine interviews with dissident student leaders.
U Nay Min went further. Having consulted the astrologers for the most auspicious date, he primed the students to tell me their revolution would start at eight minutes past eight on the eighth day of the eighth month of 1988, just weeks away.
The tapes were smuggled out in British diplomatic bags, sent to BBC headquarters in London and broadcast back on the Burmese Service. Zero hour had been announced to a people desperate for change and at the appointed minute, the 1988 revolution began.
U Nay Min was the mastermind of this seminal “big bang” moment, which resonates loudly today as the Civil Disobedience Movement again braves military repression on the streets.
Unlikely spin doctor
In a time before Twitter and Facebook, U Nay Min realized the value for Burma of getting the brutality of the military into the international headlines.
In truth and with decades of hindsight, I salute his manipulation of an inexperienced reporter for the greater good.
Beyond students, U Nay Min introduced me to a disgruntled army officer who described the human rights abuses perpetrated by the military, for example using villagers in the ethnic nationalities areas to walk in front of troops as human mine detectors.
When the people of Burma heard these stories directly from a serving officer, hatred of the army grew further and international outrage against the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military) also mounted.
U Nay Min was an unlikely but artful spin doctor, who understood far better than the butchers with the guns the power of the mass media to turn world opinion.
After a week I left Rangoon (now Yangon) in haste for neighboring Bangladesh on the advice of the British Embassy, who saw me as a diplomatic incident waiting to happen.
Undeterred, U Nay Min tracked me down in Dhaka and sent me news by telephone on an almost hourly basis, using the codename Eastern Star.
Journalists across the country had joined the general strike and were reporting in to him, sidestepping state control of the media. Eastern Star had become the most powerful opinion-maker in the land and used his newfound power to maximum effect.
During the twice-daily broadcasts by the BBC Burmese Service, the country came to a virtual standstill, as 44 million people hung on every word of reports that U Nay Min had fed me.
But within weeks he was arrested, given an eight-year sentence, held in solitary confinement and badly tortured. Such was his commitment to the power of truth telling, that on his release, Eastern Star called me in London to give me more information.
He was rearrested and imprisoned for another eight years.
Buddhist conviction
When I returned to Yangon in 2013 for the first time since those events, I made my peace with U Nay Min. It was hard for him. The military told him I had betrayed him to them.
He was gracious and with true Buddhist conviction confessed he must have been a bad person in a previous life.
He was at one with his past, but exasperated by the lack of political movement in the country and frustrated by the military’s decision to revoke his lawyer’s license, which thwarted his raison d’etre: protecting the vulnerable and advocating for the voiceless.
He’d devoted much of his life as a lawyer to defending Burma’s minorities, particularly the country’s Muslims, on one occasion risking his life to write a protest letter to the hated dictator, General Ne Win.
Last week, when we heard he’d contracted COVID-19, we arranged for fresh oxygen to be taken to U Nay Min’s bedside. The tank he was already using had a faulty valve and though we fixed it, the damage had been done and he passed away in the middle of the night.
My only consolation is that U Nay Min would probably have seen this as a fitting end, dying in a final act of solidarity with the most disadvantaged around him.
Rest in peace, U Nay Min. Yours was a life of sacrifice, lived for others. May your foresight, courage and commitment never be forgotten, particularly in Myanmar, a country whose fate you shaped and where your legacy lives on in Generation Z.
Eastern Star may have been extinguished, but your light still shines and always will.
Chris Gunness is Director of the London-based Myanmar Accountability Project, which fights cases in national courts for the victims of human rights abuses committed by Myanmar security forces.
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Politics and Government - global and regional - general studies, strategies, theory, Political History, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Description:
" The UN Country Team in Myanmar is stepping up its response efforts following an alarming spike in the reported number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Even with very limited testing and people experiencing difficulties in accessing testing, 5497 new cases were reported on July 17 bringing the test positivity rate to 39.12 per cent compared to 22.34 per cent two weeks earlier. In addition, several COVID-19 variants have been detected, including the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Stay-at-home orders in over 70 townships across Myanmar have been imposed, as well as nationwide public holidays declared from 17-25 July in efforts to curb virus spread. Access to hospital beds and oxygen is limited due to insufficient supplies and manpower.
The UN Country Team is working to address the oxygen shortage through the procurement of oxygen concentrators and other necessary equipment through multiple channels.
The immediate scaling up of the provision of critical health services and COVID-19 vaccination efforts, remains an urgent priority.
WHO, UNICEF and partners are redoubling their efforts to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination availability through multiple channels, including through the COVAX facility. Myanmar is expected to receive enough COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility during 2021 to cover 20 per cent of the population which is required to be distributed according to WHO guidelines for prioritizing vaccination. The first batch of these vaccines is expected in the current round of allocations.
Efforts are underway to re-operationalize testing and COVID-19 treatment centres are being established with available resources and capacities.
Currently, COVID-19 testing is occurring in states and regions at the rate of 12,000-15,000 tests per day. With testing at limited levels, however, many cases are expected to be unreported.
The current outbreak of COVID-19 is expected to have devastating consequences for the health of the population and for the economy. A renewed ‘whole of society’ approach is needed now more than ever, allowing all health professionals to work in safety, and both public and private providers enabled to contribute to the response..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-19
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund)
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Description:
"For a week, 21-year-old student Phoe Thar has been out by dawn to gather oxygen cylinders from the homes of coronavirus sufferers in Myanmar's second city of Mandalay.
He and fellow volunteers line the tanks up outside charities for filling and returning, trying to save lives in a country whose health system has largely collapsed since a Feb. 1 coup and which now faces its worst surge of COVID-19 infections.
Funded by donors on social media, Phoe Thar and his team are part of a growing grassroots effort that bypasses the authorities and echoes the way Myanmar's people responded to crises during previous decades of army rule.
"Since the number of people who need oxygen tanks is massive, it's a huge challenge for us," Phoe Thar told Reuters by phone from Mandalay.
Health ministry figures showed deaths from COVID-19 stood at 231 on Sunday from a record 233 on Saturday, but medics and funeral services say the real toll is much higher, and crematoriums are overloaded.
The total official death toll has risen 50% already this month to 5,000 with the spread of the Delta variant that has also surged elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
Reuters was unable to reach the health ministry or a junta spokesman for comment on the outbreak and public response.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing appealed for volunteers and for national cooperation at a meeting on the coronavirus emergency in comments broadcast on state television on Sunday.
"Some people do not dare to volunteer because of intimidation. Some people want to join but they have different reasons and difficulties," he said. "As I said before, I welcome them. Cooperation is required."
The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said producing more oxygen was a priority. The junta's critics say lives have been lost because of restrictions it has imposed on some private oxygen suppliers in the name of stopping hoarding.
A health system that was already among the region's weakest foundered after the coup as many health workers joined a Civil Disobdedience Movement to oppose the junta. COVID-19 vaccination, testing and prevention measures all stalled.
'THE HOSPITALS CAN'T DO ANYTHING'
One underground doctor who recently volunteered help on social media said he was inundated with hundreds of requests. When he made house calls he found almost all the sick had coronavirus symptoms and most had low oxygen levels.
"The situation is severe," said the doctor, who works under the name Pa Gyi. "The hospitals can't do anything for them... I can't just sit and watch as the patients are getting helpless."
He contrasted the situation with that during two previous waves of the coronavirus that were largely brought under control by the government of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is now deposed and on trial on an array of charges.
Suu Kyi's government had the advantage of volunteers who manned quarantine and testing centres and helped to take some of the weight at public hospitals.
But far fewer are coming forward to help a military government that still faces daily protests against its seizure of power after alleging fraud in an election landslide by Suu Kyi's party last year.
Most of the volunteers in Mandalay from the first and second waves of coronavirus infections had disappeared, said Phoe Thar.
Instead, groups like his are organising by themselves, resembling the way Myanmar's people often helped each other during disasters in the past - notably after a limited response by a previous junta to the devastating Cyclone Nargis in 2008.
Groups of friends in the main city, Yangon, told Reuters they were clubbing together to try to import oxygen cylinders from neighbouring Thailand.
Residents of the town of Kawlin in the western Sagaing Region are trying to raise at least $30,000 to import their own oxygen generator from China.
"Now we are suffering the third wave of COVID. We don't know how many more waves there we will be," one of the organisers told Reuters by phone, declining to be named for fear of reprisals. "We now have to act as though we don't have any government."..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-18
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) would like to express its
deep concern for the People of Myanmar who are suffering from the twin impacts of
brutal coup d’etat and severe COVID-19 crisis.
During this crisis, the junta has been undertaking inhumane actions such as arresting
the health care workers and volunteers in an unlawful manner, prohibiting community
support among people and restricting oxygen supplies for the COVID-19 patients.
The control and response interventions for COVID including the COVID Economic
Relief Plan (CERP) formerly implemented by the civilian government together with the
citizens under the leadership of President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung
San Suu Kyi has crumbled as being neglected by the junta due to their inability to
continue the implementation.
Currently, the rate of disease spreading out is dramatically high throughout the
country including in the prisons and the daily death rate is extremely worrying. The
junta must take the actions for prevention and control of the disease, tracing and
testing, and providing proper treatment to the infected patients and suspected persons
While many people are encountering the risk of losing their lives due to the third wave
of the global pandemic COVID 19, the junta fails to provide the needed support and the
right to treatment for every citizen. Moreover, the military even prevents people from
making their own efforts for their survival. This is a clear violation of human rights and
rights of citizens, and obviously is a terrible crime committed against the people of
Myanmar. Therefore, the CRPH warns that the junta must be fully responsible for all
consequent impacts resulting from the above-mentioned actions.
The CRPH stands by to work with all multilateral agencies, INGOs and individuals for
COVID response and economic relief, and the CRPH calls on all international and local
organisations for collaboration..."
Source/publisher:
Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-17
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"အမျိုးသားအဆင့် Covid-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး ကော်မရှင်
ပုဂ္ဂလိကဆေးရုံများ၊ ပရဟိတဆေးရုံ၊ ဆေးခန်းများနှင့် သက်ဆိုင်သော Covid-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေးနှင့်ပတ်သက်သော အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာ
မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် Covid-19 တတိယလှိုင်း ကူးစက်ပြန့်ပွားမှုသည် ကြောက်ခမန်းလိလိ ပျံ့နှံ့လျှက်ရှိသည်။ လက်ရှိ ပြည်သူ့ဆေးရုံများသည် ဆေးရုံတွင် ကုသမှု ခံယူရန်လိုအပ်သော လူနာများအားလုံးကို ကုသပေး ရန် အတွက် လုံလောက်သော အရင်းအမြစ် အင်အားမရှိပါ။ သို့ဖြစ်ပါ၍ အများပြည်သူများ လိုအပ်သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုကို အတတ်နိုင်ဆုံးရရှိစေရန်အတွက် ပုဂ္ဂလိက ဆေးရုံများ၊ ပရဟိတ ဆေးရုံ များတွင် ဆေးရုံတက်ရောက် ကုသမှုခံယူရန် လိုအပ်သော ပြည်သူလူထုအား ကမ္ဘာ့ကျန်းမာရေးအဖွဲ့ (WHO) မှ ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသော စံချိန်စံညွှန်းများနှင့်အညီ ကုသပြုစု စောင့်ရှောက်မှုပေးရန် တိုက်တွန်း လိုက်ပါသည်။
အမိန့်အရ
ဒေါက်တာဇော်ဝေစိုး
အတွင်းရေးမှူး
အမျိုးသားအဆင့် Covid-19 ကာကွယ်၊
ထိန်းချုပ်၊ကုသရေးကော်မရှင်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-17
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Individual Documents
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"Across Burma COVID-19 is devastating communities, in this way the junta is benefiting from the spread of the deadly disease, they don’t have to use weapons, the virus is killing people. Thousands are dying from lack of oxygen whilst the junta claims people are hoarding supplies, in fact the junta has ordered oxygen factories to refuse refilling cylinder from individuals. Charity groups are struggling to save the lives of COVID-19 patients, but the junta shoots at crowds of people trying to fill up containers of oxygen for their loved ones.
In prisons the situation is getting worse, the junta has restricted visits to lawyers and family, even prison staff cannot make contact with outside. It is becoming even more difficult to obtain information. However, AAPP knows there have been outbreaks in Insein, Hpa-an Taung Galay, Taunggyi and Taungoo prisons, but we do not know how many have been affected, or even how many have been killed. NLD legal advisor U Nyan Win has contracted COVID-19, but he is in a prominent position and receiving medical treatment at Yangon General Hospital. The situation for the other individuals still detained will be much worse. AAPP’s 2018 report on Prison Overcrowding and the Urgent Need for Reform analysed an investigation conducted by the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission in 2017 revealed rampant overcrowding. Of the 30 prisons investigated by MNHRC, there was a total capacity of 31,500 but the prisons were found to hold over 50,000 prisoners, 19,000 over capacity. The problem has not improved since the report’s publication.
From AAPP’s previous visits to prisons we understand that medical care is not nearly sufficient, Burma’s prisons are in control of an institution which does not care if people die. The success of the civilian government to procure vaccines and administer them has been dismantled by the military coup.
At the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, AAPP visited 33 prisons and labour camps from May to November 2020 to distribute masks, and sanitiser, probing officials on statistics and practices from the arcane military-controlled prison department. We did this because the military-controlled prison department could not be trusted to reveal the truth. Just as the junta is now torturing people to death and saying COVID-19 is the cause.
It is clear COVID-19 is being used as a weapon of war by the junta, the terrorists in the so-called State Administrative Council understood an outbreak would happen. They occupied hospitals to launch night-time raids to detain medical students, tortured healthcare workers, and indiscriminately shot at protests led by doctors and nurses.
Prisoners in Burma remain especially at risk to the spread of disease because of chronic overcrowding and systemic violations to their rights. Prison staff are also poorly trained, and in Insein and Taunggyi where there are rumours of infection, ratio of prisoners to one staff was 14.6, and 16.0 respectively. Not nearly enough for officials to monitor the physical and mental health of prisoners, or isolate prisoners displaying symptoms or with positive infection.
This is why thousands of pro-democracy supporters are at risk, especially in Yangon. Legal advisor U Khin Maung Myint told The Irrawaddy on 7 July that there are around 13,000 prisoners inside Insein Prison which has a capacity of 5000. This would mean according to U Khin Maung Myint, that Insein is now operating 260% over-capacity.
Reports of an outbreak in Taunggyi Prison are also a significant threat, the prison was operating at 251.3% overcapacity even before the coup, 754 prisoners to its 300 intended capacity. But there are systematic issues beyond overcrowding, HIV is highly prevalent in prisons, and the junta’s letter to MSF to stop work in in Dawei treating HIV patients is indicative of their approach to the human life.
According to a reliable source, there has been a recent outbreak of COVID-19 in Taung Galay Prison, Hpa-An. A woman died on suspicion of COVID-19 last week in a custody cell, but the news was not disclosed by the prison. Prisoner patients who lost the sense of smell are being kept together with other inmates and denied necessary medical treatment, their access to medical supplies is also being restricted due to the prohibition of family visits and communication.
It is clear what the junta thinks of fundamental rights, the vaccination program must not be administered by the junta. The people do not want this, and they will not trust the process. AAPP has great concern for everyone in Burma and its ramifications for the entire region. In order to help our people, we need a trusted leadership, chosen by the people with free civil and political civic space inside the country. We therefore urge the international community including the US, EU, ASEAN, China, UN and donor organizations to put pressure on the junta to restore civilian government and open civil political and civic space.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)..."
Source/publisher:
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"အပတ်စဉ်သတင်းထုတ်ပြန်ချက် (၈/၂၀၂၁)
၁၆ ဇူလိုင် ၂၀၂၁ခုနှစ်
၁။ အမျိုးသား ညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ စီမံကိန်း၊ ဘဏ္ဍာရေးနှင့် ရင်းနှီးမြှုပ်နှံမှုဝန်ကြီးဌာန က အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံ ပုဂ္ဂလိကပိုင်ပြုလုပ်ရေးကော်မရှင်က နိုင်ငံပိုင် မြေနှင့်အဆောက်အဦနှင့် မြေကွက် (၂၃)ခုကို အိပ်ဖွင့်တင်ဒါစနစ်ဖြင့် ရောင်းချရန် စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်နေခြင်းသည် တရားဝင်မှု မရှိသောကြောင့် ဝယ်ယူခြင်း မပြုကြရန်နှင့် ဝယ်ယူထားသည့် မြေနှင့်အဆောက်အဦ နှင့်မြေကွက် များအား နိုင်ငံပိုင်အဖြစ် ပြန်လည် သိမ်းယူသွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း သတိပေးတားမြစ်သည့် ကြေညာချက် (၅/၂၀၂၁)၁ ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်က ၉ ရက်နေ့ ရက်စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည်။
၂။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လျှပ်စစ်နှင့်စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ရေနံနှင့် ရေနံထွက်ပစ္စည်းများဆိုင်ရာ အခွန်အခများ လွတ်ငြိမ်းခွင့်ပြုကြောင်း ကြေညာတဲ့ အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် (၅/၂၀၂၁)၂ ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၀ ရက်နေ့ရက်စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည်။
၃။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရက အမည်စာရင်းတင်သွင်းခဲ့သည့် ဦးတိုးအောင်အား ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၀ ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြည်ထောင်စုလွှတ်တော်ကိုယ်စားပြုကော်မတီက ပြည်ထောင်စုစာရင်းစစ်ချုပ်အဖြစ် အတည်ပြု ခန့်အပ် တာဝန်ပေးအပ်လိုက်သည်။
၄။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ကိုဗစ် ၁၉ ဗဟုသုတစင်တာ (https://facebook.com/ckcmohnugmm) လူမှုကွန်ယက်စာမျက်နှာကို ဇူလိုင်လ ၄ ရက်နေ့က စတင်ဖွင့်လှစ်လိုက်သည်။ ကိုဗစ် ၁၉နှင့် ပတ်သက်သော မှန်ကန် ၊အကျိုးရှိမည့် ကျန်းမာရေး ဆိုင်ရာအချက်အလက် အကြောင်းအရာများကို ပြည်သူလူထုထံသို့ ဖြန့်ဝေပေးနိုင်ရန် ရည်ရွယ်ပြီး ကိုဗစ် ၁၉ရောဂါဆိုင်ရာ ဆောင်ရန်ရှောင်ရန်အချက်များနှင့် ကြိုတင်ကာကွယ်ရမည့် နည်းလမ်းများကို ဖော်ပြပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ အထူးသဖြင့် အပတ်စဉ် အင်္ဂါနေ့နှင့် သောကြာနေ့တို့တွင် နံနက် (၉) နာရီမှ ည (၇) နာရီအတွင်း ကိုဗစ်ဗဟုသုတဆိုင်ရာ မေးခွန်းများကို ပြည်သူများထံမှ စုစည်းရယူပြီး ဗုဒ္ဓဟူးနေ့နှင့် စနေနေ့တို့တွင် အဆိုပါမေးခွန်းများကို ပြန်လည် စုစည်းဖြေကြား ပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် တယ်လီကျန်းမာအွန်လိုင်းဆေးခန်း (https://facebook.com/telehealthmm) ကိုလည်း (၁၉-၆-၂၀၂၁) ရက်နေ့က စတင်ဆောင်ရွက်ခဲ့ပြီး ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါအပါအဝင် ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ကျန်းမာရေးပြဿနာများကို အွန်လိုင်းမှတစ်ဆင့် ကုသပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ နေ့စဉ် နံနက် (၈) နာရီမှ ညနေ (၆) နာရီအထိ ဆေးခန်းဖွင့်လှစ်ထားပြီး အထွေထွေရောဂါဆရာဝန်များအပါအဝင် အထူးကုဆရာဝန်ကြီးများက အထူးကုရောဂါ အမျိုးအစား (၁၂) မျိုးထိ ကုသပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။ ထို့အပြင် (၁၆-၇-၂၀၂၁) ရက်နေ့မှစတင်၍ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါဆိုင်ရာ သီးသန့်အကြံပေးကုသပေးမည့် Telegram Channel (၅) ခုဖြင့် ပြည်သူလူထု၏ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါ ကျန်းမာရေးပြဿနာများကို ဖြေရှင်းဆောင်ရွက် သွားမည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် “ပြည်သူက ပြည်သူကို စောင့်ရှောက်ခြင်းဖြင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါကို အနိုင်ယူပါ” ဆောင်ပုဒ်ဖြင့် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါဆိုင်ရာ ကျန်းမာရေးအသိပညာ ဖြန့်ဝေရေး လူထုလှုပ်ရှားမှု ရက်သတ္တပတ်ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်၊ ဇူလိုင်လ (၁၂) ရက်နေ့မှ (၁၈) ရက်နေ့အထိ ဆောင်ရွက်လျက်ရှိပါသည်။ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံ၏ နေရာဒေသအနှံ့၌ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါသည် လျင်မြန်များပြားစွာ ကူးစက်ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသည့်အတွက် ပြည်သူများသည် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသော ရောဂါကာကွယ်ရေးနည်းလမ်းများကို ပိုမို သိရှိ၊ လိုက်နာ၊ ဖြန့်ဝေကြစေရန်နှင့် အထူးသဖြင့် Surgical Mask များ ဝယ်ရခက်ခဲပြီး ဈေးနှုန်းများ မြင့်တက်လာသည့်အတွက် မိမိအိမ်တွင် ချုပ်လုပ်ကြသည့် အဝတ်နှာခေါင်းစည်း (Homemade Fabric / Cloth Mask) များကို ကျယ်ကျယ်ပြန့်ပြန့် ဝတ်ဆင်လာကြစေရန် ရည်ရွယ်ဆောင်ရွက်ခြင်းဖြစ်ပါသည်။ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါ ပညာပေးပိုစတာများ၊ ရုပ်သံဗီဒီယိုများကို အင်တာနက်လိပ်စာ https://tinyurl.com/c19mohnug တွင် တစ်စုတစ်စည်းတည်း ရယူနိုင်ရန် စီစဉ်ဆောင်ရွက်ထားရှိပါသည်။
ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါ ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေးအတွက် EHO အဖွဲ့များ၊ အခြားနိုင်ငံရေးနှင့် လူမှုအင်အားစုများနှင့်လည်း တွေ့ဆုံဆွေးနွေးမှုများလည်း ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့ပါသည်။
အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါကူးစက်ဖြစ်ပွားနေသော ပြည်သူများ အရေးပေါ် လိုအပ်လျက်ရှိသည့် အောက်စီဂျင်စလင်ဒါများ ပြန်လည်ဖြည့်ခြင်းအား ပိတ်ပင်ခြင်းကို ရှုံ့ချသည့်အနေဖြင့် လူတိုင်း လွတ်လပ်စွာ အသက်ရှုခွင့်နှင့် အသက်ရှင်ခွင့်ရရှိစေရန်အတွက် "လွတ်လပ်စွာ အသက်ရှုခွင့်ပေးပါ Campaign" ကိုလည်း ယခုရက်ပိုင်းအတွင်း ဆောင်ရွက်သွားရန် စီစဉ်လျက်ရှှိပါသည်။
ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်းများအတွက် ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ဆိုင်ရာ ဆေးပညာမျှဝေမှုအစီအစဉ် (COVID-19 Webinar Series) ကိုလည်း တစ်ပတ်လျှင် (၃) ရက် ပြုလုပ်ပေးလျက်ရှိပြီး ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာန၏ Facebook Page (https://facebook.com/MoHNUGMyanmar) တွင် Live ထုတ်လွှင့်ပေးလျက်ရှိပါသည်။
ကိုဗစ်-၁၉ ရောဂါ ကူးစက်ဖြစ်ပွားမှုများ ကာကွယ်ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ရန် ပြည်သူများအနေဖြင့် မဖြစ်မနေ အပြင်ထွက်ရမည့် ကိစ္စမှအပ မိမိတို့နေအိမ်ထဲတွင်သာ (၂) ပတ် နေထိုင်ရန်နှင့် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ထုတ်ပြန်ထားသည့် ရောဂါကာကွယ်ရေးနည်းလမ်းများကို လိုက်နာဆောင်ရွက်စေရန်လည်း နှိုးဆော် ဆောင်ရွက် သွားမည်ဖြစ်ပါသည်။
၅။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက မိမိတို့ဝန်ကြီးဌာနအတွင်းရှိ CDM တွင်ပါဝင် ဆန္ဒပြနေသည့် ဝန်ထမ်းများကို အမျိုးမျိုးဖိအားပေး ခြိမ်းခြောက်နေသည့် အကြမ်းဖက် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ ဩဇာခံများနှင့် ယင်းစစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်တွင် ဆက်လက် တာဝန်ထမ်းဆောင်နေကြသည့် ဝန်ထမ်းများ (Non- CDM များ) အား ၎င်းတို့၏ လုပ်ရပ်/ပြစ်မှု အပေါ်မူတည်ကာ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရက ထိုက်သင့်သည့် ပြစ်ဒဏ်များ ချမှတ်ကာ ထိရောက်စွာအရေးယူသည့်အနေဖြင့် ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ် ဇူလိုင်လ (၁၀) ရက်နေ့တွင် ပြုလုပ်သည့် အစည်းအဝေးဆုံးဖြတ်ချက် အမှတ်(၇) အရ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၃/၂၀၂၁)၃ ကို ထုတ်ပြန်၍ ဝန်ထမ်း (၁၁) ဦး၊ (၄/၂၀၂၁)၄ ကိုထုတ်ပြန်၍ ဝန်ထမ်း (၃၂) ဦးတို့ကို အမည်ပျက်စာရင်း(Blacklist) သွင်းခဲ့ကြောင်း ကြေညာခဲ့သည်။
၁၂-၇-၂၀၂၁ ရက်နေ့တွင် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ၊ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင် ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနသည် “အမျိုးသားအဆင့် ရာသီဥတုပြောင်းလဲမှု လျှော့ချရေးနှင့် လိုက်လျောညီထွေ ရှိစေရေးဆိုင်ရာ အကောင်အထည်ဖော် ဆောင်ရွက်မည့် လုပ်ငန်းအစီအစဉ် (Nationally Determined Contributions-NDC)” ဆောင်ရွက်မှုအစီရင်ခံစာ၅ တင်သွင်းခဲ့သည်။
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ သယံဇာတနှင့်သဘာဝပတ်ဝန်းကျင်ထိန်းသိမ်းရေးဝန်ကြီးဌာနက ထုတ်ပြန် ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၆/၂၀၂၁)၆ ဖြင့် ဝန်ထမ်း (၉) ဦး၊ ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၇/၂၀၂၁)၇ ဖြင့် ဝန်ထမ်း (၁၀) ဦး၊ ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် (၈/၂၀၂၁)၈ ဖြင့် ဝန်ထမ်း (၉) ဦးတို့ကို အမည်ပျက်စာရင်း(Blacklist) သွင်းခဲ့ကြောင်း ထပ်မံကြေညာခဲ့သည်။
၆။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ ဝန်ကြီးဌာနများသည် အပြည်ပြည်ဆိုင်ရာ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးအခြေအနေ ပုံမှန်သုံးသပ်မှုလုပ်ငန်းစဉ် (Universal Periodic Review - UPR) နှင့် ပတ်သက်ပြီး အကြံပြုချက်များ ရယူနိုင်ရန်အတွက် အရပ်ဖက်လူမှုအဖွဲ့အစည်းများနှင့် ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၂ ရက်နေ့တွင် တွေ့ဆုံဆွေးနွေးခဲ့သည်။
၇။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး ကော်မရှင်က
အကျဉ်းထောင်များတွင် COVID-19 ရောဂါ ကူးစက်ပြန့်ပွားသေဆုံးမှုများ ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသည့်ကိစ္စနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအား ပြင်းထန်စွာသတိပေးသည့် အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် (၁/၂၀၂၁)၉ ကို ၂၀၂၁ ခုနှစ်
ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၃ ရက် နေ့စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ခဲ့သည်။
၈။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လူ့အခွင့်အရေးဆိုင်ရာဝန်ကြီးဌာန က "ကိုဗစ်တတိယလှိုင်းတုန့်ပြန် လုပ်ဆောင်နေမှုနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာချက်" တစ်စောင်၁၀ ထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်သည်။ အဆိုပါထုတ်ပြန်ချက်တွင် ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာအခွင့်အလမ်းများ ရရှိခံစားခွင့် အချက် (၅) ချက်ဖြစ်သည့် ၁။ ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာ အခွင့်အရေးများကို မည်သူ့အပေါ်မှ ခွဲခြားခြင်းမရှိဘဲ ရယူခံစားခွင့် (Non-Discrimination) ၂။ ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကာကွယ်တားဆီးရေးနှင့် ပတ်သတ်၍ လိုအပ်သော အရာများကို လူတိုင်း ရရှိပိုင်ခွင့်(Availability) ၃။ ကျန်းမာရေးပစ္စည်းများကို အလွယ်တကူ ဝယ်ယူပိုင်ခွင့်(Accessibility) ၄။ ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုအစီအစဉ်များလုပ်ဆောင်ရာတွင် လူထုကို အခြေပြုပြီး ပြည်သူအများလက်ခံနိုင်မှု (Acceptability) ၅။ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ဆောင်မှုများ၏ အရည်အသွေးပြည့်ဝမှု (Quality) စတဲ့ ရရှိခံစားခွင့်များကိုပင် မရရှိသည့် အခြေအနေနှင့် ကြုံတွေ့နေရကြောင်း၊ ထိုသို့ပြုလုပ်နေခြင်းဟာ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီက မြန်မာပြည်သူတစ်ရပ်လုံးအပေါ်သက်ရောက်စေသည့် လူသားမျိုးနွယ်တစ်ခုလုံးအပေါ် ကျူးလွန်သည့် ရာဇဝတ်မှု ကို နောက်ထပ်ကျူးလွန်ခြင်းဖြစ်ကြောင်း၊ အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီအနေဖြင့် ကျန်းမာရေးဆိုင်ရာ ကူညီ လုပ်ဆောင်နေသော အဖွဲ့များအပေါ် နှောက်ယှက်ဟန့်တားနေမှုတွေကု ချက်ချင်းရပ်တန့်ပြီး ပြည်သူတွေဆီ ကျန်းမာရေးအကူအညီတွေ ရောက်ရှိစေရန် ဆောင်ရွက်ပေးရန် သတိပေးကြောင်းတို့ ပါဝင်ပါသည်။
၉။ အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ လျှပ်စစ်နှင့် စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာနက လျှပ်စစ်နဲ့စွမ်းအင်ဝန်ကြီးဌာန လက်အောက်ရှိ ဌာနခွဲအသီးသီးက CDM လှုပ်ရှားမှုမှာ ပါဝင်တဲ့ ဝန်ထမ်းတွေကို ဖိနှိပ်ခြင်း၊ ခြိမ်းခြောက်ခြင်း၊ ရာထူးမှ ထုတ်ပယ်ခြင်း၊ ဝန်ထမ်းအဖြစ်မှ ထုတ်ပယ်ခြင်း၊ ဝန်ထမ်းအိမ်ရာများမှ နှင်ထုတ်ခြင်း၊ ပြန်ဆပ်ရန် မလိုသည့် ၂ လစာချေးငွေများကို ပြန်လည်ပေးဆပ်ခိုင်းခြင်း စတဲ့လုပ်ရပ်တွေကို ကျူးလွန်နေတဲ့ တရားမဝင် အာဏာသိမ်းစစ်ကောင်စီ လက်အောက်ခံဝန်ထမ်းအကြီးအမှူး ၉ ဦးကို အမိန့်ကြေငြာစာအမှတ် (၆/၂၀၂၁)၁၁ ကိုထုတ်ပြန်၍ နိုင်ငံ့ဝန်ထမ်းအဖြစ်မှ ထုတ်ပစ်လိုက်ကြောင်း ဇူလိုင်လ ၁၄ ရက် ဒီကနေ့ရက်စွဲဖြင့် ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေညာလိုက်သည်။..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
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Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters
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Sub-title:
International experts accuse Myanmar's military rulers of 'weaponizing' the virus by blocking aid from civil society and humanitarian groups.
Description:
"Nearly 50 prisoners held in Myanmar’s notorious Insein prison are infected with COVID-19 but are being denied effective medical treatment by the country’s military, which overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in a Feb. 1 coup, lawyers for some inmates said on Friday.
Among the 48 now infected are political leaders from the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD), doctors connected to the country’s Civil Disobedience Movement, and American journalist Danny Fenster, editor of the online Frontier Myanmar magazine.
Top NLD leader Nyan Win, 78, and Yangon Region Social Affairs Minister Naing Lin, both now diagnosed with COVID-19, were arrested on Feb. 1. Nyan Win has been charged under Section 505(b) of Myanmar’s Penal Code for calling the military coup unlawful and its instructions invalid.
Naing Lin was charged under Section 409 and under Section 55 of Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law. Nyan Win, already suffering from prostate and gastrointestinal problems, was admitted to Yangon General Hospital on July 11 after testing positive for the disease, NLD lawyer San Malar Nyuint told RFA on July 16.
“He is a little weak, but his oxygen level is good and he has no fever,” the lawyer said. “He was transferred here from the prison hospital. He is also taking medications for his prostate and gastric problems,” he added.
Ko Naing Lin, who was charged under Section 409 of the Penal Code and Section 55 of Myanmar’s Anti-Corruption Law, was not taken to the hospital, though, and is getting treatment in his cell, he said.
Dr. Maw Maw Oo, a key figure in controlling the COVID-19 outbreak during NLD rule, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on July 5 and was admitted to Yangon General Hospital along with Nyan Win. Arrested on April 12, she has been charged under Section 505 (a) for joining Myanmar’s Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) opposing military rule.
U.S. journalist Fenster, charged under Section 505 (a) after being arrested at Yangon International Airport on May 24, was infected with COVID-19 in Insein Prison but has received no medical treatment at all, defense lawyer Than Zaw Aung said.
“I saw him yesterday by appointment on a video call. I could only see him on the phone. When I asked him how he was doing, he said that he had been infected with COVID-19. I asked him if he was receiving any treatment, and he said no.”
“I told the warden to tell this to the hospital,” Than Zaw Aung said, adding that his client is frustrated that court hearings are not being held more quickly.
Also speaking to RFA, family members of other prisoners held at Insein expressed concern over the presence of infected persons in the prison, which reported its first case of coronavirus on May 25.
Kay Thwe Moe, wife of detained NLD Central Committee member Monywa Aung Shin, said she fears for the health of her husband, who has asthma and suffers from breathing problems in the cold. “Now that there are COVID-19 cases in the prison, I’m very worried about him” she said.
“There’s a lot of rain now in Yangon, and in this kind of weather his asthma gives him problems,” she said.....Prison under lockdown: Thousands of prisoners are being tried in six military tribunals and 38 special courts set up in Insein Prison, and lawyers believe the virus may have spread to other inmates as around 300 people, including lawyers, enter the prison compound every day.
Due to the spread of infection, Insein Prison is now under lockdown until July 21, though, and the special courts are currently closed.
Most of the prisoners now infected with COVID-19 at Insein Prison were arrested for taking part in anti-coup protests and are not receiving adequate medical care, an official with the Thailand-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said.
“Even under normal circumstances, the health care in prisons is terrible, but this is now a very serious situation,” the AAPP official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We don’t know how many people in the country have been infected with the COVID-19 virus, and for people in prison, things are even more worrying.”
“People on the outside may be able to help each other, but it’s harder for people to help each other behind prison walls,” he said.
Zaw Zaw, director of the Yangon Region Prisons Department, said that no infections are present in the main prison building itself, but only among inmates held in special wards and those transported to the prison by police, and that adequate medical treatment is available.
“There is no COVID-19 virus in Insein Prison itself,” he said.
“But there is a test center outside the prison walls where we screen the newcomers, and infected people are kept at this center and not brought inside,” Zaw Zaw said, adding, “Testing began during the second wave of infections. Now, in this third wave, we have found around 50 positive cases.”
“[Prisoners] have special court appointments, and the virus could be transmitted from there,” he said. “When they leave their cells for their hearings they come into contact with outsiders. That’s why we have closed the prison courts and imposed a semi-lockdown.”
Around 20 health workers, including doctors, are now giving necessary medical treatment to infected prisoners in a separate ward inside the prison, prison officials said.
Red Cross provides assistance
Writing to RFA in an email, Jacqueline Fernandez—International Red Cross Information Officer for Myanmar—said that Red Cross workers have been unable to visit prisons in the country since March 2020 due to the pandemic, but have been able to provide some assistance to prisoners by distributing face masks and disinfecting places of detention.
“[We have also] offered COVID-19 prevention information, financial assistance and hygiene items to people as part of our ‘Safe Return Home’ program after they leave detention, and in some cases have provided material support to detainees in quarantine sites,” she said.
In a July 16 statement, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar, a group of independent international experts, accused Myanmar’s military rulers of “weaponizing” the COVID-19 crisis by blocking civil society organizations and humanitarian groups from providing aid “for millions of people as a massive third wave of COVID-19 sweeps the country.”
“The junta is weaponizing COVID-19 for its own political gain by suffocating the democracy movement and seeking to gain the legitimacy and control it craves—and has so far been denied—by deliberately fueling a humanitarian disaster and then co-opting the international response,” Council member Yanghee Lee said.
“The generals are not partners for the delivery of aid. They are murderers who will be held to account for their crimes,” Lee said.
The bodies of COVID-19 victims continue to pile up in Yangon each day, with corpses stacked for transport to a crematorium at the city’s Kyizu Cemetery, a citizen journalist said in a video recorded by mobile phone on Friday.
As many as 200 bodies were cremated at Kyiza and other cemeteries around the city on Friday, an official from Myitta Thingaha Volunteer Funeral Services in Yangon’s South Dagon township said..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Anti-coup protesters
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Sub-title:
The deaths included 19 military troops, two militiamen, and two civilians, sources said.
Description:
"At least 19 troops loyal to Myanmar’s junta and two members of a militia formed to protect residents from the military were killed during a firefight in Saigaing region’s war-torn Kalay township, sources said Friday, as fighting drove some 3,000 civilians to flee for safety in the nearby mountains.
Fighting broke out between the military and members of the Kalay People’s Defense Force (PDF) around 2:00 p.m. on Thursday as junta soldiers began a raid on the villages of Doe Nwe and Ashaysee, around 30 miles south of downtown Kalay, a member of the PDF told RFA’s Myanmar Service, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
“The battle went on for six hours … and only ended after 8:00 p.m.,” the source said in recounting the fighting that killed the 19 people.
“Additionally, two [civilian] men from Tin Thar [village] who were on their way to Doe Nwe village on a motorcycle were killed when soldiers fired at them. Myint Thein and Tun Naung actually were ordinary villagers and not our fighters,” the militiaman said.
After a relatively quiet night, fighting resumed early on Friday morning, the PDF member said.
“They have been firing at us with heavy weapons since about 5:00 a.m. We are also hitting them back with Tumee [traditional flintlock] rifles and handmade rockets. They have not been able to get out of the village since yesterday. Our PDF teams have surrounded the village and attacked them. There are only injuries on our side. No deaths. Hold on, a rocket is coming our way. I'll call you back in a moment. "
PDF members later told RFA that two of their group had been killed and claimed that the military was “using drones” to track down their fighters.
Residents of the area confirmed to RFA that they had heard the sound of “hundreds of shells” beginning at 5:00 a.m. on Friday and said more than 3,000 people from nine of the surrounding villages had fled into the mountains beginning the previous night, when junta troops began conducting surprise checks and arrests.
“They were checking the cellphones of anyone they encountered, so we decided to leave,” said one villager, who declined to be named.
“Along the way, we saw many people from other villages fleeing the area too. There are four villages near Ashaysee village. A lot of men are among those who fled.”
A resident of Doe Nwe village said the region is currently dealing with an outbreak of COVID-19 infections and that many of those who fled lack access to medicine.
A Tin Thar villager told RFA that nearly everyone from the surrounding area had left.
“We are worried [the military] might set fire to the houses,” the villager said.
“Only some elderly and some family members of COVID-19 patients are left behind. Everyone believes the army will launch an all-out offensive against us. I’m in the forest myself now.”
Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun about the fighting in Kalay went unanswered Friday.
There have been at least seven clashes between the PDF and the military in Kalay since the junta ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1, the last of which was on June 27.
Junta troops remain stationed in the villages of Kyaukphu and Ashaysee and the Kalay PDF has warned residents to exercise caution.....Military murders: Myanmar’s military says its takeover was warranted because former State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in November 2020 general elections as the result of voter fraud. The junta has provided no evidence to back up its claims and violently responded to widespread protests, killing 912 people and arresting 5,277, according to the Bangkok-based Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
Amid nationwide turmoil, the military has stepped up offensives in remote parts of the country of 54 million that have led to fierce battles with several local militias.
According to the United Nations and aid groups, conflict in Myanmar’s remote border regions has displaced an estimated 230,000 residents since the junta coup. They join more than 500,000 refugees from decades of conflict between the military and ethnic armies who were already counted as internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of 2020, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, a Norwegian NGO.
Reports of the clashes in Kalay came as sources told RFA that at least 23 villagers in Sagaing’s neighboring Kani township have been murdered by the military in the past 16 days, including 16 villagers who were discovered with their hands bound behind their backs and appeared to have been shot from behind, execution-style.
A resident named Tittar told RDA that junta troops entered the villages of Yin and Kone Thar on July 9 and 10 so that they could surveil Kani township from afar.
“When they were about to enter the villages, they started firing with heavy weapons. Four houses in our village were destroyed by the shelling. One house was set on fire. All the villagers fled in fear into the jungle as the army arrived. Some took their elderly on carts, motorcycles and tractors, he said.
“The soldiers followed into the forests and hunted the refugees down. Those who were found were tied with ropes and some were cut down with machetes. We also found trails of some who were tied to ropes and dragged away. The bodies were no longer recognizable as they were all bruised and mutilated.”
Tittar said people were killed and left in the forest, still bound, while others were “tied to small tree trunks and dragged along” to their deaths.
“Some of the bodies were piled up. All of them were simple farmers. None of them were PDF members,” he said, adding that several were people who couldn’t leave their elderly parents.
There were those who couldn't leave behind their parents who couldn’t run. Some were people who were asked by their parents to stay with them. People who were murdered ranged from a 63-year-old to a 21-year-old ... Some were tied and dragged. All of their clothes had been torn off and some of them no longer had pants on.”
In addition to the killings, residents said, junta troops destroyed more than 60 motorbikes, and burned down food storage containers and crops.
Another villager named Moe Thee said the men were shot dead by soldiers from behind.
“They didn’t kill them immediately after the arrests, the victims were tortured and killed,” he said.
“It looks like these people had their hands tied behind them and told to run and then shot from behind, like in the movies. It was totally inhumane.”
Other deaths included four villagers killed on July 1 whose bodies were discovered “in close proximity, with their heads blown off,” a resident said.
“They must have been shot at close range. The tops of the heads were gone. Only the mouth remained,” the resident said. “We couldn’t collect the bodies and had to set them on fire.”
The military has yet to comment on the allegations.....Children at risk: Also on Friday, the United Nations’ Child Rights Committee (CRC) issued a statement noting that since the coup, about 75 children had been killed, while around another 1,000 were arbitrarily detained and countless others deprived of essential medical care and education. The group warned that children’s rights are facing an onslaught that “risks leaving an entire generation damaged,” the agency said.
“Children are exposed to indiscriminate violence, random shootings and arbitrary arrests every day. They have guns pointed at them and see the same happen to their parents and siblings,” said Mikiko Otani, chair of the CRC.
The CRC said it is “profoundly concerned” at the major disruption of essential medical care and school education in the entire country, as well as access to safe drinking water and food for children in rural areas.
According to UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, a million children in Myanmar are missing key vaccinations. More than 40,000 children are no longer getting treatment for severe acute malnutrition.
“As a result of the military coup and conflicts, children’s right to life, survival and development have been repeatedly violated,” said Otani.
“If this crisis continues, an entire generation of children is at risk of suffering profound physical, psychological, emotional, educational and economic consequences, depriving them of a healthy and productive future.”
The CRC called for immediate action to resolve Myanmar’s political crisis and called on the country’s leadership to safeguard and promote children’s rights to the utmost degree..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, Children
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"The international community must urgently respond to Myanmar’s crippling COVID-19 crisis and get life-saving assistance across borders into the country through the democracy movement’s networks, says the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
Local responders, ethnic service providers, civil society organisations, humanitarian groups and others aligned with the National Unity Government and Civil Disobedience Movement across Myanmar are fighting to provide vital services and life-saving humanitarian aid for millions of people as a massive third wave of COVID-19 sweeps the country. They are in urgent need of help.
“The junta allowed COVID-19 to run free. The coup it launched in February has failed. The junta has not established ordinary government structures and it is unable to do so. The only viable way of dealing with the COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar is to deal with the democracy movement,” said Chris Sidoti of SAC-M.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the extreme violence and brutality of the junta’s forces for Myanmar’s jungles and border states, including medical professionals now running underground clinics.
SAC-M is calling for the urgent opening of supply lines across Myanmar’s borders, from Kachin state in the north to Karenni and Karen states in the east and Chin state in the west. Humanitarian assistance must be directed through ethnic administrations, civil society organisations and service providers whose networks can reach those in need in the more remote states as well as Myanmar’s central towns and cities.
“ASEAN resolved to provide humanitarian assistance over two-and-a-half months ago as part of its five-point consensus,” said Marzuki Darusman of SAC-M. “It is unacceptable that ASEAN only acts at the pleasure of the junta while so many lives are being lost. There is no excuse for ASEAN, UN agencies or any other actors to delay. There are ways to get assistance directly to the people now.”
Since launching the coup, the junta’s forces have killed, detained and threatened medical professionals, attacked ambulances, clinics and social workers, destroyed and looted medical equipment, and occupied hospitals. They seized oxygen cylinders as the COVID-19 crisis escalated and blocked factories from refilling people’s oxygen cylinders.
“The junta is weaponising COVID-19 for its own political gain by suffocating the democracy movement and seeking to gain the legitimacy and control it craves – and has so far been denied – by deliberately fuelling a humanitarian disaster and then co-opting the international response,” said Yanghee Lee of SAC-M. “The generals are not partners for the delivery of aid. They are murderers who will be held to account for their crimes.”..."
Source/publisher:
Special Advisory Council for Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-16
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Surging COVID-19 cases as the Delta variant spreads, a collapsed health system, and “deep mistrust” of the military junta, are a “perfect storm” of factors that could lead to further major loss of life in Myanmar, the UN independent expert on the human rights situation in the country warned on Wednesday.
Description:
"In a statement, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said “emergency” assistance for Myanmar was desperately needed to save lives.
“The highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being and that right is being denied to most within Myanmar. The international community must act.”
He reiterated his appeal last week for an Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar, to provide emergency humanitarian aid to the country, amid reports of severe shortages of vital medial supplies and oxygen.
Vaccination and testing capacity across Myanmar is also severely limited. Of those being tested, an alarming 26 per cent reported positive, Mr. Andrews said last Wednesday, cautioning that the country is at “grave risk of becoming a COVID-19 super-spreader State”, impacting untold numbers of people both inside and outside its borders.
‘Junta lacks capability, legitimacy’
In particular, Mr. Andrews highlighted that the junta “lacks the resources, the capabilities, and the legitimacy” to bring the crisis under control.
“The crisis in Myanmar is particularly lethal because of the pervasive mistrust of the military junta”, he said, calling on the international community to help facilitate a politically-neutral body to coordinate a COVID response that includes a vaccination programme “that the people of Myanmar will trust”.
“Member States, international organizations, regional bodies and non-government organizations that are willing and able to provide much needed aid must do so before untold numbers perish and Myanmar becomes a super spreader of this deadly virus”, the expert stressed.
Detention could become a ‘death sentence’
The Special Rapporteur also raised alarm over the situation of Myanmar’s vulnerable communities, including prisoners held in overcrowded facilities.
“Myanmar’s prison population, including the thousands of political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained since the coup, are in grave danger. Prisoners, particularly those with underlying conditions could see their detention become a death sentence,” he warned.
Nearly 6,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since the military overthrew the elected Government and seized power on 1 February. In addition, approximately 900 people, including children, have been killed and countless more wounded.
“Myanmar’s neighbours are well placed to help and have a self-interest to do so, but there is no time to waste”, urged Mr. Andrews,
“Those with influence on junta leaders must immediately seek to secure their cooperation. The UN and others in the international community are positioned to provide immediate assistance to confront this rapidly deteriorating crisis.”..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations
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Sub-title:
Junta authorities have attributed multiple detainees’ deaths to Covid-19, a designation that loved ones say is a final attempt to cover up the abuse they endured in military custody
Description:
"Protesters Soe San and Zaw Lin were not home when some 30 junta troops raided their homes in Te Su village, in Mandalay Region’s Wundwin Township, at midnight on June 28.
Unable to locate the men, the soldiers initially arrested Zaw Lin’s wife, then released her.
Maintaining their innocence and fearing the further terrorisation of their families, Soe San and Zaw Lin went to the hospital in the Wundwin Township village of Pindale the following afternoon to meet with the regime authorities stationed there.
“They didn’t do anything wrong, so they decided to meet with them to clear the air so that they would leave their families alone,” a local man from Te Su who was familiar with the arrest told Myanmar Now on the condition of anonymity.
After spending less than one day in the junta’s custody, 44-year-old Soe San, who was also the chair of the National League for Democracy party's office in Te Su, was declared dead.
“I think they went too far with the interrogation and killed him,” another resident of Te Su village said.
Strangely, the local said, Soe San’s body was presented to his family sealed in plastic—the standard practice for a patient infected with Covid-19, but not a man who had died in police custody.
Soe San’s face was reportedly the only part of his body exposed at the funeral.
He was one of multiple people who have died in military custody since the February 1 coup and whose bodies were later concealed from their families under the junta’s claim that they had Covid-19 and were still contagious. If they could examine the victims, family members of the deceased say they believe their bodies would exhibit clear signs of torture.
“I think they went too far with the interrogation and killed him."
According to data released by the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) on Wednesday, there have been at least 911 civilians who have died at the hands of the military council since the coup. Of these, at least 30 died in detention.
The military council has repeatedly dismissed the AAPP’s figures as being exaggerated.
No Covid-19 tests are known to have been carried out in the junta’s interrogation centers, which are frequently outside of prisons. Those who have been imprisoned and released since the coup have reported that Covid-19 tests were not carried out in the prisons, either.....Interrogation at the hospital, police station: Soe San and Zaw Lin’s families were only notified that the men had been sent to Pindale police station at around midnight, after they had been interrogated at the hospital all afternoon and evening.
Soe San was reportedly sent back to the hospital after passing out at the police station.
The following morning, June 30, Soe San’s family was notified at 11am that he had died.
Their attempts to claim his body were in vain, the first Te Su villager said.
While the military council allowed them to hold a funeral for Soe San at the Wundwin cemetery on the afternoon of July 1, they forbade the family from taking photos of the body or posting about the ceremony on social media.
“They wrapped his body in plastic with just the face exposed. They didn’t directly tell the family that he died of Covid-19, but word got out,” the villager said.
Only 10 family members were allowed to attend the funeral, accompanied by around 30 heavily armed troops, including soldiers from the air force and military engineers.
Zaw Lin, who turned himself in along with Soe San, was released on bail on July 3. Residents of Wundwin said he was severely injured to the point that he was not able to dress himself.
Myanmar Now tried to contact the Pindale police station for comment on the arrests, death and allegations of torture, but the calls went unanswered.....A pattern of deaths: The military’s handling of Soe San’s death was reminiscent of that of 19-year-old Mai Nuam Za Thiang, in Kalay, Sagaing Region on June 23.
She was shot by troops while riding on the back of a motorcycle and died shortly after arriving at the hospital.
“Their post-mortem report said that the girl died of excessive bleeding. However, the body was sealed and returned to us with the claim that she had Covid-19,” a family member of Mai Nuam Za Thiang told Myanmar Now in June.
Again, citing a Covid-19 infection, the military forced her family to cremate her immediately.
“I think they wanted to hide something, so they used that label [of Covid-19]. We could see only the report they gave us, and her face, so we were forced to accept what they said,” her relative said at the time.
“Their post-mortem report said that the girl died of excessive bleeding. However, the body was sealed and returned to us with the claim that she had Covid-19."
Just two days later on June 26, 26-year-old farmer Salai Van Tha Cung, also known as Zaw Htet, was arrested for unknown reasons at the hostel where he was staying. He died within 24 hours in detention.
Salai Van Tha Cung was cremated immediately, again due to the claim that he was positive for Covid-19, despite showing no symptoms of the virus before his arrest, according to a close relative. The relative added that the victim had not been involved in the anti-coup movement.
Chin State-based media reported that on May 9, a 59-year-old farmer from Haka Township, Pu Tale Lein, was arrested by the military and died after two days in detention. Although a local church asked that his body be returned for burial, the junta authorities told them that he had already been cremated because he had been infected with Covid-19.
One of the earliest known examples of the junta blaming Covid-19 for the death of a detainee was in the case of 26-year-old Yar Zar Aung, who was shot in a crackdown on a protest in Mandalay and then taken into military custody on February 20.
Four days later, his family was informed that he had died in detention, allegedly from Covid-19.
Only four of his family members were allowed to attend his cremation, and from afar.
His wife, Phyu Phyu Win, told Myanmar Now on the day of the funeral that she did not believe Yar Zar Aung’s cause of death was the coronavirus, and felt that he had died as a result of injuries inflicted by the junta.
“We were only able to look at him from a distance, as they said he had died of Covid-19. When we attempted to take his body [from the hospital], they wouldn’t let us,” she said. “I’m upset. I’m not going to let this go.”..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar called for emergency international engagement to address a “perfect storm” of factors that are fuelling the deepening COVID-19 crisis in Myanmar.
“An explosion of COVID cases, including the Delta variant, the collapse of Myanmar’s health care system, and the deep mistrust of the people of Myanmar of anything connected to the military junta, are a perfect storm of factors that could cause a significant loss of life in Myanmar without emergency assistance by the international community,” Tom Andrews said.
“The highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every human being and that right is being denied to most within Myanmar. The international community must act.”
Andrews reiterated his call made at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 7 July for an “Emergency Coalition for the People of Myanmar” to, among other things, provide emergency humanitarian aid to the country.
“The junta lacks the resources, the capabilities, and the legitimacy to bring this crisis under control,” he said. “The crisis in Myanmar is particularly lethal because of the pervasive mistrust of the military junta.
“The international community must help facilitate a non-junta, non-political body to coordinate a COVID response initiative that includes a vaccination programme that the people of Myanmar will trust.
“Member states, international organisations, regional bodies and non-government organisations that are willing and able to provide much needed aid must do so before untold numbers perish and Myanmar becomes a super spreader of this deadly virus.
“The junta must also account for the $350 million in COVID aid the International Monetary Fund provided the people of Myanmar just days prior to the coup d’état.”
Andrews highlighted the acute need for greater amounts of life saving aid to treat COVID. “There is a major lack of capacity including oxygen support to treat those suffering from the virus,” he said. “People are dying because of a shortage of medical resources and trust.”
Andrews expressed particular concern for vulnerable populations, including those held in Myanmar’s overcrowded prisons.
“Myanmar’s prison population, including the thousands of political prisoners who have been arbitrarily detained since the coup, are in grave danger. Prisoners, particularly those with underlying conditions could see their detention become a death sentence,” he warned.
“Myanmar’s neighbours are well placed to help and have a self-interest to do so, but there is no time to waste. Those with influence on junta leaders must immediately seek to secure their cooperation. The UN and others in the international community are positioned to provide immediate assistance to confront this rapidly deteriorating crisis.”
ENDS
Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Mr. Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide.
The Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Comprising the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, Special Procedures is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity..."
Source/publisher:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights and international relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"HIGHLIGHTS:
Although displacement figures have remained steady in recent weeks—some 206,000 people are displaced within Myanmar since 1 February—continued armed conflict and unrest across the country have meant that the needs of the internally displaced are increasing. Their needs and the challenges of addressing them have been further exacerbated by the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar, which has added to existing restrictions on humanitarian actors’ access to internally displaced persons (IDPs). With Myanmar reporting record numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the last two weeks, either the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF) or ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) have imposed movement restrictions in areas of displacement.
There have not been significant refugee movements from Myanmar to neighboring countries in the past month, but UNHCR and other humanitarian actors continue advocacy efforts to ensure any new refugee arrivals would have access to protection measures and assistance. Thai authorities continue to regularly arrest Myanmar nationals attempting to enter Thailand irregularly though Tak and Kanchanaburi provinces, without systematic identification of whether such individuals are seeking or in need of international protection. Local communities in India, meanwhile, are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their support of Myanmar refugees who have now been in Mizoram and Manipur for months..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Dead bodies are being lined up, head to toe, awaiting cremation at Yangon’s crematoriums—the result of COVID-19 patients in Myanmar’s biggest city being turned away in increasing numbers by hospitals that are overwhelmed and lack supplies of medical oxygen, a crucial lifeline for victims of the coronavirus’ deadly new variant.
On Tuesday, Yangon’s Yeway Cemetery saw a steady stream of ambulances carrying bodies to funerals from the morning hours. The same scenes are being played out at the city’s other three burial sites, according to charity workers.
At Yeway Cemetery, a corridor leading to the crematorium teemed with body-laden trolleys. Many of the corpses had been collected by charity workers directly from homes where the victims died of COVID-19.
“They died due to lack of oxygen,” said one worker from a charity organization. He noted that his charity alone took 50 bodies to the cemetery on Tuesday. It is just one of many social charities in the city volunteering to handle COVID-19 victims’ remains.
“So, just guess the number of deaths,” he added.
Myanmar has been experiencing a public health crisis since late last month with the spread of the deadly new variant of COVID-19. As of Tuesday, the country’s Health Ministry had reported 201,274
positive cases with 4,036 deaths since March last year. Given the number of people dying at home, however, the official death toll is believed to be underreported.
Nearly 90 percent of the country has been affected by the third wave of coronavirus infections, with 296 of 330 townships nationwide reporting COVID-19 cases since May.
Making matter worse, the country’s healthcare system has collapsed since the military coup in February. The regime has arrested and issued arrest warrants for many healthcare workers who have been on strike, refusing to work under military rule. As a result, many hospitals that were able to cope with the influx of patients amid the country’s first and second waves of the virus before the coup are now understaffed and unable to treat people—especially those with severe COVID-19 symptoms—who show up at their emergency rooms.
Turned away by hospitals, many people have to rely on treatment at home, including finding their own medical oxygen. This has caused panic buying and shortages of oxygen cylinders. In response, the regime has imposed restrictions on oxygen plants, ordering them not to refill cylinders for individual use because “people are doing it unnecessarily”, according to a junta spokesperson’s comments at a press conference on Monday. The ban has only led to more chaos. On Facebook, desperate family members beg to secure cylinders by any means as loved ones gasp for air. Many of these COVID-19 sufferers don’t make it.
On Tuesday, the parking lot at Yeway Cemetery was crammed with ambulances from charities. The number of people in hazmat suits outnumbered the mourners. Bodies wrapped in blankets or body bags lay untouched for hours before being cremated.
“We had to wait for a long time to get a parking space to unload the body,” said a charity worker..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-14
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Individual Documents
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Description:
"Statement on COVID-19 response: We are deeply concerned that there have been many weaknesses in the way the military
regime is handling the fresh wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Myanmar and by the resultant health
crisis Myanmar people are facing.
Far from enjoying their right to health, Myanmar people who are now going through the
third wave of the pandemic, are seeing their health entitlements being denied by the regime.
The Right to Health is normally measured by five elements as follows:
Non-discrimination: health facilities, goods and services must be accessible to all, without
discrimination on any of the prohibited grounds. However, currently in Myanmar, military
personnel and their families are enjoying privileges over ordinary citizens who need urgent
protection. Instead of a systematic COVID-19 vaccination program by determining priority
population groups, those from the military circle are being prioritized. And the military is keeping
healthcare facilities including COVID-19 care centers and oxygen plants for itself, violating the
fundamental right of every human being to equally enjoy healthcare.
Availability: there must be sufficient quantity of functioning public health and health care
facilities, goods and services for all. Due to weaknesses in preparation, people especially the
grassroots are finding it extremely difficult to have access to basic requirements like facial masks
and oxygen. What’s worse, the military regime is intentionally restricting the people’s access to
necessary healthcare products and using those products for themselves, seriously affecting their
availability.
Accessibility: Health facilities, goods and services have to be accessible to everyone. The
military regime is however controlling the import of healthcare products needed to prevent
coronavirus, restricting the accessibility of health services.
Acceptability: all health programs must be based on the people and serve the people.
Confiscation of oxygen and other relief supplies provided by donors and disruption of their
assistance breaches acceptability.
Quality: health care services must be of good quality. As a result of inadequate preparation,
COVID-19 centers run by the regime are ill-equipped and have failed to provide reliable
information. The quality of healthcare services delivered by the regime is obviously concerning.
Those acts show the regime’s lack of political will and its intent to take political advantage
of the COVID-19 third wave to weaken the nationwide anti-regime movement. The regime is
deliberately creating panic among the people by refusing them necessary healthcare services, in
what appears to be retaliation against public opposition to it. Such acts only deepen public health
crisis and are blatant violations of the right to health. It is the regime’s another crime against
humanity affecting entire Myanmar people.
We sternly warn the regime to immediately stop disrupting the organizations providing
healthcare assistance, and keep aid channels open so that medical aid reaches the regions and people
in need..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"National Unity Government: Ministry of Human Rights Statement on Covid-19 Response - ကိုဗစ်တတိယလှိုင်းတုန့်ပြန်လုပ်ဆောင်နေမှုနှင့် ပတ်သက်၍ ထုတ်ပြန်ကြေငြာချက်..."
Source/publisher:
Ministry of Human Rights
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-14
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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National Unity Government (NUG), Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Statement from CARE’s Vice President for Humanitarian Affairs, Deepmala Mahla:
“CARE is deeply concerned about the impact of Myanmar’s deteriorating COVID situation on vulnerable communities. We are hearing reports of long queues of people trying to secure limited oxygen supplies for loved ones battling the virus, and a record 5,014 COVID cases and 80 deaths were reported on 12 July. But with low testing rates, we fear the true extent of the crisis is far worse.
The deepening COVID crisis will undoubtedly exacerbate the already dire humanitarian situation in the country, where access to essential services and supplies is incredibly challenging. CARE is particularly concerned for vulnerable groups, especially women, who are often disproportionately affected in times of crisis.
CARE calls upon ASEAN member states to re-double efforts to work together, and with other countries in the region and the international community, to urgently find a durable and peaceful solution to the ongoing political crisis, so efforts can be focused on addressing the COVID threat.
It is imperative that humanitarian agencies are afforded unimpeded access to affected communities to provide much-needed assistance. CARE calls upon all parties to the ongoing conflict to assure and support neutral, independent humanitarian assistance to vulnerable communities. The people of Myanmar need our help to avert more needless suffering.”
Founded in 1945, CARE is one of the largest and oldest humanitarian aid organisations fighting global poverty. CARE has a special focus on empowering and meeting the needs of women and girls and promoting gender equality and works in 100 countries around the world.
CARE International has responded to humanitarian and development needs in Myanmar since 1995. https://www.care.org.au/country/myanmar/
For media enquiries contact:
Suzy Sainovski (based in Melbourne, Australia)
Asia Pacific Regional Communications & Media Advisor, CARE International
Email: [email protected]
Skype: suzy.sainovski
Mobile: + 61 3 429 418 353..."
Source/publisher:
CARE (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-13
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"Severe admonishment of the terrorist military council for the deaths of inmates
in prisons as a result of contracting COVID-19 disease.
At this moment in time, alarming death rates are being observed in Myanmar due to
COVID-19 disease. It has come to our attention that the terrorist military council has shown no
empathy towards its own citizenry and is using the COVID-19 pandemic as part of its
armament in preserving its illegal hold on power. There is also abundant evidence that they
are using all sorts of means and methods to deter the public, as part of their human rights,
from being able to seek medical assistance.
It is also noted, nowadays, that the general public has been put into a situation with
nowhere to run or hide with so much angst and dread every day.
To make matters worse, reliable sources from news agencies inform us that the
infectivity rate and deaths from COVID-19 disease in inmates in most prisons are so
menacingly high that it is of a major concern.
This is intentional on the military council’s part so that the political prisoners who had
been arbitrarily detained would die from COVID-19 disease. To prevent these unnecessary
deaths, we demand that all political prisoners be released unconditionally in order that they
can be given medical assistance without delay.
If the military council does not comply with our demand, we hereby give the terrorist
military council a stern warning that they will have to suffer the consequences from their
inhumane acts if any of the inmates were to come to harm and that according to the wishes of
the people they will be pursued in the law courts and legal justice sought
By Order
Dr Zaw Wai Soe
Secretary
National Commission for Prevention, Control and Management of Coronavirus Disease
National Unity Government
Republic of the Union of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-13
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"အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး ကော်မရှင်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်
အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ် ( ၁/၂၀၂၁)
နေ့စွဲ။ ။ ၁၃ ဇူလိုင် ၂၀၂၁
အကျဉ်းထောင်များတွင် COVID-19 ရောဂါ ကူးစက်ပြန့်ပွားသေဆုံးမှုများ ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသည့်ကိစ္စနှင့်စပ်လျဉ်း၍ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီအား
ပြင်းထန်စွာသတိပေးခြင်း
ယခုလက်ရှိ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတွင် COVID-19 ရောဂါ ဖြစ်ပွား၊ သေဆုံးမှုများ ကြောက်ခမန်းလိလိ ဖြစ်ပွားလျက်ရှိသည်။ အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီသည် လူသားချင်း စာနာထောက်ထားမှုမရှိဘဲ မိမိအာဏာတည်မြဲရေး ကိုသာရှေးရှု၍ ပြည်သူလူထုအားဖိနှိပ်ရာတွင် COVID-19 ရောဂါကို လက်နက်သဖွယ် အသုံးချလျက်ရှိသည်ကို တွေ့မြင်နေရသည်။ ထို့အပြင် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးတစ်ရပ်ဖြစ်သော လူတိုင်း လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆေးကုသ ပိုင်ခွင့်ကို နည်းမျိုးစုံဖြင့် ပိတ်ပင်တားဆီးလျက်ရှိနေသည်ကို သက်သေသာဓက အမြောက်အမြားနှင့်တကွ တွေ့ရှိနေရသည်။
ယခုအချိန်အခါတွင် ပြည်သူလူထုသည် “ပြေးစရာ မြေမရှိ” ဆိုသကဲ့သို့ စိတ်ဓာတ် လုံခြုံမှု မရှိဘဲ နေ့စဉ်နှင့်အမျှ စိတ်ရောကိုယ်ပါ ပင်ပန်းဆင်းရဲကြီးစွာ ခံစားနေရသည်ကိုလည်း ကြားသိနေရပါသည်။
ပို၍ ဆိုးသည်မှာ အကျဉ်းထောင်များထဲတွင် COVID-19 ရောဂါ ဖြစ်ပွား၊ ကူးစက်၊ သေဆုံးမှုနှုန်းများ စိုးရမ်ဖွယ်ရာကောင်းလောက်အောင် မြင့်တက်နေသည်ကို ခိုင်လုံသော သတင်းရင်းမြစ်များမှတစ်ဆင့် သိရှိရပါသည်။
အထူးသဖြင့် မတရား ဖမ်းဆီးထိန်းသိမ်းခြင်းခံထားရသော နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားများကို COVID-19 ရောဂါ ကူးစက်ပြီး ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးစေရန် အကြမ်းဖက်စစ်ကောင်စီက ရည်ရွယ်ချက်ရှိရှိ လုပ်ဆောင်လျက်ရှိသည့်အတွက် နိုင်ငံအကျဉ်းသားများအနေဖြင့် COVID-19 ရောဂါကူးစက်မှုကြောင့် ထိခိုက်သေဆုံးမှုများ မဖြစ်ပွားစေရန်နှင့် လုံလောက်သော ကျန်းမာရေးစောင့်ရှောက်မှုများ ခံယူရရှိနိုင်စေရန်၊ နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားအားလုံးကို ချွင်းချက်မရှိ ချက်ချင်း လွှတ်ပေးရန် သတိပေးလိုက်သည်။
သို့တည်းမဟုတ်ပါက ဖြစ်ပေါ်လာသော အကျိုးဆက်များအားလုံးကို အကြမ်းဖက် စစ်ကောင်စီက တာဝန်ယူရမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး လူမဆန်သောအဆိုပါလုပ်ရပ်များအတွက် ပြည်သူ့ဆန္ဒအရ တရားဥပဒေနှင့်အညီ ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် အရေးယူဆောင်ရွက်သွားမည်ဖြစ်ကြောင်း သတိပေးထုတ်ပြန်လိုက်သည်။
အမိန့်အရ
ဒေါက်တာဇော်ဝေစိုး
အတွင်းရေးမှူး
အမျိုးသားအဆင့် COVID-19 ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး ကော်မရှင်
အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ
ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-13
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"ကြေညာချက်အမှတ် - ၈ / ၂၀၂၁
နေ့စွဲ - ၁၂ / ၇ / ၂၀၂၁
ယခုကာလသည် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ တိုင်းပြည်တွင် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စု၏ စစ်အာဏာသိမ်းမှုနှင့် COVID – 19 ရောဂါဘေးကို လူထုလူတန်းစားပေါင်းစုံ ကြုံတွေ့ခံစားနေရသည်။ အာဏာသိမ်း ဖက်ဆစ်အုပ်စုသည် စစ်အာဏာတည်တံ့ခိုင်မြဲရေးအတွက် COVID – 19 ကပ်ရောဂါကို ဇီဝလက်နက်တခုသဖွယ် အသုံးပြုပြီး ပြည်သူလူထုအား ဖိနှိပ်ချုပ်ချယ်လျှက်ရှိသည်။
ပြည်သူလူထုဘက်တွင် မားမားမက်မက် ရပ်တည်ကာ CDM ပြုလုပ်ခဲ့သော ဆရာဝန်များ၊ ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်းများကို ဖမ်းဆီး နှိပ်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်မှုများ ကျူးလွန်နေသည့် ဖက်ဆစ်စစ်အုပ်စုသည် ယခုကာလတွင် ကပ်ဘေးရောဂါကို မထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ဖြစ်နေသည်။ ထို့ကြောင့် ပြည်သူလူထုတွင် ကြုံတွေ့နေရသော ကပ်ဘေးရောဂါကို ထိန်းချုပ်နိုင်ရန်အတွက် ဖမ်းဆီးထားသူများကို အမြန်ဆုံးလွှတ်ပေးပြီး တရားစွဲဆိုထားသော CDM ဆရာဝန်များနှင့် ကျန်းမာရေးဝန်ထမ်းများအား ပြည်သူလူထုအတွက် လွတ်လပ်စွာ ဆေးကုသခွင့်ပြုရန် ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ဗကသများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်က သတိပေးလိုက်သည်။ ဖက်ဆစ်အုပ်စုအနေဖြင့် ပြည်သူလူထုအား ဖမ်းဆီး နှိပ်စက် သတ်ဖြတ်နေမှုများနှင့် ကပ်ရောဂါကို ဇီဝလက်နက်တခုသဖွယ် အသုံးပြုပြီး ဖိနှိပ်ချုပ်ချယ်နေမှုများအား ကျွန်ုတို့ ဗကသများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်က ပြင်းပြင်းထန်ထန် ဆန့်ကျင်ရှုတ်ချသည်။
လူထုလူတန်းစားပေါင်းစုံ ပြည်သူလူထုတရပ်လုံးအနေဖြင့်လည်း ကြုံတွေ့နေရသည့် စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ် အပါအဝင် ကပ်ရောဂါကိုပါ တပါတည်းတိုက်ဖျက်ကြရန် လေးနက်စွာ တိုက်တွန်းနှိုးဆော်အပ်ပါသည်။ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ ဗကသများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်သည်လည်း ပြည်သူလူထုနှင့်လက်တွဲကာ စစ်အာဏာရှင်စနစ်အား အမြစ်ပြတ်သည်အထိ နည်းလမ်းပေါင်းစုံသုံး၍ တိုက်ခိုက်ချေမှုန်းသွားမည်ဖြစ်ပြီး ပြည်သူလူထု တရပ်လုံးအတွက် ကပ်ရောဂါဘေးထိန်းချုပ်ရေး လုပ်ငန်းများအား အင်တိုက်အားတိုက် ဆောင်ရွတ်သွားမည်ဖြစ်သည်။
ဖက်ဆစ်ကိုလည်းတိုက်၊ ကိုဗစ်ကိုလည်းတိုက်
ဗဟိုအမှုဆောင်အဖွဲ့
ဗမာနိုင်ငံလုံးဆိုင်ရာကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂများအဖွဲ့ချုပ်..."
Source/publisher:
All Burma Federation of Student Unions
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-12
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He is the first detained senior member of the former ruling party known to have contracted the disease so far
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"Nyan Win, a central executive committee member of the National League for Democracy (NLD), has been transferred to a hospital from Insein Prison to receive emergency Covid-19 treatment, prison authorities have confirmed.
Nyan Win, 78, was taken to Yangon General Hospital late Sunday after testing positive for the disease, a senior prison official told Myanmar Now.
“Doctors were treating him for aching muscles. They became suspicious, so they decided to check his blood and found that his oxygen saturation levels were low,” said the prison’s deputy director, San Aye Kyaw.
“Not only is he a bit old, but he also has underlying health issues. And he tested positive on his Covid-19 test,” he added.
Nyan Win is the only senior NLD member detained at Insein Prison since the February 1 coup to have been diagnosed with Covid-19, according to San Aye Kyaw. However, he added, only those with symptoms of the disease have been tested.
One other high-profile prisoner, Dr. Maw Maw Oo, a medical officer from the Yangon General Hospital emergency ward, has also been hospitalized with Covid-19, he said.
Dr. Maw Maw Oo was transferred to North Okkalapa Hospital on July 6 and is still receiving treatment in an intensive care unit (ICU) there.
Nyan Win, who is also in an ICU, was in stable condition as of Monday morning, according to San Aye Kyaw. Before last year’s election, he received treatment for gastrointestinal bleeding.
He was taken into custody on February 21 and held in an interrogation centre for more than a month before being transferred to Insein Prison to face charges of incitement under Section 505b of the Penal Code, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The charges against Dr. Maw Maw Oo, who was on the frontlines of the ousted civilian government’s Covid-19 efforts until the coup, have not been disclosed.
There has been no public acknowledgment of rising Covid-19 cases in Myanmar’s prisons, but San Aye Kyaw said that a two-week partial lockdown has been in place at Insein Prison since July 8.
Volunteer groups told Myanmar Now on Sunday that there were at least 105 deaths from the disease in Yangon in the first 10 days of the month.
The groups have also accused the junta of withholding oxygen supplies from the general public, at a time when few are able to access hospitals due to a breakdown of public services since the coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Yangon, MYANMAR— “I am the mother of three children. As a housewife, I have to rely on my husband’s income. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are earning less and less, and it barely make ends meet. No more food for extra head in the family,” said Yamin, a local woman who lives in the slums of Yangon city. The pandemic and current political crisis make difficult for the people like Yamin to access the family planning services. It exacerbates existing barriers to access and use of sexual and reproductive health and rights information and services for women and girls. She added, “With lack of the access to family planning services, I am scared of getting pregnant. I know there are a lot of women out there suffering the same situation like me. We are losing our rights and choices.”
Quality health care services are compromised.
Globally, the COVID-19 has disrupted health care systems of the countries, particularly in the area of sexual and reproductive health. It has seriously affected families who want to continue their family planning or childbearing. About 12 million women across the world experienced disruptions to family planning services according to UNFPA research (March 2021).
In Myanmar, the population of women is 53.2% of total population according to 2019 Myanmar’s Inter-censal survey. Adolescent fertility rate is 20.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 while total fertility rate (TFR) is 2 children per women aged 15 to 49. Infant mortality rate is 31 deaths per 1,000 live births. 16 % of currently married women have an unmet need for family planning according to Demographic and Health Survey (2015-16). These are the data collected just before the pandemic. There are growing concerns that the COVID-19 pandemic and the political crisis in the country could have extensively compromised the access to essential health care services for women and girls including those living in conflict-affected areas.
Breaking the stigma and empowering women.
Discrimination, stigma, stereotypes and cultural taboos in communities pose significant barriers in accessing quality sexual and reproductive health care services and information.
Ma Hnin, a midwife working in Kyauktaw, Rakhine State said, “While working in rural areas, I see a lot of social issues in sexual and reproductive health. People do not want to talk about it as they assume as a social taboo. They are too shy to consult with experts.” it also does not help that men think family planning is women’s matter. They tend to believe that it has nothing to do with them. She continued, “We need to break this stigma and empower women to speak up for their rights and choices.”
Adapt to the pandemic and respond with action.
Regarding providing essential health services, the COVID-19 pandemic not only has an adverse impact on the beneficiaries, it also has increased issues and challenges for the services providers on the ground. “Due to the pandemic, our mobile delivery services for the women and girls in remote areas have to adapt the situation. We cannot operate as usual. In some cases, we have to limit the numbers of clients per day on priority basis, and sometimes, reduce the numbers of visits to certain locations,” said Dr. Tun who is working with an NGO in Rakhine state.
Also, the ongoing banking crisis has made it even more difficult for NGOs across Myanmar to access funds to deliver services.
However, no matter how challenging the situation is, essential health services for women and girls cannot be stopped. Dr Tun continued, “We adapt. And we respond.”
UNFPA’s call on the global action for the rights and choices of women and girls.
UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, works with local and international partner organizations to strengthen comprehensive efforts to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care and advocate to ensure sexual and reproductive health and rights remain at the centre of development.
On the occasion of World Population Day 2021, UNFPA Executive Director, Dr Natalia Kanem calls on global and national actors; “On this Day, let us take action to close these gaps, because sexual and reproductive health services are essential. Even if health systems are understandably strained, these services cannot wait. Any further delays will curtail the health and well-being of women and girls, consequences that can last a lifetime. Let us work together to uphold the right to decide when and if to have a family and let us stand up for the rights and choices of all women and girls.”
It is important that women and girls are empowered to exercise their rights and choices under any kind of settings including conflicts and emergency situation. They must have control over their body not only in terms of autonomy but also through advances in various areas such as health and education, economics and safety. In Myanmar, while progress has been made towards gender equality, social norms continue to entrench patriarchy and even more so in the context of COVID and conflict, leading to significant inequalities among men and women in access to economic opportunities and health services. Sustained gender inequality is a proven contributor to gender-based violence.
The only way is through rights and choices!
Daw Sein, a local woman from the IDP camp in Rakhine, who received sexual and reproductive health care services from UNFPA implementing partner said, “Regardless of where we are, me and my husband decide together how many children we will have, when to have them and which contraceptive methods to use. We have equal rights to make our choices.” Ensuring women and men are able to exercise their reproductive health rights no matter the context, and that they are able to access reproductive health services without any barriers, is essential towards achieving the commitments of ICPD+25 and Sustainable Development Goals.
This feature story is to commemorate World Population Day 2021. This year’s theme is “Rights and Choices are the Answer: Whether baby boom or bust, the solution lies in prioritizing the reproductive health and rights of all people.” With this annual commemoration, we salute all the individuals and sexual and reproductive health organizations who are working for the rights and choices of women and girls across the world..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Population Fund (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-11
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" Soe Win stood in line at a plant to buy oxygen for his grandmother, who is struggling with COVID-19 symptoms.
“I have been waiting since 5 in the morning until 12 noon but I’m still in line. Oxygen is scarcer than money,” said the resident of Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon.
Consumed by a bitter and violent political struggle since the military seized power in February, Myanmar has been slow to wake up to a devastating surge in cases since mid-May. It has left many of the sick like Soe Win’s grandmother to suffer at home if they cannot find a bed at an army hospital, or prefer not to trust their care to the widely disliked government.
Under Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader ousted by the military, Myanmar had weathered its second coronavirus surge beginning in August last year by severely restricting travel, sealing off Yangon, and curbing election campaigning in virus hot spots where lockdowns were imposed.
Suu Kyi appeared frequently on television with stern but empathetic entreaties to the public on how to deal with the situation. Vaccine supplies were secured from India and China. Her ouster came less than a week after the first jabs were given to health workers.
Suu Kyi’s removal by the military sparked widespread protests, and medical workers spearheaded a popular civil disobedience movement that called on professionals and civil servants not to cooperate with the military-installed government.
Military hospitals continued operating but were shunned by many, while doctors and nurses who boycotted the state system ran makeshift clinics, for which they faced arrest. The pace of vaccinations slowed to a crawl, threatening an explosion in infections.
“No wise person with a good heart and a sincere desire for truth would want to work under the junta’s rule,” said Zeyar Tun, founder of the civic action group Clean Yangon who helped out at quarantine centers. “Under Suu Kyi, the government and volunteers worked together to control the disease, but it is difficult to predict what the future holds under military rule.”
Photos and news stories early last week of people lining up to buy oxygen in the city of Kalay in the northwestern Sagaing region brought home the reality that Myanmar’s health care, already one of the world’s weakest, was on its knees.
“From Myanmar, our U.N. colleagues on the ground say they’re concerned about the rapid increase in the number of recorded COVID-19 cases,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York. “The U.N. team warns that a major outbreak of COVID-19 would have devastating consequences on both people’s health and on the economy. They stress the importance of resuming the delivery of essential health services, implementing measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and to scale up vaccinations.”
By the end of the week, residents of Myanmar’s two biggest cities, Yangon and Mandalay, were also having trouble finding oxygen supplies.
Myanmar’s new leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, in a Friday meeting on COVID-19 response ordered oxygen plants to work at full capacity, including converting industrial oxygen for the needs of patients.
Investment and Foreign Trade Minister Aung Naing Oo followed up on Saturday with an announcement that the government is dropping all duties and licensing requirements for the import of oxygen concentrators — devices that generate oxygen.
The Health Ministry on Saturday reported a record 4,377 new confirmed cases for a total of 188,752, as well as a record 71 deaths, bringing the toll to 3,756. The number of tested people found to be infected is hovering around 25%, and equally alarming is how quickly the numbers have been rising.
The data on vaccinations is not very clear, but it appears that as of last month, only 3.5 million doses had been administered to the country’s 55 million people, meaning a maximum of 3.2% of the population would be fully vaccinated with two doses.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day rolling average rose from 1.18 cases per 100,000 people on June 25 to 6.08 cases per 100,000 people on July 9. In the same period, deaths jumped from 0.01 per 100,000 people to 0.08.
Even those numbers are likely an undercount.
According to aid group Relief International, Myanmar’s major challenges are a lack of adequate screening, testing capacity and availability of vaccines.
The Health Ministry announced Thursday night that all schools would be closed for two weeks. Stay-at-home orders had already been issued for badly hit neighborhoods in several cities, including Yangon, and basic field hospitals set up..."
Source/publisher:
"Associated Press" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-11
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"Nearly 90 percent of the country has been affected by Myanmar’s third wave of coronavirus infections, with 296 of 330 townships nationwide reporting COVID-19 cases since May.
Addressing a meeting on COVID-19 prevention and control measures on Friday, coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing admitted that “the current infection [outbreak] in Myanmar is serious” and was spreading faster than the first and second waves of the coronavirus epidemic in Myanmar.
“If necessary, restrictions should be tightened so the people strictly follow the orders related to COVID-19,” he said.
The junta’s Health Ministry said in mid-June that three mutant strains of the coronavirus have been detected in Myanmar, including the Delta strain, which was first detected in India.
On Friday, Myanmar reported 64 fatalities—the highest death toll since the military coup in February—and 4,320 new COVID-19 cases, after testing 15,747 swab samples, according to the ministry.
As of Friday, Myanmar had reported a total of 184,375 COVID-19 cases with 3,685 deaths.
On Thursday, regime-controlled television announced that all schools, including private and monastic schools, will be closed until July 23. The regime reopened schools on June 1 after they had been shuttered for more than a year under the ousted civilian government due to the pandemic.
Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing added that the regime had an agreement with China to buy 5 million doses of vaccines, while Russia was planning to deliver the first batch of 2 million doses purchased from the country.
Additionally, the junta leader said the regime would “arrange for Myanmar Pharmaceutical Industry to manufacture the vaccines” with support from Russia, which has promised to provide technical help on vaccine production.
Myanmar reported its first cases of COVID-19 in March last year, and a second wave followed in August. In both outbreaks, public participation was huge, with healthcare professionals and volunteers at the forefront of measures to prevent and contain the disease.
After Myanmar experienced a second wave of COVID-19 in August last year, the National League for Democracy government began to implement a nationwide vaccination program on Jan. 27, days before the military coup on Feb. 1. Health-care staff and volunteer medical workers were the first to receive shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine donated by India.
In defiance of military rule, thousands of healthcare professionals are taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and refusing to work for the military regime.
COVID-19 testing declined from between about 16,000 and 18,000 swab tests a day in January under the ousted NLD civilian government to fewer than 2,000 per day between February and early June. Swab testing increased again in late June, with over 8,000 tests conducted.
The military regime has imposed stay-at-home orders in 45 townships: three in Sagaing Region; five in Chin State; seven in Bago Region; eight in Mandalay Region; three in Shan State; three in Ayeyarwady Region; two in Naypyitaw; Gangaw in Magwe Region; three in Mon State; and 10 in Yangon Region..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-10
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"ပြည်ထောင်စုသမ္မတမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော် အမျိုးသားညီညွတ်ရေးအစိုးရ နိုင်ငံတော်သမ္မတရုံးက အမိန့်ကြော်ငြာစာအမှတ်(၁/၂၀၂၁) ကိုထုတ်ပြန်ပြီး Corona Virus Disease 2019(COVID 19) ကာကွယ်၊ ထိန်းချုပ်၊ ကုသရေး အမျိုးသားအဆင့်ကော်မရှင်ကို ဖွဲ့စည်းလိုက်သည်..."
Source/publisher:
National Unity Government of Myanmar
Date of entry/update:
2021-07-08
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"Three separate hearings on criminal charges brought against deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi took place Monday in the capital, Naypyitaw.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told journalists the first hearing involved two witnesses testifying on charges she violated the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law for breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary election.
In the second hearing, Khin Maung Zaw said the court sustained an objection to the defense team’s cross-examination of a police officer in the case against Suu Kyi under the Communications Law on the grounds the question may affect the court’s verdict.
The final hearing involved charges she violated the country’s Export-Import Law.
Khin Maung Zaw said the hearings have been adjourned until next Monday, July 5.
The 76-year-old Suu Kyi has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide electoral victory. Along with violating the COVID-19 restrictions, she has been accused of illegally possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies, breaching the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest, misusing land for her charitable foundation, and accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold.
Ousted President Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung are being tried alongside Suu Kyi.
Electoral fraud allegation
The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis in that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes among several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
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"Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi will return to court next week after two hearings on criminal charges brought against her by the military junta.
Suu Kyi’s lawyer, Khin Maung Zaw, told journalists Tuesday that she and her two co-defendants, former president Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung, heard witnesses testify on charges of sedition in the first hearing. The second hearing involved charges that she violated the country’s Natural Disaster Management Law by breaking COVID-19 restrictions while campaigning during last year’s parliamentary election.
Khin Maung Zaw said the hearings have been adjourned until Monday, July 5.
The 76-year-old Suu Kyi has been detained since February 1, when her civilian government was overthrown nearly three months after her National League for Democracy party scored a landslide electoral victory. Along with violating COVID-19 restrictions, she has been accused of illegally possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies, breaching the Official Secrets Act, inciting public unrest, misusing land for her charitable foundation, and accepting illegal payments of $600,000 in cash plus 11 kilograms of gold.
Ousted president Win Myint and former Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung are being tried alongside Suu Kyi.
Electoral fraud allegation
The junta has cited widespread electoral fraud in the November 8 election as a reason for the coup, an allegation the civilian electoral commission denied. The junta has threatened to dissolve the NLD over the allegations.
The coup triggered a crisis that led to deadly anti-junta demonstrations and clashes among several armed ethnic groups and the ruling junta.
In a campaign to quell the protests, the government has killed more than 800 protesters and bystanders since the takeover, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which tracks casualties and arrests in Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"VOA" (Washington, D.C)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-29
[field_licence]
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About Aung San Suu Kyi, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), The 2020 General Elections in Burma/Myanmar, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Junta to reopen COVID-19 checkpoints shuttered in the aftermath of Feb. 1 coup.
Description:
"More than 3,000 people in Myanmar have died after contracting COVID-19 as infections from the third wave of the pandemic increased the strife-torn country’s total confirmed caseload to nearly 150,000, the military government announced this week.
Myanmar detected its first positive COVID-19 case on March 23, 2020. The country, which shares a long land border with China, initially had a low number of confirmed infections and single-digit deaths until mid-August 2020, when the number of COVID-19 cases began to skyrocket during a second wave that was deadlier then the first.
To contain the spread, Myanmar officials put in place stay-at-home orders, lockdowns, and mandatory quarantines for those traveling to other states and regions within the country as well as for those returning to Myanmar from abroad.
After the military ousted the country’s democratically elected government on Feb. 1, many of these containment policies were abandoned as the junta focused on containing the protests that erupted across the country of 54 million.
But now, cities are resuming stay-at-home arrangements and authorities are reactivating COVID-19 checkpoints.
The junta’s ministry of health said in a statement Wednesday that in the 24-hour period ending Tuesday, it confirmed 630 new cases among 5,090 people screened.
Authorities imposed a lockdown on the city of Falam in western Chin state on the border with India due to a particularly high rate of infection.
“It’s like nine out of 12 people tested were found to be positive,” a volunteer in the city told RFA’s Myanmar Service.
“Due to the high rate of infection the number of infected people could actually be much higher if we had more testing. That’s why they are locking everything down,” said the volunteer, who requested anonymity for security reasons.
Currently, 74 people in the city have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 13 have died at the Falam Civil Hospital, hospital officials told RFA.
In nearby Tiddim, which was the first town in Myanmar where COVID-19 was detected, 348 people have tested positive and five have died, according to local sources. The border town of Tunzang, meanwhile, has 478 confirmed cases and 13 deaths as of Wednesday.
In the northwestern Sagaing region town of Kalay, the scene of heavy fighting between the junta and local militias in April and May, about 80 people died of COVID-19 related complications, an aid worker there told RFA.
“The COVID outbreak is getting worse and worse each day. It’s like it’s happening all over the whole township over the past two weeks. As far as I know, there are infections in Kalay and the surrounding villages,” the aid worker said.
“There are also cases in villages a little farther away. We have more than 200 testing centers now, and some people are undergoing treatment at home. The work of the health sector was not satisfactory at all,” said the aid worker.
Kalay’s COVID center houses more than 200 infected people, but aid workers told RFA that the hospital is staffed by only two nurses and two volunteers.
The Ministry of Health and Sports has imposed stay-at-home-orders in Tiddim, Tunzang, Falam, Hakha and Htantlang in Chin State and Kalay and Tamu in Sagaing Region.
Rakhine infections
In nearby Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, the cities of Sittwe and Maungdaw have confirmed cases in the double digits.
“We have found 79 positive cases already. Most of these people were doing trade across the border,” Soe Win Paing, the assistant director of Rakhine State Public Health Department, told RFA.
“As for the local infections, one person was found positive in Sittwe and another in Maungdaw yesterday. Those who returned from Bangladesh are kept in quarantine. Most of the time, the positive cases were from this group. We also take swabs of people we suspect to be infected,” said Soe Win Paing, adding that the people should take the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Sports seriously.
In the country’s second largest city Mandalay, rising numbers of infections have forced members of the Parahita Min Gaung Charity Group to return to hospitals and intensive care units, the group’s chairman Khin Maung Tint told RFA.
"Right now, everyone who is having doubts is coming in for tests. We administered tests at Kandaw Nadi Hospital. Those who we confirmed as positive were sent to nearby government hospitals,” he said.
“Those patients whose oxygen levels are very low are being kept in the General Hospital as directed by the Regional Health authorities. The situation is just like the time we had the second wave,” he said.
The chairman acknowledged that many of the city’s doctors are not working because they have joined in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) in opposition of the military government, but he said he was unsure if the hospitals or COVID centers were adequately staffed.
In southeastern coastal Mon state, seven people tested positive at the Aung Mingalar Railway Police Compound on June 22, according to Ba Min of the Aung Mingalar Youth Charity.
"They are rail workers. One of their senior officials had a loss of smell and took a test in Moulmein. Consequently 14 people, including a police officer on duty at the Aung Mingalar Railway Police Station, were given tests and 7 were found positive,” Ba Min said.
“They are now at Mawlamyaing People's Hospital. At the moment, things are not going well. We have to work really hard as most doctors are gone,” said Ba Min, adding that their family members are now no longer allowed to travel.
The Health Department announced that testing sites will reopen in in the Ayeyawaddy, Yangon and Bago regions and in Rakhine state.
In townships with stay-at-home orders, travel restrictions will be extended for 11 days. People can take tests with their own money if in doubt, the department said.
The junta reported June 15 that three variants of the virus had been detected among the positive cases so far.
As of Thursday, Myanmar has confirmed a total of 149,927 cases with 3,269 deaths according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics..."
Source/publisher:
"RFA" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-26
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"The National Unity Government (NUG) held its very first press conference on Friday 4 June. The junta shut down the internet between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m to disrupt that press conference being held by the parallel government. The NUG said that it will announce a national D-Day to fight the military junta when the time is ripe at its press conference.
The COVID-19 control collapsed after the coup as many health workers joined a civil disobedience movement to protest against the junta. COVID-19 infections have resurfaced in Myanmar amid post-coup turmoil with 767 new cases being found and seven deaths in the past seven days. The military junta has imposed stay-at-home orders on half of the Chin State’s townships as well as Kalay, Sagaing State.
On 1 June, the junta forced the start of the new school year across the country. No more than a quarter of Myanmar's 12 million pupils enrolled for the new school year amid a protest boycott against military rule and in the wake of a series of bombings, an official of Myanmar Teachers’ Federation said. Security forces stood guard at some schools and brought pupils under armed escort from their homes.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the chief of the coup, met with Brunei's Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Erywan Pehin Yusof and ASEAN Secretary General Lim Jock Hoi in Naypyitaw on Friday 4 June. He told ASEAN envoys elections will only come after the country returns to ‘normal’. The parallel government, National Unity Government (NUG) said it no longer has any expectation that ASEAN can help Myanmar as the regional bloc has only engaged with the junta while neglecting them.
The protests continued in different parts of Myanmar and its unsettled situation continued even in the fifth month after the coup. The clashes between the junta forces and the civil resistance fighters or Ethnic Armed Organizations also emerged in several places in Myanmar, such as in Kachin, Kayah, Kayin, Chin, Shan, Mandalay, Magway, Ayeyarwaddy, Sagaing and Yangon States/Regions. It was reported that the staff who are joining the CIvil Disobedience Movement are facing tough choices as there is no income, intimidation, legal threats and weakening financial support. More young people are joining the ethnic armed organisations for military training.
According to the information compiled by ANFREL, at least 65 bomb blasts happened across Myanmar in the past week. It was reported that at least 11 people died and at least 15 were injured.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), as of 6 June, 849 people were killed by the junta. 4,674 people are currently under detention and 160 are sentenced. 1,936 warrants have been issued. 31 were sentenced to death, 14 people to three years, 39 people to 20 years, 5 people to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour. The journalists of Democratic Voice of Burma and Mizzima were sentenced to two-year jail in the past week..."
Source/publisher:
Asian Network for Free Elections (Bangkok)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-23
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
National Unity Government (NUG), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Anti-coup protesters, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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State hospitals are barely functioning as humanitarian crisis unfolds across the country
Description:
"Myanmar has reported what is believed to be its highest daily increase in Covid cases since the February coup, as concerns grow over the country’s collapsed health system and the junta’s continued crackdown on medics.
Myanmar’s Covid response was plunged into chaos when the military seized power on 1 February, detaining the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
State hospitals are barely functioning, and a growing humanitarian crisis is unfolding across areas such as Kayah state, where the UN estimates a total of 100,000 people have been displaced by conflict.
Fears of a further wave of Covid cases have mounted over recent months, as new, more transmissible variants have spread in neighbouring countries such as India and Thailand. More than 3,000 people in Myanmar died during a previous outbreak in the country.
On Monday, state media announced that 546 new Covid infections and seven fatalities had been registered on 19 June, which is thought to be the highest increase since 1 February. It is not clear how many tests are being carried out, or how many people have been vaccinated.
Joy Singhal, Myanmar head of delegation at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, described the increase as deeply alarming. “It’s confirming our worries that the virus is spreading fast now that the more contagious and dangerous variants are being identified in various parts of the country,” Singhal said.
“Hospitals and the whole health system remain fractured and we need to urgently step up treatment, testing and prevention measures to avert a repeat of the tragedy experienced in other parts of South Asia,” he said.
The rise in cases comes as the junta continues its crackdown on healthcare workers. Last week, state media reported that the former head of the country’s Covid vaccination campaign, Dr Htar Htar Lin, had been arrested and faced several charges, including high treason, for working with pro-democracy politicians. Hundreds of medics are wanted for incitement.
Sandra Mon, a senior epidemiology researcher at the Center for Public Health and Human Rights at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said it remained unclear how the junta planned to address the outbreak.
She urged the UN to call for the establishment of a no-fly zone in areas affected by conflict, which have registered infections. “We’re also seeing cases in ethnic areas where there’s a double burden of conflict and an increasing humanitarian crisis. Attempts to deliver medical supplies and equipment to these areas have been blocked by state security forces, which further cripples the response capacity there,” she said.
The possibility of bringing in a third party to manage vaccinations also needed to be considered, she added. Many healthworkers and civilians have rejected vaccinations offered by the junta, due to the deep mistrust of the security forces, which have killed 870 people since February.
“[The] best possible way forward at this point is some sort of medical emergency-based ceasefire in which the junta-Ministry of Health and Sport and NUG-Minsitry of Health come to an agreement for an apolitical covid response strategy,” said Mon, referring to the national unity government which was formed by pro-democracy politicians.
Almost 5,000 people are currently being held in detention, or have been sentenced by the junta, according to the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma). This includes many health workers, who are no longer working in state hospitals, but are instead risking arrest to treat patients in secret, underground clinics, where supplies and equipment are limited. Doctors and nurses have also repeatedly warned they are being deliberately targeted by military violence.
Earlier this month, the health charity MSF said it had been ordered by authorities in Tanintharyi region to suspend activities in Dawei. The charity said the order “could be life-threatening for more than 2,000 HIV and tuberculosis patients” and that it was taking steps to minimise disruption..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-21
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"Introduction: This situation update describes the Tatmadaw[2] activities in Lu Thaw Township, Mu Traw District between December 2020 and February 2021. It includes indiscriminate mortar shelling by Tatmadaw soldiers and displacement. In addition, this situation update highlights the situation of local villagers during the COVID-19 pandemic; and the living conditions displaced people face.....Protest: On December 30th 2020, 3,982 villagers from Lu Thaw Township held a protest to call on Tatmadaw soldiers to withdraw from the area. The protest was held in T--- village, Naw Yoh Hta village tract.[3] The protestors came from multiple village tracts: Hkay Poo, Naw Yoh Hta, Ler Muh Plaw and Saw Muh Plaw.....COVID-19 pandemic: COVID-19 travel restrictions have resulted in difficulties for the villagers, notably when it comes to travelling, trading and buying or selling [inability to buy food and other household items, to sell their harvest, etc.]. However, local authorities allowed villagers to travel to buy food three days a month. The travel restrictions were put in place to prevent COVID-19 from reaching the local villages. The most common diseases that affect local villagers are malaria, runny nose, bloating, stomachache, diarrhea, joint pain and age-related sight issues. Furthermore, medicine and food supplies are running out because of the travel restrictions.....Education: Many students were not able to attend school due to the COVID-19 pandemic [government schools were closed]. It was not easy for the students to move from [government] schools to [Karen Education and Culture Department - KECD][4] schools [some parents decided to enroll their children in KECD schools as they generally remained open throughout the pandemic]. There were not enough school materials and teachers in [KECD] schools [to accommodate these additional students]. It has also been difficult to hold meetings and communicate since the military coup[5] [because the junta has disrupted telecommunications].....Tatmadaw activities: On January 1st 2021, a group of Tatmadaw soldiers based in Lu Thaw Township, fired mortar rounds at villages and farming areas [KHRG was not able to establish the exact location]. Local villagers were concerned and afraid, which prompted them to flee from their villages. They thought this situation was unfair, as it made them understand that genuine peace had yet to be achieved. This shows that the political situation in our area is not clear [stable], and that nothing is guaranteed. These kinds of incidents threaten our security. Local villagers in Lu Thaw Township do not want this kind of situations to happen. They want the [Karen National Union - KNU][6] leaders to prevent any further conflict.
There are more and more Tatmadaw soldiers in their army camps in Lu Thaw Township, and they patrol with their mortars. That makes life difficult for local villagers and threatens their security. It is really necessary that the leaders pressure the Tatmadaw soldiers to withdraw from their bases in Lu Thaw Township.
The Tatmadaw is operating drones in Lu Thaw Township and spying on the localities there. They must put an end to these activities. Villagers need assistance from the leaders to prevent such things from happening..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-18
[field_licence]
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Individual Documents
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COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights Education, Armed conflict in Karen State - general articles and reports, Armed conflict in Karen State - the human rights situation
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Description:
"HIGHLIGHTS
As of end of March 2021, there were 13 operational Severe Acute Respiratory Infection Isolation and Treatment Centres (SARI ITC) in the refugee camps, with a total of 502 available beds, in addition to 415 beds that are on standby for COVID-19 case management.
Since the begining of the outbreak; cummulatively, 34,224 COVID-19 tests were conducted among the Rohingya refugees by March 2021. Of these, 438 tested positive.
The Director General of Drug Administration (DGDA), Health Sector partners and WHO conducted a series of meetings and field monitoring visits on 21st and 23rd January to strengthen Post Marketing Surveillance (PMS) by risk based sampling and testing through mini laboratories to enhance access to safe, effective and quality medicines and vaccines for all..."
Source/publisher:
Health Cluster and World Health Organization via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Human Rights and international relations, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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" A new outbreak of COVID-19 is growing near Myanmar’s northwestern border with India, bringing the sharpest increase in cases since the military coup in February led to a collapse in health services and the testing programme.
Official figures released late on Thursday showed 122 cases across the country for the second time in three days - a low number compared with many Asian neighbours, but the highest in nearly four months.
Many of the cases are from Chin State, bordering India, raising concerns that the more transmissible variant first found there is now spreading in Myanmar.
“Three people died yesterday alone. Many got scared,” Lang Khan Khai from the Zomi Care and Development aid group told Reuters from the town of Tonzang, just over 20 km (13 miles) from the border with India. “People rarely go out.”
Reuters was unable to reach the health ministry for comment.
Medics are concerned that few cases are being detected. The rate of confirmed infections to tests of over 8% on Thursday was the highest since late November, when the last wave of infections peaked.
Coronavirus testing collapsed after the coup as many health workers joined a civil disobedience movement to protest against the coup that ousted elected ruler Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government had brought two waves of infection under control.
Tests averaged just over 1,400 a day in the seven days to Thursday compared with well over 17,000 in the week before the coup..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Health Workers Strike, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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"Wrapping up today their four-day visit to Bangladesh, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioners for Protection and for Operations - Gillian Triggs and Raouf Mazou - called for international support and solidarity with Rohingya refugees and Bangladesh. The protection, well-being, and concerns of refugees, as well as renewed efforts towards solutions should be at the forefront of the response.
A joint visit to Bangladesh of the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs and UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, Raouf Mazou, took place from 30 May to 2 June. It included visits to the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar where the vast majority of Rohingya refugees reside, and the island of Bhasan Char, as well as meetings with senior Government officials.
Throughout the visit, the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioners reiterated their sincere appreciation to the Government and the people of Bangladesh for their humanitarian spirit and generous hospitality towards Rohingya refugees as they sought protection from violence and persecution in Myanmar over decades. This includes, notably, the recent influx of more than 740,000 Rohingya refugees since August 2017. They also reiterated the urgent need to continue working towards comprehensive solutions, including the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar.
The Assistant High Commissioners emphasized that the responsibility for the current Rohingya refugee situation in Bangladesh rests with Myanmar, and that is where the solution lies. However, the recent developments in Myanmar make the prospects of voluntary repatriation in the short term more challenging.
“While Bangladesh has shown humanity and solidarity, in line with the guiding principles of the Global Compact on Refugees, the international community must step up and give practical effect to the obligation to share responsibility, and to protect refugees and support the host Bangladeshi Government,” said Triggs.
The Assistant High Commissioners visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar and met with the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), responsible for the overall coordination of the Rohingya refugee response in Cox’s Bazar as well as the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Cox’s Bazar.
Despite the COVID-19 challenges, they noted remarkable strides have been made in preparing for and responding to the pandemic, both within and outside of the camps, for refugees and host communities alike. The Assistant High Commissioners visited a COVID-19 treatment facility in the local community of Ukhiya, which was built in just 8 weeks. This facility alone has responded to the needs of around 1,000 patients in the past year, almost 70% of whom came from the Bangladeshi host community.
“The inclusive Health Sector response in Cox’s Bazar has saved lives. The Government has set a positive example by including the Rohingya refugees in the national COVID-19 response plan and the related national vaccination plan. UNHCR opened two of a total of 12 operational COVID-19 treatment facilities and established the first Intensive Care Unit in the District hospital. Responding to the needs of both communities on an equal basis is essential to ensuring that everyone is kept safe,” said Mazou.
Additional challenges have been presented by COVID-19 and related restrictions in the camps. The Assistant High Commissioners observed a reduced humanitarian presence in the camps and associated protection risks. UNHCR advocates for essential protection services for the most vulnerable, including women and children who are particularly exposed to gender-based violence, including sexual exploitation, early marriage and child labour.
In its work, UNHCR listens to the voices of refugees. During the visit to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the Assistant High Commissioners had the opportunity to discuss with refugees and to better understand their situation and needs. Many stressed the need for the resumption of education and skills training.
The Government facilitated a visit of the Assistant High Commissioners to Bhasan Char. While on the island, they clearly recognized the significant financial investments by the Bangladeshi government in facilities and infrastructure, including housing. However, it was clear that the 18,000 Rohingya refugees currently on the island have protection and assistance needs. That is, access to meaningful livelihoods opportunities, skills development, education, health and access to cash to facilitate their daily lives.
UNHCR recognizes the potential that Bhasan Char could provide as an alternative temporary location for some Rohingya refugees while in Bangladesh. UNHCR proposes further discussions with the Government to ensure protection of refugees, as well as on our future operational engagement on the island. At the same time, UNHCR remains concerned about reports of refugees being arrested and detained for attempting to leave Bhasan Char. UNHCR strongly discourages the use of relocation to Bhasan Char as a punitive measure.
“Bhasan Char has some potential, though the human and protection elements of refugees living there must be fully considered. Refugees who decide to relocate to Bhasan Char must do so on a voluntary basis. They should have freedom of movement on the island and must be granted the possibility to return to Cox’s Bazar and to maintain family connections with those in the camps,” said Triggs.
While on Bhasan Char, UNHCR had the opportunity to talk to a large group of refugees, predominantly young men. They raised their concerns about the lack of access to livelihoods and self-reliance opportunities, skills development, as well as access to education. UNHCR was deeply concerned to learn of reports of refugees who were injured on the day of the visit to Bhasan Char.
While ultimately, the desired solution by the majority of the Rohingya refugees is to return home voluntarily, safely, sustainably and in dignity, when conditions in Myanmar allow, the crisis is now in its fourth year and refugees cannot remain fully dependent on aid.
“Livelihoods and skills training opportunities will provide refugees with a sense of purpose and autonomy while they are in Bangladesh, while preparing them for reintegration when conditions allow them to return home,” stressed Mazou.
Today, 2 June, the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioners were grateful for the opportunity to meet and discuss these various issues with senior Government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including the Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.
While continuing to work together with the support of the international community towards voluntary repatriation, the Assistant High Commissioners discussed the possibility of introducing alternative solutions for Rohingya refugees, including resettlement to third countries for the most vulnerable with specific protection needs, as well as complementary pathways overseas, which could include employment and educational opportunities.
UNHCR once more calls on the international community, including through the recently launched 2021 Joint Response Plan, to continue to support the Government of Bangladesh who have taken on a huge responsibility in hosting almost 1 million Rohingya refugees in the largest refugee camp in the world. This must not become a forgotten crisis..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Muslims in Burma, Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Description:
"Officially, Myanmar says there are only a few dozen new COVID infections a day. Observers say that can't be true. There's hardly any testing going on. There are reports of a lack of staff in testing centers.
Hospitals have the same problem, with doctors and nurses joining strikes against the military, which seized power four months ago. There've been attacks on health-care workers. As schools reopen, teachers and students are also making a stand, defying the junta's calls for full classrooms, which would only help the virus spread.
Hundreds of thousands of people across Myanmar have been calling for an end to the military takeover.
The country is in turmoil. And the health-care system is one of the worst-affected sectors. Doctors and nurses were the first to go on strike, thousands refusing to work under a military regime. But that also poses a problem for COVID patients..."
Source/publisher:
"DW News" (Germany)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Health Workers Strike, Spring Revolution, Freedom of Movement, violations of in Burma/Myanmar, Human Rights Defenders, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"On 5 April 2021, the Government of Bangladesh instituted a second national lockdown and imposed new containment and risk mitigations measures (RRRC 05/04/2021). The second lockdown follows a steep increase in COVID-19 transmission rates. On 19 May 2021, five camps with the highest number of cases were placed under complete lockdown while the remaining 34 camps were subject to heavier COVID-19 containment and risk mitigation measures. Under the new guidance, only health activities and food and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) distributions will be allowed. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities but must be implemented by Rohingya volunteers under remote management or by staff adjacent to the camps. All other humanitarian activities have been temporarily suspended, including monsoon preparedness (RRRC 19/05/2021).....Methodology: This report builds upon the 2020 COVID-19 and Secondary Impacts report and the 2020 Impact of the Monsoon and COVID-19 Containment Measures report. The report includes an analysis of publicly available secondary data and focuses on the anticipated secondary impacts resulting from the lockdown measures. It does not seek to predict the direct impact of COVID-19 in Cox’s Bazar or to assess the humanitarian response’s capability to respond to a second wave of COVID-19.....Limitations: This document should be used with additional and more specific research to inform preparedness and response planning. As this is an evolving situation, measures are changing quickly and directives are sometimes unclear. While the long-term secondary impacts of COVID-19 remain unknown, this report anticipates the short-, medium-, and expected long-term impacts based on the current situation..."
Source/publisher:
Assessment Capacities Project via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-06-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Humanitarian assistance - emergencies, Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh, Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Description:
"Breathless, fevered and without the extra oxygen that could help keep them alive, the new coronavirus patients at a hospital near Myanmar's border with India highlight the threat to a health system near collapse since February's coup.
To help her tend the seven COVID-19 patients at Cikha hospital, day and night, chief nurse Lun Za En has a lab technician and a pharmacist's assistant....
Mostly, they offer kind words and paracetamol.:
"We don't have enough oxygen, enough medical equipment, enough electricity, enough doctors or enough ambulances," Lun Za En, 45, told Reuters from the town of just over 10,000. "We are operating with three staff instead of 11."
Myanmar's anti-COVID campaign foundered along with the rest of the health system after the military seized power on Feb. 1 and overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government had stepped up testing, quarantine and treatment.
Services at public hospitals collapsed after many doctors and nurses joined strikes in a Civil Disobedience Movement in the forefront of opposition to military rule - and sometimes on the frontline of protests that have been bloodily suppressed.
Thirteen medics have been killed, according to World Health Organisation data that shows 179 attacks on health workers, facilities and transport - nearly half of all such attacks recorded worldwide this year, said WHO Myanmar representative Stephan Paul Jost.
Some 150 health workers have been arrested. Hundreds more doctors and nurses are wanted on incitement charges.
Neither a junta spokesman nor the health ministry responded to requests for comment. The junta, which initially set fighting the pandemic as one of its priorities, has repeatedly urged medics to return to work. Few have responded.....
TESTING COLLAPSED:
A worker at one COVID-19 quarantine centre in Myanmar's commercial capital, Yangon, said all the specialist health workers there had joined the Civil Disobedience Movement.
"Then again, we don't receive new patients any more as COVID test centres don't have staff to test," said the worker, who declined to give his name for fear of retribution.
In the week before the coup, COVID-19 tests nationally averaged more than 17,000 a day. That had fallen below 1,200 a day in the seven days through Wednesday.
Myanmar has reported more than 3,200 COVID-19 deaths from over 140,000 cases, although the slump in testing has raised doubts over data that shows new cases and deaths have largely plateaued since the coup.
Now, a health system in crisis is raising concerns about the likely impact on the country from the wave of infections with variants that is sweeping through India, Thailand and other neighbours.
Patients with COVID-19 symptoms started showing up at Cikha hospital in mid-May. It is only 6 km (four miles) from India, and health workers fear the illness could be the highly infectious B.1.617.2 strain - though they lack the means to test for it.
"It's very concerning that COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations are extremely limited in Myanmar as more lives are at risk with new, more dangerous variants spreading," said Luis Sfeir-Younis, Myanmar COVID-19 operations manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.....
SURGE OF CASES:
Twenty-four cases have been identified in Cikha, said Lun Za En. Seven were so serious they needed hospitalisation - a sign of how few cases had likely been detected.
Stay-at-home orders have now been declared in parts of Chin state, where Cikha is located, and neighbouring Sagaing region.
The WHO said it was trying to reach authorities and other groups in the area who could provide help, while recognising the difficulties in a health system that was precipitously reversing years of impressive gains.
"It is not clear how this will be resolved, unless there is a resolution at the political level addressing the political conflict," said Jost.
Lun Za En said her hospital was doing the best it could with nebulisers - machines that turn liquid to mist - to relieve breathlessness. Some patients have oxygen concentrators, but they only work for the two hours a day that the town gets electricity.
Refusing to abandon the sick, Lun Za En said she decided not to join the strikes.
"The junta will not take care of our patients," she said.
Across Myanmar, some striking doctors have set up underground clinics to help patients. When Myanmar Red Cross volunteers established three clinics in Yangon neighbourhoods, they quickly had dozens of patients.....
At best, such options can provide basic care.:
"Eighty percent of the hospitals are public health hospitals," said Marjan Besuijen, head of mission for the Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF) aid group. "As MSF or others we can't step in, it's too big."
Although military hospitals have been opened to the public, many people fear them or refuse to go on principle - including for coronavirus vaccinations in a campaign the ousted government had launched days before the coup.
"I am very worried that these new infections will spread all over the country," said Lun Za En. "If the infection spreads to the crowded cities, it could be uncontrollable."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-30
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Individual Documents
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Description:
"Introduction: From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were concerns about what would happen in Myanmar, given its extremely weak health infrastructure, its long history of conflict and political instability, and its large impoverished and at-risk population. The low spread of the virus in Myanmar through the first half of 2020 however led some to believe that the Myanmar government was getting it right. The World Health Organisation’s country representative in Myanmar boasted in July 2020 that “Myanmar has done extraordinarily well so far”. He cited Myanmar’s “whole-of-government” approach, adding: “So the country has really gone all out to strengthen the public health side and preparedness and response, which has been critically important to try and make sure we have as few cases as possible in Myanmar.”
Although the Myanmar government’s COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (entitled “Overcoming as One”) made claims about being a coordinated action “leaving no-one behind”, many of the positive actions of the government have not reached the entire population. Aid and support have remained insufficient in most rural areas, like that of Southeast Myanmar, which is largely populated by ethnic minorities who are already vulnerable due to protracted and on-going conflict, displacement, and ethnic oppression by the central government. Thus Myanmar’s “success” should and can only be gauged through a closer look at COVID-19 response and impact in rural ethnic areas.
Very early on in the pandemic, despite the relatively slow spread of the virus, political fractures and infrastructure weaknesses due to Myanmar’s long and on-going history of conflict could be seen not simply in the government’s response, but that of other stakeholders, like Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), locally based civil society organisations, and NGO/INGOs. In a brief report on the situation in Southeast Myanmar during the first wave of the pandemic, KHRG noted the poor coordination and collaboration between stakeholders and the delayed and uneven response to the crisis. KHRG argued that “the lack of coordination between political stakeholders has meant that villagers and local leaders have struggled to obtain information and consistent training and regulations, and has left too much of the responsibility of figuring out what to do in the hands of those who lack information and resources to effectively organise awareness and prevention”. Not only did this poor coordination result in the forced removal of screening checkpoints by the Tatmadaw, KHRG also found the rise of conflict and tension between villages, increasingly critical challenges to livelihood, as well as the breakdown of local systems of mutual aid.
Given the early indications that COVID-19 response and support were failing in some of the most vulnerable areas in Southeast Myanmar, KHRG continued to monitor the situation to more fully assess the structural weaknesses and barriers that might lead to crisis as the pandemic entered a second wave of outbreaks beginning in August 2020. Increased threats of infection in rural areas did in some cases lead to new efforts at awareness and prevention, but in general sparked heightened restrictions by both the Myanmar government and the Karen National Union (KNU). Thus rather than working to increase individual knowledge and responsibility on the part of villagers, most measures ended up being in the form of broad restrictions like travel bans and school closures that have had significant negative impact on villagers’ lives. These restrictions also seemed to be matched by a reduction in the range of stakeholders providing services and aid. Although the government has provided small amounts of financial and material assistance to households in need, villagers living in KNU-controlled and some mixed control areas have been excluded, leaving local authorities and CSO/CBOs to figure out solutions to support these communities.
Most rural areas in Southeast Myanmar have not (yet) experienced widespread local transmission of the virus, and thus impacts have been more clearly tied to restrictions and prevention measures as opposed to the full-on health crisis seen elsewhere. But because of the already extremely vulnerable situation of many rural communities, the livelihood impacts are themselves at risk of creating a humanitarian crisis. The poor handling thus far of information and prevention, as well as of testing and treatment, may also have wider implications if outbreaks start occurring in the more remote areas.
On February 1st 2021, the Myanmar military seized power by staging a coup against the newly elected government. Although this report focuses on the situation prior to the coup, the infrastructure and services (albeit insufficient) that the central government, EAOs and other stakeholders have put in place over the past year are in the process of being dismantled. Public healthcare services in some areas have come to a halt, and there have been major disruptions to communication, transportation, supply chains, and banking services. COVID-19 testing has been largely reduced, with little reporting now taking place. Any plans for widespread vaccination seem to have been entirely interrupted.
If rural areas of Southeast Myanmar have not yet faced widespread problems of infection, all of this is likely to change. As local doctors have pointed out: “Since the military takeover, the COVID-19 response has stalled. Mass public rallies and protests are both serving a critical function for resistance and unity, but also as likely superspreader events for virus transmission. Without adequate testing, public compliance and goodwill for isolation, access to acute clinical care, and continued immunisations, the implications for COVID-19 spread, morbidity, and mortality are substantial.” Thus, there is need more than ever to find solutions to bring support and aid to rural villagers, whose situation has already deteriorated and become more precarious over the past year. With the military now in control, there is even less likelihood that support and services will reach rural ethnic communities.
Although this report covers the period prior to the coup, and describes an infrastructure that may now barely exist, the problems created by COVID-19 and the government’s response have not disappeared, and will need to be addressed. Furthermore, the underlying political dynamics that impede the development of a support infrastructure capable of addressing the needs of rural ethnic minorities continue to play out. The report thus begins by providing a brief overview of the political dynamics that have shaped access to services and COVID-19 response. Followed by that is a discussion of COVID-19 reporting and testing, and the prevention measures that have been put in place to address the rise in COVID-19 cases. The discussion then turns to impacts on livelihood, access to different forms of support, and the situation of healthcare and education..."
Source/publisher:
Karen Human Rights Group
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG) reports
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Sub-title:
Authorities impose full lockdown in 5 refugee camps while 29 others kept under close surveillance, says official
Description:
"Rohingya refugee camps in southern Bangladesh recorded the highest number of single-day coronavirus cases Sunday with 49 new infections, pushing the total tally to 992.
After testing 312 Rohingya, 49 were reported positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, the office of Bangladesh’s Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) said in a report released Sunday night.
The death toll among Rohingya from the virus in the world’s largest refugee camps also rose to 15, including two fatalities recorded in the last two days, the report added.
Bangladesh is home to more than 1.2 million stateless Rohingya, most of whom fled a brutal military crackdown in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state in August 2017.
So far, 665 Rohingya have recovered from the disease, including 11 in the past day.
To stem the spread of the virus in the congested makeshift Rohingya settlements in Bangladesh, authorities on May 20 imposed a 12-day full lockdown at the five most infected camps out of a total 34, excluding new settlements of around 20,000 Rohingya on a remote island in the country’s southern Bay of Bengal.
“We have put five camps under complete lockdown while the rest have been kept under close monitoring,” RRRC Chief Coordinator Dr. Abu Toha M.R. Bhuiyan told Anadolu Agency.
Citing authorities' efforts to contain the virus in the Rohingya camps, he added that in the last 24 hours, 117 new contacts have been quarantined in isolation centers.
“Currently, 836 virus infected Rohingya are being quarantined, while the cumulative number of contacts quarantined to date is 3,361,” Bhuiyan said.
The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.
According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community in August 2017.
Since Aug. 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, while more than 34,000 Rohingya were thrown into fires and over 114,000 others were beaten, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA)..."
Source/publisher:
"Anadolu Agency" (Ankara)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Arakan (Rakhine) State - reports etc. by date (latest first), Rohingya (cultural, political etc.), COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burmese refugees in Bangladesh
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Sub-title:
A JOINT STATEMENT BY SAVE THE CHILDREN, UNESCO AND UNICEF
Description:
"Over 12 million children and young people in Myanmar have not had access to organised learning for more than a year. The consequences for their education, personal development, psychological wellbeing and future opportunities are already profound and will continue to grow. Children in the poorest and most remote communities will likely be most affected.
All children and young people have the right to access education and parents have a right to choose the kind of education their children will receive. Children’s best interests must be central to decision-making about education. And it is essential to ensure that students, teachers and staff are consulted, respected and safe to learn and teach on their own terms, and with dignity.
Attacks on places of learning and education staff and the occupation of education facilities are unacceptable. They must be protected from conflict and unrest – these are places where children should be safe and empowered to learn and develop.
In the era of COVID-19, keeping places of learning safe also requires the rigorous application of prevention and control measures. The risks associated with COVID-19 are still high, and it is important to do everything possible to prevent further spread of the disease. Providing psychosocial support and care will be essential if students and teachers are to be able to focus on learning. Teaching and learning will need to be adapted to compensate for the extended period of lost learning and there will be an ongoing need for supplementary and flexible learning approaches.
Keeping places of learning safe at all times, and ensuring continuity of learning, must be a priority for Myanmar. The lack of access to a safe, quality education threatens to create an entire generation in Myanmar which will miss out on the opportunity to learn. This is something which we cannot and must not accept.
For further information, please contact:
Shima Islam, UNICEF East Asia and Pacific, Bangkok, [email protected]
UNESCO Regional Bureau, Bangkok, [email protected]
Charlotte Rose, [email protected] , Save the Children Asia Regional Office (available during BST office hours)..."
Source/publisher:
Save the Children, UNESCO, UNICEF via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Children, Children's rights: resources and organisations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Education in Burma/Myanmar - general
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Sub-title:
The potential arrival of a highly transmissable variant could overwhelm health systems already struggling after military coup
Description:
"Doctors in Myanmar have warned the country would be unable to cope with a major outbreak of Covid-19 as hospitals and medical facilities struggle to function in the aftermath of February’s military coup.
Fears are growing about the potential impact of a highly transmissible variant as neighbouring countries, chiefly India but also Thailand and Laos, battle record numbers of Covid cases.
Last year, more than 3,000 people in Myanmar died when the pandemic hit, with the UN warning the country was particularly vulnerable given its weak public health system.
But there are concerns a third wave could prove far more deadly because, since the military seized power earlier this year, most hospitals are not operational due to a strike by doctors and other medical workers.
The number of people being tested has plummeted and the vaccination programme has been thrown into confusion. The UN has warned that medics fear arrest or detention by the junta “at a time when Myanmar needs them the most”.
One doctor based in Yangon said a fresh outbreak would place extraordinary strain on the public healthcare system.
“I think it would be a disaster,” said the medic, who cannot be named for security reasons. “Even in [the] Covid second wave, the government had a shortage of human resources – doctors. That’s why many medics and volunteers helped us with everything. But now, most of the charity clinics’ doctors, medics and volunteers are being arrested by the junta.”
Another doctor, who also cannot be named, agreed: “This could become a perfect storm, and Myanmar is not in a position to respond. Even if the hospital situation normalises to pre-February levels, the capacity will be critically insufficient to deal with a large outbreak.”
A medic in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second biggest city, said she had treated about 20 Covid patients in recent months and believed the virus was circulating at a low level. “Fortunately it is not spreading massively,” she said.
She worries that health services would be unable to cope with an outbreak if new variants, such as the strain first detected in India, spread over the border.
Mandalay general hospital is barely functioning, and there is only one small charity facility capable of treating patients with severe Covid in the city, she said. It can handle about 20 patients, and equipment is basic. “Compared to the hospital, we have no HFNC [to give patients oxygen] and no patient monitors [which show vital signs],” she said, adding they have just oxygen cylinders and medicines.
A private hospital in the city is also capable of caring for patients who develop pneumonia, she said, but can accept only a very limited number of people, and the medical bills are unaffordable for most. “For the treatment cost you could buy a car,” she said.
Patients who test positive for Covid are referred to the military hospital for treatment, but are too afraid to go. She fears that she could be targeted by security forces for caring for patients outside of the military facility.
Alarmed by the possibility of a major new outbreak, the charity Medical Action Myanmar (Mam) has said it is raising funds for oxygen concentrators to treat patients. A Mam UK spokesperson said: “We are frightened of the impact that Covid will have on an already compromised population.”
According to the Myanmar ministry of health and sports, to date, the country has had more than 143,000 confirmed Covid cases and 3,216 deaths. However, as testing levels have fallen to a fraction of what they were before the coup it is impossible to know the true scale of infections.
Dr Khin Khin Gyi, speaking for the ministry, warned last month: “There is a possibility of a third wave of the pandemic coming.”
For the medics taking part in the Civil Disobedience Movement against the junta, which in turn has imposed a violent crackdown on protesters, the prospect of a health emergency during the strike brings much soul-searching.
“Yes, it is a very difficult decision,” said the doctor in Yangon. “The ethical and moral dilemma obviously.” But the surgeon said they would continue “until we win”.
“The unity among junior doctors, thinking about the brighter future if we have democracy, the creativity of generation Z and the resistance of the people (especially the poor ones) against the junta. I think those are the things that motivate me every day.
“There are people who died resisting the junta. This is the least I can do.”..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-22
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Anti-coup protesters, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
Language:
Local URL:
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Summary:
"U Maung had hoped to be vaccinated before Thingyan, the traditional Myanmar New Year’s festival in mid-April.
A month later, however, the 69-year-old resident of Myingyan in Mandalay Region...
Sub-title:
As efforts to vaccinate the public fall dangerously far behind, most focus on fighting a different scourge
Description:
"U Maung had hoped to be vaccinated before Thingyan, the traditional Myanmar New Year’s festival in mid-April.
A month later, however, the 69-year-old resident of Myingyan in Mandalay Region still hasn’t received the Covid-19 vaccine that the government started making available in late January.
The reason is that Myanmar no longer has a government. Instead, it is ruled by a dictatorship that has dedicated most of its energy since seizing power on February 1 to crushing anti-coup protests.
The vaccine rollout hasn’t ground to a complete halt, but it has been thrown into disarray, leaving millions exposed to the impact of a power struggle that pits the military against the majority of the country’s population.
For his part, U Maung has decided to take his chances with a virus that has killed millions of people globally over the past year, rather than submit to the ministrations of a regime that has murdered hundreds of civilians in the past three months.
“I have no desire whatsoever to get vaccinated if they’re the ones administering it. I don’t trust them at all,” he said, echoing a sentiment expressed by many around the country.....Fighting on two fronts: A nationwide vaccination program was just getting underway when the junta upended it by overthrowing the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government.
The NLD program, which aimed to cut the infection rate in a country that ranked fourth in Southeast Asia for the number of confirmed cases per capita, relied on the India-produced Covishield vaccine to protect the most vulnerable.
Starting with 1.5 million doses gifted by India, the NLD government had also ordered another 30 million doses as part of an ambitious program to control the spread of the virus.
Among the first to receive the vaccine were healthcare workers, public servants, and members of parliament. Vaccinations for the general public were due to begin by the first week of February.
But before that could happen, the NLD government was ousted, and the nation faced a new crisis in the form of a return to military rule.
After nearly a year on the frontlines of the battle against Covid-19, healthcare workers soon found themselves at the forefront of a very different struggle. Within days of the coup, medical professionals launched the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) against the newly formed junta.
To counter the regime’s efforts to consolidate its control over the state, they abandoned their jobs at public hospitals and began offering their services through charity and private clinics.
They were later joined by tens of thousands of other civil servants. According to the website CDM2021.org, there are over 200,000 public employees taking part in the CDM, of whom more than 17,000 are healthcare workers.
But the loss of much of its medical workforce didn’t prevent the regime from resuming the vaccination program, which has become a key part of its bid to bolster its claims to legitimacy.
However, its efforts to date have done little to inspire confidence. Observers have noted that propaganda images of people being vaccinated betray a slipshod approach that suggests a lack of proper training.
“From the way they hold two or three needles at a time, instead of taking them out one by one, to the way they have the same person both filling the syringes and giving the shot, there are just so many things wrong with how they’re handling this,” said Khine Khine, a nurse from Mandalay.
Specially trained to take part in the mass vaccination program, Khine Khine was forced to choose between fighting the virus and resisting the regime. In February she left her job because she decided the junta represented the greater threat.....A politicized pandemic response: More than three months after the coup, Myanmar has fallen dangerously far behind in its efforts to combat Covid-19.
Instead of receiving 30 million doses of the Covishield vaccine, it has acquired just 3.5 million. Meanwhile, according to the junta’s own figures, as of April 21, just 1.54 million people had received their first shot, while only 340,000 had returned for their second dose after the prescribed four-week interval.
Most of those who are at least partly inoculated belong to the first cohort vaccinated in January. Ironically, that means that CDM workers and MPs in detention or on the run are among the tiny handful of people in the country with some degree of protection from Covid-19.
But it is this same group that is now among the least likely to become fully vaccinated. The vaccination program has become so highly politicized since the coup that rejecting it is seen by many as a way of defying the regime—which has, in turn, weaponized it against its opponents.
Dr Thiha Kyaw, a doctor from Yangon who has joined the CDM, made no secret of his contempt for the generals who are now running the program.
“It’s just a way to defy and oppose those rebels,” he said of his decision to refuse a second shot. “I don’t want to support what they’re doing. I’m being faithful to my country and my people.”
But while this attitude may seem incompatible with his better judgment as a doctor, it also reflects the fact that the junta has made a point of making access to the vaccine contingent on acceptance of its rule.
In Hpa-an, the capital of Karen State, only public servants who have not joined the CDM are eligible to receive the vaccine, according to a local source who spoke to Myanmar Now.
The source, who is close to healthcare workers and teachers participating in the CDM, cited the example of two junior doctors from the city’s general hospital who were vaccinated in January and were later urged to quit the CDM so they could get a second shot. They refused and went into hiding when it became clear that they had come under scrutiny from senior officials.
“The head of the hospital made an announcement that any staff who came back to work would be vaccinated as planned,” the source said, adding that the same offer was made to teachers who abandoned the CDM.....Plagued by distrust: Apart from those deliberately excluded from the vaccination program, there are many others who choose not to participate, either for political reasons or simply out of a lack of trust in the junta’s capacity to implement public-health measures.
Political opposition to the regime reaches far beyond the ranks of CDM workers. Millions have come out around the country to demand the restoration of civilian rule, braving crackdowns that have so far killed more than 800 civilians.
For many, then, the idea of giving the military an opportunity to portray itself as a saver of lives is difficult to stomach. This is why much of the country has shunned its vaccination efforts.
There are also others, however, who take a more pragmatic view.
Maung Shwe, a 58-year-old native of the Kayah State capital Loikaw who has received two shots, said that those who refuse to accept the vaccine from the military are “being extreme”.
Noting that both the general hospital and the military hospital in Loikaw were offering the vaccine at the end of April, he insisted that he really didn’t care where it came from, as long as it worked.
“Whether it’s from the military or the general hospital, you just have to get the vaccine. The military has it and the public hospital has it. They’re both very convenient. We should be grateful,” he said.
This is, of course, exactly what the junta wants to hear. In an article published by state-run media on May 10, the military said it had sent medical teams in response to “the requests of workers and locals in regions facing difficulty.”
It added: “The locals were extremely grateful and satisfied with the healthcare they received.”
The reality, however, is that many remain wary of the regime’s professed commitment to protecting the health of the country’s citizens.
“It is a controversial issue among the public, regarding how much they trust the vaccines” provided by the junta, remarked one observer who has closely followed the vaccine rollout.
One cause of concern is that the regime has started using vaccines sourced from China. In early May, it received a shipment of half a million doses of Vero Cell, a vaccine backed by the Chinese military.
In a country where anti-Chinese sentiment runs strong, this was seen by some as further evidence of Beijing’s self-interested role in perpetuating the Myanmar military’s grip on power.
More generally, however, there is a feeling that the regime can’t be trusted to store and distribute any vaccine properly without the cooperation of trained medical professionals.
“I know the vaccines need to be kept in specific conditions. But most doctors are now involved in the CDM, so I’m concerned the vaccines won’t be handled appropriately,” said Phoe Htoo, a 70-year-old resident of Yinmabin in Sagaing who said he was unsure about getting the vaccine.....A clear and present danger: Perhaps the most compelling reason that most are lukewarm about receiving the vaccine is the inescapable fact that Myanmar is a nation under siege, where the invisible menace of the coronavirus is eclipsed by the threat of a military run amok.
This fact was underlined on May 6, when regime soldiers shot and killed a woman who had just been vaccinated while she was sitting in a car parked in front of a Mandalay hospital.
By comparison with such atrocities, which have become a regular feature of life under the current regime, Covid-19 seems like a relatively minor concern to many.
“You can protect yourself from infection, and not every case results in death. But with this dictatorship, you’re not even safe in your own home. You’re not safe anywhere. It’s a constant mental torture,” said a 20-year-old man in Tamu, a town in Sagaing Region that has seen major clashes between locals and junta forces.
U Maung, the Myingyan native who refused to get the vaccine despite being in a high-risk age group, expressed the difference even more starkly.
“If the dictatorship falls, the lives of all 50 million people in Myanmar will be better. Covid-19 won’t kill us all,” he said.
Meanwhile, neighbouring India and Thailand, which have both seen surges in the number of new cases, serve as reminders that the pandemic is far from over.
It is difficult to gauge the extent of the spread of the disease in Myanmar because testing has been reduced to just a tenth of what it was before the coup.
More than 60% of the cases diagnosed before February were asymptomatic, so it is likely that the number of new cases reported by the regime—just a dozen or so per day since mid-April, based on an average of about a thousand tests a day—greatly understates the magnitude of the problem.
So far, more than 140,000 have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, of whom 3,212 have died, according to official figures.
While a more accurate measure of the scale of the disaster may prove elusive, one thing is clear—that most would rather rely on their own vigilance than on the mismanaged efforts of a despised regime to protect them from harm.
“It’s not a problem to not be vaccinated right now, for the country or its people. Just wear your masks and wash your hands often,” said Dr Thiha Kyaw..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Now" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
Dictatorship must be resisted, but that’s not enough. Solving the country’s economic crisis could transform society
Description:
"Myanmar is facing an economic and humanitarian disaster of epic proportions. There is an urgent need to protect the poorest and most vulnerable and provide assistance in a way that doesn’t entrench dictatorship. Equally important is to use this crisis to transform Myanmar’s incredibly unequal and singularly exploitative political economy. It’s the key to democratic change. It’s also the key to creating a fairer, as well as a freer and more prosperous, society.
The army’s coup d’état in February has been followed by strikes and protests, and intense repression. The army has not been able to consolidate its coup and has instead unwittingly unleashed revolutionary movements determined to end the military’s role in politics once and for all. Years of turbulence lie ahead.
Meanwhile, the economy has collapsed, with tens of millions of people descending fast into extreme poverty and the World Food Programme estimating that 3.4 million people will be unable to feed themselves properly within the next six months. The healthcare system has also collapsed, jeopardising the lives of many more, including the several hundred thousand people dependent on TB and HIV drugs and the 950,000 infants normally inoculated each year against measles, polio and other diseases. There is now next to no Covid-19 testing and no possibility of large-scale vaccination.
The proximate cause of the unfolding catastrophe is the coup and its aftermath but understanding the history of Myanmar’s political economy is critical for thinking about what may come next.
Myanmar’s economy under British rule was based on the immigration of Indian labourers and the export of primary commodities. After independence in 1948, politics was dominated by the left and efforts to overturn the colonial legacies. But in the late 1980s a new army junta ended the “Burmese way to socialism”, creating new markets, in particular around extractive industries tied to China’s industrial revolution next door. Taxation and social services were practically non-existent. Inequality skyrocketed and a mix of climate change and massive land confiscations drove millions to Thailand in search of work. In the uplands, alongside a patchwork of army battalions, militia and ethnic minority forces, were money-making networks far richer than even the men with guns, including a methamphetamine racket said by the UN to be worth billions.
The political reforms of the past 10 years were not accompanied by any structural change to the economy. The army took a big step back from business, and liberalisation led to more foreign competition as well as growth in a few sectors such as tourism, property and telecoms. A small middle class emerged but most Myanmar people continued to live on the edge of violence and extreme poverty, including the most vulnerable: upland farmers, landless villagers, new urban slum-dwellers, people of South Asian descent and other minorities. The ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in 2017 was unmatched in scale and brutality. But the Myanmar state has long failed many of its peoples.
With the pandemic came an economic shock that sent an already fragile economy into a tailspin, the result of lockdowns and disruptions to foreign trade. The garment sector, the country’s one promising manufacturing industry, was brought to its knees. An international study last October found that income poverty (people making less than $1.90 (£1.36) a day) had risen from 16% to 63% of the population. There was almost no state support.
Now in the aftermath of the coup, the economy is at a virtual standstill. A general strike coupled with the army’s internet blockages have shut down much of the financial system, disrupting business and payroll payments worth the equivalent of billions of US dollars a month. With confidence plummeting and the central bank unwilling or unable to provide needed liquidity, families are hoarding as much cash as possible. It’s difficult to imagine how ordinary people will survive these coming months, especially the rural poor, most of whom are landless and entirely dependent on casual work.
However, the army regime is likely to survive any economic downturn because Myanmar’s system has never veered far from the one that grew up under past juntas and under the toughest possible western sanctions. The new businesses of the past decade, such as manufacturing, will wither, old ones, such as timber and mining, will gain renewed ground, and illicit ones in the uplands, from narcotics to money-laundering and wildlife trafficking will flourish in the protracted instability to come.
Whatever happens, the international priority should be to ensure that Myanmar’s poor and vulnerable communities are able to receive the assistance needed to stay alive, with special attention paid to children’s inoculations. But this must be done with political skill, so as not to undermine chances for the radical political changes to government that the vast majority of people desperately want.
Today’s revolutionary movements aim to cut revenues to the junta and are willing to pay a high economic cost. But a successful transition will come over years, not months, and it’s important to identify the economic landscape best suited for democratic change. Measures to weaken the junta that inadvertently strengthen the hand of transnational criminal networks may lead not to state collapse but a mutated political order, one that will take generations to unwind.
Dictatorship must be resisted but democracy is not enough. Over recent months, a new generation of leaders have come to the fore and many have rejected the ethno-nationalism at the heart of Myanmar politics, seeking fresh alliances across racial, ethnic and religious divides. This is not only welcome but essential for any future success. But there should also be a focus on issues of inequality and underdevelopment, protecting the vulnerable now, while reimagining and mobilising around a fairer political economy of tomorrow..."
Source/publisher:
"The Guardian" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-15
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, Business and the Military, WFP (World Food Programme), Human Rights and international relations, Public Health, Anti-coup protesters, Economic History - general, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Sub-title:
Children in Myanmar urgently need support now
Description:
"The crisis following the military takeover on 1 February this year is having a catastrophic toll on the physical and mental wellbeing of children in Myanmar. Children are being killed, wounded, detained and exposed to tear gas and stun grenades and are witnessing terrifying scenes of violence. In some areas, thousands of people have been displaced, cutting children off from their relatives, friends, communities and their traditional means of support.
Even before the current crisis, children in Myanmar were experiencing huge challenges due to the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict in several parts of the country. Over one million people, including an estimated 450,000 children, were already affected by Myanmar’s conflict and vulnerable to gender-based violence, exploitation, abuse, detention, family separation, displacement and trafficking,[1] and about 34 per cent of the country’s 17 million children lived below the poverty line. In addition, almost 33 per cent of the population living just above the poverty line were in a state of extreme vulnerability and are now at great risk of falling back into poverty due to economic disruptions resulting from the current crisis[2]......A generation in peril: The compounding impacts of the current crisis threaten the lives and wellbeing of millions of children, putting an entire generation in peril. The ongoing loss of access to key services, combined with economic contraction, will push many more into poverty, potentially creating an entire generation of children and young people who will suffer profound physical, psychological, educational and economic impacts from this crisis and be denied a healthy, prosperous future.
Hard-won gains in the area of child rights are now being wiped out, threatening children’s lives, wellbeing and prosperity. This represents a serious failure by duty bearers to protect, promote and fulfil the rights of children, as required by the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to which Myanmar is a State Party, and the Myanmar Child Rights Law, issued in 2019.....UNICEF’s response: UNICEF is committed to children in Myanmar, to upholding children’s rights and to providing the services critical for children’s survival and wellbeing. UNICEF is adapting the way it works and taking advantage of its extensive and diverse network of partners, including national and international non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and private sector partners, striving to ensure continuity of access to critical services at scale.
Drawing on its 70 years of experience in Myanmar, delivering for children including in times of conflict and crisis, UNICEF is able to continue to reach children in need even in the most challenging situations. UNICEF brings strong capacity to mobilize and deliver at scale, coordinating the efforts of multiple partners to achieve coherent approaches that span across the country. In addition to its coordinating role, UNICEF brings strong capacities in direct implementation of programming and efficient and cost-effective procurement and transport of commodities and supply.
As always, UNICEF’s focus is particularly on reaching the most vulnerable children including the poorest children, children with disabilities, children living in camps for displaced people, migrant and refugee children and those in hard-to-reach areas, now including areas of key cities, including Yangon and Mandalay, which are under martial law.....Keeping children safe: Before the current crisis, it was already a major challenge to keep children safe from violence, abuse and exploitation in Myanmar. Between January and September 2020, 49 children were killed and 134 maimed as a direct result of conflict. During the current crisis, many more children have been killed, seriously injured, arbitrarily detained without access to legal counsel or forced to flee their houses and communities. On top of the loss of innocent lives, the daily exposure to scenes of horrific violence will have long-lasting impacts on children’s mental and emotional well-being.....How UNICEF is responding: Working with legal aid providers, UNICEF supports children and young people’s access to justice across the country. UNICEF has supported children and young people in contact with the law to access quality legal aid, including legal advice, legal consultation, and legal representation. Since February 1, UNICEF has supported 62 children and 176 young people to access quality legal aid.
Working with partners, UNICEF is establishing a nationwide toll-free justice hotline, expanding on already existing helpline numbers operated by several partners to ensure children and young people have timely access to quality legal advice.
We are also producing informational materials for children and young people to know about their rights when dealing with the law enforcement and how to access free legal assistance in both English and Myanmar languages. Materials are being disseminated widely in collaboration with Child Protection Working Group (CPWG) members.
UNICEF is working with national organizations to support a nationwide mental health and psychosocial support helpline, ensuring children are able to access counselling and mental health support in several local languages. UNICEF also support referrals of child survivors of abuse and violence to mental health experts for individual counselling and therapy sessions. UNICEF is currently working on setting up psychosocial peer-support groups for adolescents and young people.
UNICEF is supporting efforts to monitor and report grave child rights violations and reporting these violations to United Nations and other bodies that pursue justice.....Keeping children out of extreme poverty: A UNICEF study carried out before the military takeover estimated that COVID-19 could push a further one third of children into poverty on top of the almost one third of children already living in poor households. The current crisis has the potential to force millions more children into poverty, denying them the ability to access basic services, depriving them of opportunities to fulfil their potential, and putting them at even greater risk of abuse and exploitation.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF has established mechanisms to monitor how the current crisis is impacting children, particularly children in families which have lost their income, whose caregivers are detained and those who are unable to access learning or healthcare. Data and evidence generated through this monitoring work will inform UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from the worst impacts of poverty.
UNICEF is coordinating with relevant partners to design, establish and roll out a national child cash grant scheme, through which families with children between the ages of 2-5 and children aged under 5 with disabilities will receive unconditional cash grants, which can be used to supplement family incomes and pay for access to key services.
UNICEF is working with Common Health, a private company, to roll out mobile-based health micro-insurance, ensuring that all children in Myanmar under the age of 6 have are covered by health insurance and are able to access health care.....Keeping children learning: COVID-19 had already disrupted the learning of almost 12 million children and young people. With the ongoing closure of schools due to COVID-19 preventive measures, children are still being denied access to learning, destroying their aspirations and hopes for a better future. Many will never be able to catch up or get another chance.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF is working with national and international NGOs to scale up home-based learning using high quality educational materials.
We are supporting young children’s readiness for learning and language development by training civil society organization partners, including ethnic language teachers, and developing and printing storybooks in ethnic languages.
UNICEF is working with national and international NGOs to provide alternative learning opportunities for primary and middle-school-age children. Support includes providing learning materials and assisting children with learning and language development, while also offering mental health and psychosocial support.
We are working with national and international NGOs to deliver non-formal education for children who were out of the formal education system even prior to the COVID pandemic.....Keeping children healthy: Since the military takeover, health workers have experienced threats, intimidation and violence, putting them in danger and further increasing their reluctance to provide services. With health services seriously disrupted, children are missing out: almost 1 million children are missing out on routine immunization; almost 5 million children are missing out on vitamin A supplementation, putting them at risk of infections and blindness. There is a risk that the spread of COVID-19 will accelerate.
In addition, access to water, sanitation and hygiene services are facing disruptions due to limited availability of supplies, disruption of transportation and banking channels. Across the country, more than three million children lack access to a safe water supply at home, threatening a large-scale outbreak of diarrhoea which could be fatal, particularly for children under the age of 5.....How UNICEF is responding: UNICEF is working with partners to support emergency care through supply of first aid kits and essential medicines for children most in need of medical care
While routine immunization has been suspended in the largest part of the country, in Non-Government Controlled areas UNICEF is working with partners to carry out routine vaccinations to prevent vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks, such as measles, diphtheria and polio.
We are developing smartphone apps to train health workers on provision of trauma and emergency care for women and children.
UNICEF is providing pregnant women, new mothers, newborns, children and adolescents with healthcare services and procuring essential medicines and supplies to save lives and treat diseases.
We are working with partners and the private sector to coordinate and explore options for delivery of clean drinking water to vulnerable households in urban areas.
We are also coordinating with communities in Shan and Magway to deliver supplies for community managed water supply.....Keeping children nourished: Before the current crisis, many children in Myanmar were already experiencing malnutrition, with almost 30 per cent pre-school children experiencing stunting (being too short for their age), 7 percent of pre-school children (In Rakhine 14 percent) experiencing wasting (being seriously low for their height) and 57 percent pregnant women experiencing anaemia. Loss of access to water, sanitation and hygiene services, which can lead to diarrhoeal disease, will further exacerbate the situation. The situation is particularly severe for young children under the age of 2, who are at risk of death or irreversible physical and cognitive delays if they suffer undernutrition for an extended period. The impacts – for the children, their families, communities and the country as a whole – may be devastating.....How UNICEF is responding: In Kachin, Rakhine and northern Shan states,
UNICEF is working with partners to screen and treat children with severe acute malnutrition.
We are providing lifesaving micro-nutrient supplements to children and pregnant women.
UNICEF is working with local NGOs to provide mothers advice on infant and young child feeding.
In all these efforts, UNICEF and its partners are determined not to let down the children of Myanmar at this critical time, when their lives, wellbeing and future are at stake..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Health: reports of violations in Burma, Education rights: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - Impact on village life, including health and education, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Three reporters and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation, the reporters' news organisation and local police said on Tuesday.
Broadcaster DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) said the five were arrested on Sunday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and it appealed to Thai authorities not to deport them to Myanmar, where the news organisation has been banned by the junta.
"Their life will be in serious danger if they were to return," said Aye Chan Naing, DVB's executive director, in a statement, which also appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for help.
The statement said they had fled the army crackdown in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, during which dozens of journalists have been among thousands of people arrested. DVB and several other independent media organisations had their licences revoked.
Thapanapong Chairangsri, the head of police in the San Sai district outside Chiang Mai, told Reuters that five Myanmar citizens had been arrested for entering the country illegally and would be brought to court on Tuesday.
He said they would be deported in accordance with the law, but added that because of the coronavirus outbreak they would be held in detention for 14 days before being handed to immigration authorities..."
Source/publisher:
"Reuters" (UK)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Human Rights Defenders, Thailand-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Summary:
"The United Nations in Myanmar warns of the impact on public health, including the COVID-19 response, from attacks on medical personnel and facilities, and reiterates its call for health workers,...
Description:
"The United Nations in Myanmar warns of the impact on public health, including the COVID-19 response, from attacks on medical personnel and facilities, and reiterates its call for health workers, health facilities and patients to be protected.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) global surveillance system, since the beginning of February there have been 158 reported attacks on health care, resulting in 11 deaths and 51 injuries. This is currently the majority of reported attacks on health care services worldwide since the beginning of 2021. Some 83 attacks impacted facilities, 21 attacks impacted ambulances, 76 attacks impacted health personnel, and 73 attacks impacted patients.
The global tracking system cumulatively lists 51 health facilities across Myanmar as having been under occupation by security forces. At least 31 of these facilities remain currently occupied and have reported a drop in the number of people seeking medical care. Meanwhile, at least 139 doctors believed to be participating in civil disobedience have reportedly been charged under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code. These include highly specialized health personnel whose expertise cannot easily be replaced, which will significantly impact both the quality and quantity of health services available.
Attacks on health care pose a grave risk for the delivery of essential health services, as well as for the COVID-19 response, with potential devastating consequences for Myanmar and beyond. At a time when Myanmar needs them the most, health workers fear arrest or detention for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
“The United Nations in Myanmar stands ready to continue its support of the national COVID-19 response but this requires a return to the comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic previously underway, that the inviolable nature of health facilities and health workers and patients is respected, and the immediate release of urgently needed medical and technical personnel detained or arrested while exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly,” Andrew Kirkwood, acting interim United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Myanmar, said.
The United Nations Country Team in Myanmar consists of FAO, ILO, IOM, ITC, OHCHR, OCHA, UNAIDS, UNCDF,
UNDP, UNEP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UN HABITAT, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNIDO, UNODC, UNOPS, UNV, UN WOMEN, WFP, and WHO..."
Source/publisher:
UN Country Team in Myanmar via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, World Health Organisation (WHO), Health Workers Strike, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Freedom of opinion and expression: - the situation in Burma/Myanmar - reports, analyses, recommendations, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Sub-title:
There have been at least 158 reported attacks on medical personnel and facilities in Myanmar, with more than 139 doctors arrested and charged since the military coup in February, endangering not only vital health services but also the COVID-19 response, the UN Country Team (UNCT) there said on Wednesday.
Description:
"“At a time when Myanmar needs them the most, health workers fear arrest or detention for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, the Country Team said in a news release, reiterating its call for health workers, health facilities and patients to be protected.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO)’s global surveillance system, the 158 reported attacks resulted in at least 11 deaths and 51 injuries.
It also listed some 51 health facilities across Myanmar as having been under occupation by security forces, and that at least 31 of those facilities remain currently occupied. The occupied facilities also reported a drop in the number of people seeking medical care.
In addition, at least 139 doctors participating in the civil disobedience movement have reportedly been charged under Section 505 (a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code.
Those detained include highly specialized health personnel whose expertise cannot easily be replaced, which will significantly impact both the quality and quantity of health services available, according to the UNCT.
'Inviolable nature’
Andrew Kirkwood, UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Myanmar, said the UN system in the country stands ready to continue its support for the national COVID-19 response.
“But this requires a return to the comprehensive response to the COVID-19 pandemic previously underway, that the inviolable nature of health facilities and health workers and patients is respected, and the immediate release of urgently needed medical and technical personnel detained or arrested while exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly”, he added.
Crisis into its fourth month
Into its fourth month, the political turmoil – marked by near daily pro-democracy protests and a brutal crackdown by security forces – has reportedly claimed at least 750 lives and wounded countless more.
There are also serious concerns over the continuing impact of the crisis.
Last week, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) warned of skyrocketing poverty and economic collapse, while the UN human rights chief, in April, cautioned that Myanmar risks spiralling into a “full-blown conflict”, urging States with influence to take immediate and impactful action to halt the bloodshed.....Urging protections for healthcare globally: Launched in 2012, WHO’s Attacks on Health Care initiative collects evidence globally to advocate for safeguarding health care from attacks, which it defines as “any verbal or physical act of violence, obstruction or threat that interferes with the availability, access and delivery of such services”.
The data on “attacks on health care” in various settings, including humanitarian emergencies, is collected by the agency’s global surveillance system, available online.
This initiative does not aim at identifying perpetrators of such incidents, WHO said..."
Source/publisher:
UN News
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Health Workers Strike, Anti-coup campaigns, Political prisoners and other violations in Burma - reports, Right to Life: reports of violations in Burma, Armed conflict in Burma - attacks on civilians, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Summary:
"Pandemic and political crisis could result in half of Myanmar’s population living in poverty by 2022, UNDP says
The combined effects of the two crises could put over a decade of progress on...
Description:
"Pandemic and political crisis could result in half of Myanmar’s population living in poverty by 2022, UNDP says
The combined effects of the two crises could put over a decade of progress on poverty reduction in the country at risk
Yangon – After more than a decade of hard-won gains in the fight against poverty, the number of poor people in Myanmar could double as a result of the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political crisis, according to new research released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The study, entitled “COVID-19, Coup d’état and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar” warns that, if unchecked, the combined effect of these two crises could push up to 12 million people into poverty. That could result in as much as 25 million people - nearly half of Myanmar’s population - living below the national poverty line by early 2022, a level of impoverishment not seen in the country since 2005.
The analysis indicates that, by the end of 2020, 83 per cent of households had reported that their incomes had been, on average, slashed almost in half due to the pandemic. With these unprecedented circumstances, the number of people living below the poverty line in Myanmar is estimated to have increased by 11 percentage points as a result of the socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
And according to the projections outlined in the report, the worsening security, human rights, and development situation in Myanmar since February 2021 could cause another sharp rise in the country’s poverty rate – driving it up by an additional 12 percentage points by early next year.
“In the space of 12 years, from 2005 to 2017, Myanmar managed to nearly halve the number of people living in poverty. However, the challenges of the past 12 months have put all of these hard-won development gains at risk,” said UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner. “Without functioning democratic institutions, Myanmar faces a tragic and avoidable backslide towards levels of poverty not seen in a generation.”
According to the study, women and children are projected to bear the heaviest brunt, with more than half of Myanmar’s children projected to be living in poverty within a year.
Urban poverty is expected to triple, and the worsening security conditions have continued to fracture supply chains and hinder the movement of people, services, and commodities including the provision of agricultural goods. Small businesses, which provide the majority of jobs and incomes for the poorer segments of the urban population, have been hit hard.
The pressure on the country’s currency, the Kyat, has increased the price of imports and energy. At the same time, the country’s banking system remains paralyzed, resulting in shortages of cash and limited access to social welfare payments. It also prevents much-needed remittances from reaching hard-pressed families.
“We are witnessing a compounding crisis of unprecedented severity and complexity. Myanmar had managed to halve poverty, and with its democratic transition was showing signs of firming up fragile human development gains. Now it feels like a push-back to 2005. The combined effects of COVID-19 and the political crisis have caused a systemic shock which could lead to a long-lasting disruption in Myanmar’s development trajectory, unless addressed and resolved soon,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific.
As the situation in Myanmar continues to worsen, UNDP joins the United Nations Secretary-General in condemning, in the strongest terms, the killing of civilians, and in calling for a firm, unified and resolute international response to the crisis.
Link to the report: https://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democrati...
About UNDP
UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet..."
Source/publisher:
United Nations Development Programme (New York) via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNDP - Burma/Myanmar, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, Agriculture in Burma/Myanmar: general and research, Human Rights and international relations, 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Summary:
"Highlights: • Artillery shelling and indiscriminate airstrikes by armed forces in Kayin State caused more than 20,000 civilians to flee and hide in forest areas along the Myanmar-Thailand border...
Description:
"Highlights: • Artillery shelling and indiscriminate airstrikes by armed forces in Kayin State caused more than 20,000 civilians to flee and hide in forest areas along the Myanmar-Thailand border.
• New displacements are reported in Kachin State, northern Shan State and Bago region. On a single day.9 April, 82 civilians were killed in Bago region, and tens of thousands of people were displaced.
• Provision of health, education and other critical services continue to be disrupted in many parts of the country.
Protests and a civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the military takeover continue.
• Since the events of 1 February, a significant decline in the number of reported COVID-19 cases and deaths has been observed. COVID-19 vaccination is currently being managed by the de facto authorities without any clear prioritization by age or associated risk factors. Even before, nearly one million people in five states, including 336,000 IDPs, needed humanitarian assistance.
• There are additional needs for areas falling outside of Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) areas, especially in the Yangon, Mandalay and Bago regions..."
Source/publisher:
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) (Myanmar) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-05-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Children, Anti-coup protesters, Spring Revolution, Children's rights: reports of violations in Burma against more than one ethnic group, Children's rights: resources and organisations, Education in Burma/Myanmar - general, Food Security and nutrition in Burma/Myanmar, Public Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état
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Description:
"Almost half of Myanmar's population could be forced into poverty by the end of the year as the country teeters on the brink of economic collapse caused by the double shock of a bloody military coup and the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new United Nations report.
Rising food costs, significant losses of income and wages, the crumbling of basic services such as banking and health care, and an inadequate social safety net is likely to push millions of already vulnerable people below the poverty line of $1.10 a day -- with women and children among the hardest hit.
Analysis from the UN Development Program (UNDP), published Thursday, warned that if the security and economic situation does not stabilize soon, up to 25 million people -- 48% of Myanmar's population -- could be living in poverty by 2022.
That level of impoverishment has not been seen in Myanmar since 2005, when the country was an isolated, pariah nation ruled by a previous military regime, it said.
UNDP administrator Achim Steiner said it is clear "we are contending with a tragedy unfolding."
"We have fractured supply chains, (disrupted) movement of people and movement of goods and services, the banking system essentially suspended, remittances not being able to reach people, social safety payments that would have been available to poorer households not being paid out. These are just some of the immediate impacts," Steiner said. "The protracted political crisis will obviously worsen this."
Myanmar had made solid progress in reducing poverty, particularly since the start of a democratic transition from military rule in 2011 that prompted economic and political reforms.
Over the past 15 years, the country effectively halved its poverty rate from 48.2% in 2005 to 24.8% in 2017, according to the report. It was still considered one of the poorest countries in Asia, however, with an estimated third of the population subsisting on such a low or precarious income it was one economic shock away from being thrown back into poverty.
For many, that shock came in the form of the global coronavirus pandemic. Lockdowns and containment measures disrupted supply chains, so businesses -- especially in retail, manufacturing and exports, as well as smaller businesses, market sellers, hairdressers and tailors -- suffered. By December last year, more than 420,000 migrant workers had returned home.
By the end of the year, 83% of households in Myanmar reported their incomes had been slashed by about half due to the pandemic, the report found.
The second shock came in the morning of February 1, when armed forces commander in chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party and installing a military junta.
The following months have seen ongoing protests against his rule and the rise of a Civil Disobedience Movement in which thousands of blue- and white-collar workers including doctors, teachers, civil servants and factory workers have gone on strike with the aim of disrupting the economy and unseating the general.
Security forces have brutally suppressed the protests with deadly and systematic crackdowns in which police and soldiers have shot dead people in the streets and arbitrarily detained perceived opponents. More than 750 people have been killed by security forces since the coup, and more than 4,500 arrested, according to advocacy group Assistance Association of Political Prisoners.
The compounding economic crises of the pandemic and military takeover risk completely wiping out the progress Myanmar has made in reducing poverty, the report said -- and the number of people in poverty in the country is likely to double by next year.
The impact of the pandemic alone would have raised Myanmar's poverty level from 24.8% to 36.1%, the UNDP estimated. If the massive economic and social disruption of the coup continues, that increases further to 48.2%.
"By then, the shock from the crisis will have resulted in significant losses of wages and income, particularly from small businesses, and a drop in access to food, basic services and social protection," the report said.
Urban poverty is expected to triple as the towns and cities have been hardest hit by Covid-19 and remain the focus of the most severe military crackdowns.
According to the study, women and children will bear the heaviest brunt. Myanmar already has high child poverty rates and the combined crises are "putting an entire generation in peril," the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said. Rising poverty means children are less likely to stay in school and the loss of key services in education and health care, for example, will lead to "profound physical, psychological, educational and economic impacts."
Women-led households are more vulnerable, the report added, as women are more likely to be employed in sectors affected by the coronavirus, such as the garment industry. And women disproportionally bear the burden of household chores associated with Covid-19, such as caring for the sick or home-schooling children, which forces many to drop out of the labor market, the report said.
The two crises are not independent of one another. The overthrow of the civilian government has already amplified the impacts of the coronavirus -- Covid-19 testing has collapsed since the coup, doctors say.
Meanwhile, the takeover has "derailed" any hope for a post-pandemic recovery, the report said. The deteriorating security conditions have seen a further breakdown of supply chains already disrupted by Covid. Key ports are paralyzed as customs agents, dockworkers, lorry drivers and rail workers halt work.
Some shipping firms have temporarily stopped services to the country, the report said. About 80% of Myanmar's trade is seaborne, and the UNDP estimated trade in ports dropped by up to 64% in the two months after the coup.
About 70% of Myanmar's population are employed inthe agricultural sector, according to the World Bank.
Similar disruptions to transport and the movement of labor and goods, as well as pressure on the country's currency, the kyat, has also hit Myanmar's agriculture industry, which 70% of the population depend on for their livelihoods.
"Across Myanmar society this is a major setback, not only in development but also in terms of inequality and vulnerability," Steiner said. "People will struggle to survive."
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding as a result. The UN World Food Program last week warned "hunger and desperation" are rising in Myanmar and predicted that up to 3.4 million people will be suffering across the country in the next six months.
"Overall, Myanmar is on the brink of economic collapse and risks becoming Asia's next failed state," the UNDP report said.
To reach its conclusions, the UNDP used a range of sources, including published data from the World Bank, the Brookings Institution, reports from other UN agencies, media reports and household surveys from Myanmar.
Because real-time data is difficult to obtain, the UNDP said if the multiple crises of Covid-19, human rights, democratization and security extend even further, the estimates may be worse than predicted -- especially for vulnerable groups such as ethnic minorities and internally displaced people.
"Much will depend on what's happening in Myanmar over the next two months," Steiner said..."
Source/publisher:
"CNN" (USA)
Date of entry/update:
2021-04-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), 2021 Burma/Myanmar coup d'état, UNDP - Burma/Myanmar, UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), Business and the Military
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Description:
"Myanmar on Friday (Jan 22) received 1.5 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine supplied by India to inoculate 750,000 people, the first vaccine batch delivered to the Southeast Asian country as it fights one of the worst COVID-19 outbreaks in the region.
India is donating millions of doses of vaccines to a string of countries in Asia, drawing praise from neighbours and pushing back against China's dominating presence in the region. Shipments of AstraZeneca’s vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest producer of vaccines, have already gone to the Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
READ: Sanitation worker gets first shot as India launches 'world's largest' COVID-19 vaccination campaign
Myanmar was among the countries next in line to get free consignments as India moved before China which has also pledged to supply vaccines to its neighbour.
"This is a gift from India to Myanmar," Saurabh Kumar, India's ambassador to Myanmar, told reporters at Yangon airport, where he oversaw the arrival of the vaccine. Myanmar health ministry spokeswoman Khin Khin Gyi said the vaccine would be kept in Yangon in special refrigerated rooms before being rolled out next week.
"Healthcare workers will be first priority and elderly people will be next," she said, noting Myanmar has more than 110,000 medical workers.
Despite the arrival of vaccines, Khin Khin Gyi urged people in Myanmar not to get complacent and follow health protocols to prevent further spread of the virus..."
Source/publisher:
"CNA" ( Singapore)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-23
[field_licence]
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COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"Beijing will "pressingly" deliver COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar to help its Asian neighbor control the pandemic, according to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday.
Just on Sunday alone, Myanmar's Ministry of Health and Sports reported 555 more COVID-19 cases, bringing the tally to 130,604.
"I believe the friendship between China and Myanmar will deepen further through test of the COVID-19 pandemic," Wang told Myanmar President U Win Myint in Nay Pyi Taw, capital of Myanmar. The Chinese diplomat has just embarked on his six-day Southeast Asia tour, just a day after his Africa visit.
On his part, the Myanmar president first spoke highly of the relationship between the two countries. "Although in time of a global pandemic, [Wang] still came visit as one of the first [diplomats]," he said.
He also vowed to deepen the ties and is willing to cooperate with Beijing in sectors including COVID-19 vaccine, culture and tourism..."
Source/publisher:
CGTN (China)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-12
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health, China-Burma relations
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Description:
"China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Monday on a critical two-day visit. It is intended to further strengthen Chinese influence in the country, in light of the changing international dynamics in the region, amid fears that China's sway is beginning to wane.
Beijing is increasingly concerned with a plethora of issues, including recent Indian and Japanese initiatives with Myanmar, which Beijing fears may prove to be to their detriment, but also to take stock of the continued economic cooperation, strengthen its support for the peace process and to boost China's support for Myanmar's battle to control the Covid pandemic. Mr Wang's primary purpose on this visit is to show China's unswerving support for the country and its civilian leader, the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi -- and to congratulate the National League for Democracy (NLD) on its landslide electoral victory. He will be the first international diplomat to visit Nay Pyi Taw in person since the elections last November.
The visit seems to have been arranged at short notice -- and tagged onto Mr Wang's current trip to Africa. It is low-key and being handled discreetly, according to Myanmar government sources. Foreign diplomats believe this may reflect some discomfort on the part of Nay Pyi Taw at the visit, and what is seen as "vaccine diplomacy"..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Burma's economic relations with China, Other Special Economic Zones, China-Burma relations, “One Belt, One Road” initiative, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Sub-title:
Border opens to prevent Thais sneaking back in
Description:
"The border district of Mae Sot is on alert for a large number of Thais working in a casino in Myawaddy to flee the continued spread of the coronavirus in Myanmar.
Opas Kankawinpong, director-general of the Disease Control Department, expected hundreds of Thai workers at a casino in the cross-border town to move back through the district in Tak soon after the province temporarily reopens the checkpoint to allow them through.
“We have estimated hundreds of Thais are stuck there. We don’t know how many of them have been infected,” a video clip posted on the department Facebook page on Sunday quoted him as saying. The latest batch of Thai returnees -- believed to number 40 -- arrived on Thursday. Seventeen of them tested positive and were sent to Mae Sot Hospital. They worked for the Sky Complex casino, just across the Moei River that separates Mae Sot and Myawaddy..."
Source/publisher:
Bangkok Post (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-11
[field_licence]
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Sub-title:
A long-running war and COVID-19 muddle development in Kyaukphyu, Myanmar.
Description:
"Kyi Kyi Hnin sits beneath a fan on a bright morning in her village along the coast of Kyaukphyu, a township in Myanmar’s Rakhine State on the edge of the Indian Ocean.
“The government just signs laws, but they are committing violations,” she says. “The government should consider the communities’ desires and interests.”
Kyi Kyi Hnin is a local community organizer and her speech is quick and resolute: She knows the challenges facing Kyaukphyu and spends her days working to support local residents. Kyaukphyu is home to a cluster of busy fishing towns and villages. But in the past few years, the township has been thrown into the center of geopolitics, armed conflict and, more recently, Myanmar’s struggle against COVID-19.
For months, the country recorded relatively few cases of the virus, until a new outbreak began in August with Rakhine at the epicenter. After the state capital, Sittwe, Kyaukphyu has recorded the most cases of any township in Rakhine for much of the outbreak..."
Source/publisher:
"The Diplomat" (Japan)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Other Special Economic Zones, Burma's economic relations with China, China-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Sub-title:
A coronavirus outbreak in Tachileik has shone a rare spotlight on border-based hotels, KTVs and casinos with links to powerful armed groups, whose open flouting of pandemic restrictions has put Myanmar and Thailand in danger.
Description:
"On November 25, Ma Nang, 18, lost her sense of smell.
Known as anosmia, it is one of the most common symptoms of COVID-19. In hotspots across Myanmar, thousands of people have reported losing their sense of smell, and many have later tested positive for the coronavirus.
But Ma Nang was not in a COVID-19 hotspot, and had neither travelled to an area with COVID-19 cases nor seemingly been in contact with any infected people.
The resident of Tachileik, in eastern Shan State on the border with Thailand’s Mae Sai, had been working as a KTV singer at 1G1-7 Hotel until November 16, when she quit her job. She travelled north to Kengtung for a few days with friends but fell ill after returning to her hometown.
“I went to a fever clinic but I wasn’t worried – there were no cases in Tachileik,” Ma Nang said. “I was shocked when the test came back positive.”
Until her positive test, Tachileik, which is sometimes referred to as the capital of the Golden Triangle – the notoriously lawless area where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet – had seemingly escaped Myanmar’s “second wave” of COVID-19. Since the first cases emerged in Rakhine State and Yangon in late August, the virus has gradually spread across most of the country. Eastern Shan State is one of the few exceptions: it has recorded the lowest number of cases outside Kayah State, which only registered its first patient in October.
In the week before Ma Nang tested positive, several other cases had been detected in Tachileik but they had all been among people undergoing quarantine, with no evidence to suggest the virus had spread in the community.
In response to her positive test, the Tachileik District COVID-19 Prevention and Rapid Response committee issued a notice on November 28 advising residents to stay at home, to adhere to a curfew and not to hold gatherings. Restaurants were told to only sell take-away, and anyone with COVID-19 symptoms was advised to immediately visit a fever clinic. Residents needed little warning; the streets would be mostly deserted for the next two weeks. “Of course, I’m worried about the virus,” said U San Shwe Myint, owner of Happy restaurant. “In the circumstances I decided it would be better to close my restaurant completely.”
By mid-December the outbreak was mostly under control, with few new cases of community transmission. But the emergence of COVID-19 in eastern Shan State raises serious questions about the enforcement of prevention measures, including the closure of high-risk venues, monitoring of overland travellers and control of international borders..."
Source/publisher:
"Frontier Myanmar" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-05
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Description:
"As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the lives of millions across Myanmar, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is expanding its support to the Government of Myanmar's national response.
On 16 December, UNHCR handed over 50,000 Cobas SARS-CoV-2 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test kits to the Union Ministry of Health and Sports in Nay Pyi Taw.
The arrival of the test kits adds on to an earlier contribution of 20,000 kits by UNHCR and WFP in July. Collectively, over 145,000 test kits have been handed over to Government by the wider United Nations system as part of a joint response to date.
“UNHCR continues to support the Government’s nationwide efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that vulnerable communities are not left out”, said UNCHR Representative in Myanmar Ms. Hai Kyung Jun.
The Refugee Agency has so far equipped over 400 quarantine centres with basic items such as beds, blankets, kitchen sets and hygiene kits, and distributed 685,200 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) for front-line workers and vulnerable communities, including gloves, masks, disposable gowns and face shields. An additional batch of 367,000 N95 masks is expected to arrive by the end of the year and will be distributed to counterpart ministries.
UNHCR has also stepped-up campaigns to raise awareness on COVID-19 prevention in camps and sites for internally displaced people and stateless persons, as well as health, water, sanitation and hygiene services in these locations by installing new water points and distributing hygiene items such as soap and hand sanitizer.
To date, over 670,000 people across Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states as well as the South East region of Myanmar have benefitted from the collective efforts of the Government, UNHCR, sister UN agencies and partner humanitarian organizations in providing life-saving assistance to those in need..."
Source/publisher:
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (Geneva) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-04
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Format :
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Size:
468.96 KB 482.59 KB
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Sub-title:
The latest outbreak was first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, prompting a flare-up in online hate speech.
Description:
"“Wherever you see Myanmar people, shoot them down,” read one Thai comment on YouTube after a surge of coronavirus cases among workers from Myanmar.
The outbreak, first detected at a seafood market near Bangkok, has prompted a surge in online hate speech as well as questions over Thailand’s treatment of millions of migrant workers.....“Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesn’t discriminate,” said Sompong Srakaew of the Labour Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers.
Shifting sentiment has had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices.....“Myanmar people are being labelled for transmitting COVID-19, but the virus doesn’t discriminate,” said Sompong Srakaew of the Labour Protection Network, a Thai group helping migrant workers.
Shifting sentiment has had real consequences, he said, with workers from Myanmar, previously known as Burma, being blocked from buses, motorcycle taxis and offices..."
Source/publisher:
"Al Jazeera" (Qatar)
Date of entry/update:
2021-01-03
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
Discrimination: standards and mechanisms, Thailand-Burma relations, COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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Sub-title:
climate change has the potential to destabilise various systems and institutions while simultaneously deepening the schisms between communities.
Description:
"climate change has the potential to destabilise various systems and institutions while simultaneously deepening the schisms between communities. The unpredictable and pervasive nature of COVID-19 has influenced security conflicts across the globe in numerous ways. A few broad trends have come to light. Firstly, terrorist and extremist groups have used the pandemic as an opportunity to step up their attacks across different conflict theatres. These include Nigeria where Boko Haram is active, and Syria and Iraq where the so-called Islamic State has been ramping up its presence.
Such an escalation of violence is due to the increased governmental reliance on military troops across different regions to handle the pandemic, reducing their capacity to effectively protect targets from attacks. For instance, the Indian military in Kashmir has been called on to engage with quarantine facilities as well as enforcement of social distancing, thus allowing terrorist groups to conduct more cross border attacks.
Secondly, terror groups have also launched viral misinformation campaigns to increase the mayhem and chaos that has stemmed from the crisis, and various governments’ (mis)handling of the situation. This included highlighting the failing official responses as a reason to contend against the legitimacy of different governments, as highlighted in Egypt and Libya, targeting minorities as the cause of spreading the virus as was done by far right groups in the West as well as Hindu extremists in India. This also helped in capitalising on the polarisation of society to recruit more people, as was attempted by pro-Islamic State entities in India.
Lastly, terrorist groups have also been engaged in providing emergency aid services to affected populations. This is both a matter of necessity, especially for terrorist groups that control territory (such as the Taliban), and an opportunity for those who want to underscore their ability to perform better than the government..."
Source/publisher:
"Observer Research Foundation (ORF)" (India)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Climate Change - Burma/Myanmar: general, Climate Change - Migration Burma/Myanmar
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Description:
"The Union government has unbundled a controversial Chinese-backed multibillion-dollar new city project across the Yangon River from Myanmar’s commercial hub and is finalizing the hiring of an international consultant to assist in the selection of a developer for the newly compartmentalized project.
Known as the New Yangon City project, it is an element of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC), which is a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The CMEC will connect Yunnan province in China to Mandalay in central Myanmar, Yangon New City in the south and the Kyaukphyu Special Economic Zone in the west.
The Yangon regional government-backed New Yangon Development Company (NYDC) initially signed a US$1.5-billion (2.03-trillion-kyat) framework agreement in 2018 with Beijing-based China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC) to draw up a proposal for the infrastructure project. The 20,000-acre (nearly 8,100-hectare) New Yangon City project is slated to include five resettlement areas, two bridges, an industrial estate, and commercial and residential areas as well as related infrastructure. The Yangon government’s 2019 guidebook listing the city’s projects—the Yangon Project Bank— estimates the New Yangon City project’s total cost at $8 billion.
However, the project has been a source of controversy due to its flood-prone location as well as CCCC’s involvement. The Hong Kong-listed, Chinese state-owned company has been accused of engaging in corruption and bribery relating to development deals in at least 10 countries in Africa and Asia.
Since its formation, the NYDC has said that while CCCC was the frontrunner for the project, the selection process to find the developer would follow the so-called “Swiss Challenge” model, in which other candidate firms would be invited to beat CCCC’s bid. However, the huge amount of the initial investment required has all but deterred other investors.
On Wednesday, a senior official familiar with the project told The Irrawaddy that the $1.5-billion project has been unbundled by the Union government due to the sheer scale of the mega-investment required, making it possible for other companies to join the Swiss Challenge..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-30
[field_licence]
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Description:
"Myanmar reported three more imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday night, bringing the total number of infections to 346, according to the Health and Sports Ministry.
The newly-confirmed cases are under quarantine in Chin and Kayin states after their recent arrivals from India and Thailand.
According to the ministry, 286 patients have recovered as of Friday.
Myanmar reported its first two confirmed cases on March 23, and the death toll stands at six..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"To date, ASEAN has over 200,000 coronavirus infections across all 10 member states, with more than 6,000 fatalities as a result of the deadly disease. Although other regions such as Europe and the Americas have recorded more COVID-19 cases compared to Southeast Asia – the pandemic has still managed to ravage livelihoods and local industries in the latter region.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has projected that growth in Southeast Asia will decelerate from 4.4 percent in 2019 to one percent this year before rebounding to 4.7 percent in 2021.
“The evolution of the global pandemic – and thus the outlook for the global and regional economy –is highly uncertain. Growth could turn out lower, and the recovery slower, than we are currently forecasting,” said Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist. For ASEAN member state Myanmar, despite the low reported cases of COVID-19 in the country which stands at 343 infections as of 23 July – the social and economic effects could be severe, noted the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
An IMF publication titled, ‘Six Charts on Myanmar's Economy in the Time of COVID-19’ states that the pandemic shock has affected the economy’s key growth engines. It explains that the kingdom has seen a sharp decline in exports, remittances, and tourist arrivals. At the same time, domestic economic activity has been constrained by strict measures to curb the virus. According to a recent report by the Myanmar Trade Promotion Organisation (MTPO), the tourism industry has been hit hardest by the pandemic, followed by the garment industry. Other sectors that have been feeling the pinch include the rubber export and manufacturing sectors.
Local media in the country reported that nearly one third of all companies in the country have temporarily shuttered due to the pandemic..."
Source/publisher:
"The ASEAN Post" (Malaysia)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-24
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, ASEAN-Burma relations
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"Returns from Thailand through border checkpoints continued in the first half of July, with 10,985 (4,536 female, 6,449 male) returns from 1 to 16 July. A total of 86,449 migrants (33,023 female, 53,426 male) returned from Thailand from 22 March to 16 July, with the majority of migrants who returned through Myawaddy-Mae Sot returning to Bago Region (10,948 people), Mon State (7,391) and Kayin State (6,964 people).
Returns from China through border checkpoints also continued in the first half of July, albeit at a slower rate than in June, with a total of 2,887 (1,211 female, 1,676 male) returns from 1 to 16 July. A total of 44,051 migrants (15,564 female, 28,478 male) returned from China from 16 April to 16 July.
As of July 16, based on available data, a total of 130,817 migrants have returned to Myanmar from Thailand, China and Laos. A further 8,543 Myanmar nationals have returned via Government Assisted Relief Flights from various countries in Asia and beyond, including from Australia, Philippines, India and the United States.
The Government of Myanmar announced the extension of COVID-19 restrictions until 31 July. This is the third extension following a similar decision on 1 July and it retains:
• The nationwide daily curfew from 00:00 AM to 04:00 AM;
• The ban on international commercial flights into and out of Myanmar;
• The temporary suspension of visas on arrival and e-visas;
• Temporary suspensions for overseas employment processes (including MOU recruitment procedures), and all pre-departure orientation and skills trainings.
The Myanmar Labour Attaché Office in Thailand launched an online survey for Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, aiming to collect information on the total number of Myanmar migrant workers currently in Thailand and their situation, including occupation, income and migration status. Results will inform evidence-based programming by the Government of Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"International Organization for Migration (IOM)" (Switzerland) via reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-20
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), IOM Burma/Myanmar
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
641.24 KB
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Description:
"On International Workers’ Day, May 1, President U Win Myint offered a statement about the government’s commitment to tranquil workplaces, fair and proper dispute settlement processes, freedom for independent trade unions, and workers’ safety through tripartite efforts. However, the message had a caveat: “You [Workers] also need to be especially aware that outside instigators can incite unlawful demonstrations and unrest for personal or political gains.” Indeed, if the government is effectively protecting labor rights and is dedicated to tripartite efforts, then there seems no need or justification for protest. But the government’s rhetoric is a far cry from reality.
The government has, in fact, dismissed unionists’ suggestions, disregarded their formal disputes, and used COVID-19 to justify intimidation and arrests of protestors. Employers have ignored COVID-19 related concerns raised by unionists, exploited their inability to strike, and used the pandemic as an opportunity to sack unionists en masse. The government and employers have weaponized COVID-19 to union-bust so that unionists have had to scramble and employ different tactics to protect themselves and other workers..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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Description:
"Myanmar Vice-President Henry Van Thio says the country is unlikely to open to international commercial passenger flights until October.
At a meeting of the National Tourism Development Central Committee on Tuesday, the vice-president said that airports are expected to resume operations for international commercial passenger flights only after the third quarter of this year.
The Myanmar government has said that when airports can resume operation, it will announce the reopening of its tourism sector to ASEAN and Asian countries. The government also plans to take part in “travel bubbles” with Thailand and Vietnam, including direct flights to and from Myanmar.
“Travel bubbles” are exclusive partnerships between countries that have demonstrated considerable success in containing and combating the COVID-19 pandemic within their respective borders. The program will allow people to travel within the zone without having to undergo quarantines on arrival.
The vice-president also said that, if the initial travel agreements are successful, the Myanmar government will establish travel bubbles with Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Macao, as he said they have achieved considerable success in containing the coronavirus.
Myanmar has banned all international commercial passenger flights since March 31. The government has extended the ban a number of times since then, with the latest ban in effect until July 31. Relief, cargo, medical evacuation and special flights approved by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) as well as domestic flights, however, are not affected by the ban..."
Source/publisher:
"The Irrawaddy" (Thailand)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-11
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
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Description:
"Pakistan-China Institute (PCI) convened the first ever Non-Governmental Online Conference on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), of which CPEC is the flagship, which was attended by 8 countries. The conference, which lasted for 2 hours and 45 minutes, had participants from Pakistan, China, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Myanmar & Sri Lanka. There was a wide-ranging discussion on different dimensions of BRI, which was followed by a 35-minute Question and Answer session.
Five key consensus areas regarding BRI emerged from the conference: The coronavirus crisis has underlined the need for global interdependence to forge closer cooperation to tackle common challenges; BRI is the way forward as it promotes regional connectivity, based on the principles of equality, reciprocity and mutual benefit while acclaiming CPEC as "BRI success story".
The propaganda about the so called 'Debt trap' was rejected by participants as in the case of Pakistan and Sri Lanka, total debt from China is a very small percentage of what is owed to other countries or multilateral institutions; 'New Cold War', demonization or stigmatizing any country using COVID19 as a political weapon or targeting BRI on geopolitical grounds were rejected; The India factor was recognized by countries like Nepal and Sri Lanka as they are neighbors and they would like good relations with both China and India and it was made clear that neither BRI is a military alliance nor it is directed either against India or against any Western country.
Senator Mushahid Hussain, in his opening remarks, termed BRI as the biggest and most significant Diplomatic and Developmental initiative of 21st century. He said that CPEC, as flagship of BRI, is already a success story and has entered its the second phase successfully. Energy and infrastructure projects have been completed on schedule, 75,000 Pakistanis have got jobs in BRI projects and 28,000 Pakistani students are studying in China.
He also thanked China for support to Pakistan during COVID-19 crisis and he mentioned the two resolutions passed by the Pakistan Senate, February 12 and May 14, in which the parliament of Pakistan appreciated China's role and support. Afghanistan’s former Ambassador to Pakistan and China, Janan Musazai, gave a specific five-point plan for Afghanistan’s role in BRI and he referred to CPEC as well, since Afghanistan can be a land bridge for connectivity and he said that China could facilitate to provide market access for BRI countries..."
Source/publisher:
"china.org.cn" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
“One Belt, One Road” initiative, Burma/Myanmar's relationship with the Global Economy, COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"argue that heeding lessons from Cyclone Nargis can help Myanmar to overcome the impact of the pandemic response.
The second of May 2020 was the twelfth anniversary of Cyclone Nargis, a category 4 tropical storm that hit the Ayeyarwady Delta of Myanmar. With the loss of over 140,000 lives, the temporary displacement of up to 800,000 people, and estimated damages and losses of US$ 4 billion, Nargis was the most devastating natural disaster in Myanmar’s recorded history.[1]
Myanmar is now facing yet another major disaster, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). By June 24, around 9.3 million people have tested positive for the virus globally, and over 478,000 have died. That same day, the reported number of COVID-19 infections in Myanmar still stood at only 293, with 6 deaths. The government’s containment policy may succeed in keeping the direct effects of the coronavirus in Myanmar limited. However, its indirect, socioeconomic impacts for the country as a whole may end up being as dramatic as those of Nargis were for the Delta.
In this article, we first look into the impacts of Cyclone Nargis on affected villages and their path to economic and social recovery. We then discuss the early impacts of COVID-19 on select economic sectors and in some of the Nargis-affected areas. Next, we briefly review the government’s emergency aid measures and reflect on their usefulness in light of lessons learned from post-Nargis aid. Finally, we argue in favour of a holistic policy to make rural communities more resilient to future crises..."
Source/publisher:
"Teacircleoxford" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-10
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"WFP is providing food and nutrition assistance to 41,450 returning migrants at Myawaddy border gate, as well as 43,000 inside quarantine sites in 10 out of 14 states and regions, as requested by the authorities.
• WFP and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are currently conducting a joint food security and livelihood assessment in COVID-19 affected areas in seven states and regions across Myanmar.
• The price of the four main food commodities in Myanmar remained stable in June, according to the WFP Market Monitor.
Situation Update
• According to the Ministry of Health and Sports, there are 316 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Myanmar as of 7 July, including six deaths. To curb the spread of COVID-19, the Government of Myanmar has extended temporary travel and international flight restrictions until 31 July.
• WFP’s Market Monitor for June indicated a stable average price of the four main food commodities in Myanmar, as some COVID-19-related restrictions were eased. Most of the monitored markets are functioning normally, apart from the conflict-affected Paletwa Township in Chin State..."
Source/publisher:
World Food Programme (WFP) (Rome) via reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-09
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
WFP (World Food Programme), COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
92.05 KB
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Sub-title:
History shows pandemics can lead to profound political change in Myanmar
Description:
"Covid-19 lockdowns and internal travel restrictions have been lifted across Myanmar but that doesn’t mean its virus crisis is over – far from it.
Myanmar has officially confirmed only 316 Covid-19 cases and six related deaths, figures that many observers doubt are an accurate portrayal of the nation’s underlying viral situation.
But even if Myanmar’s Covid-19 figures are unrealistic, economic, social and political fallout from the health crisis is nearly certain.
Myanmar’s economic growth is projected to drop from 6.8% in fiscal 2018-2019 to just 0.5% in 2019-2020, according to World Bank estimates released on June 25. That assessment, considering the impact of lockdowns on the nation’s already impoverished population, could understate the human suffering to come.
Economic distress, meanwhile, is impacting politics as the country gears up for November 8 elections that will pit State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling New League for Democracy (NLD) against the rival military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The NLD is widely expected to win another five-year term, but observers in the commercial center Yangon wonder if military authorities will impose Covid-related restrictions on rallies and potentially use social controls to tilt the electoral playing field more in the USDP’s favor..."
Source/publisher:
"Asia Times" (Hong Kong)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-08
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Politics, Government and Governance - Burma/Myanmar - general studies, Burma/Myanmar's political parties
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"A girl wearing a face mask plays with soap bubbles at a park in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, July 7, 2020. The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 316, with three more confirmed cases on Monday, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"The UN in Myanmar has come together as one to support COVID-19 preparedness and response. The next in a series of articles highlights UNODC's contribution.
UNODC provided guidance on how to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in Kachin State, Myanmar. The guidance is aimed at parents and caregivers on how to keep their children safe and healthy. In crowded conditions, such as one found in IDP camps, protecting children’s health is difficult at the best of times. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, raising a family has become even more challenging. To provide support to parents and caregivers, UNODC has provided 10,000 leaflets to families in IDP camps across Kachin State, providing guidance on how to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. UNODC also provided an interactive workshop to local NGOs and camp service providers, so they can also meaningfully support IDP’s health and wellbeing. "We’ve seen that quite a number of parents were using alcohol and illegal drugs to cope with their stress. Due to the increased pressure they’ve faced during the pandemic, they may not be parenting as effectively as they normally do.” said Naw Bawk, Health Poverty Action’s Community Mobilization Team Leader, one of the local NGOs distributing the leaflets. “These leaflets will be very useful for parents to cope with their stress in a better way." The leaflets, “Information for Parents and other Caregivers in Crowded Communities or Refugee Settings during the COVID-19 Pandemic,” provide straightforward and actionable advice to parents living in Kachin’s IDP camps. They cover an overview of how parents can reduce their children’s potential exposure to COVID-19, and how to manage children’s stress under lockdowns and curfews. The leaflets also touch on the mental health of parents..."
Source/publisher:
UNCT Myanmar via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-07
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Description:
"Seven new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Myanmar, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 313 as of Saturday, according to latest figures released by the Health and Sports Ministry.
The newly confirmed cases were returnees who are under facility quarantine in Yangon region after their recent arrivals from India, Bangladesh, Laos, Thailand and Singapore, the ministry's release said.
As of Saturday, a total of 81,977 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the country and 240 patients have recovered.
Myanmar reported its first two cases of COVID-19 on March 23 with six deaths so far..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"Myanmar has experienced a relatively lower number (290 as of 22 June 2020) of COVID-19 cases compared to many other countries, but the socioeconomic impacts of the government-imposed restrictions are having severe impacts on the population, especially older women and men. While the restrictions officially remain in place, many people cannot get by without a regular income and have returned to work, raising fears about a second wave. For government and humanitarian actors to understand the consequences of the restrictions for older people, HelpAge International in Myanmar conducted a multi-sector rapid needs assessment in May 2020 to inform programming and policy decisions..."
Source/publisher:
HelpAge via "Reliefweb" (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-06
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
169.61 KB (7 pages)
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Sub-title:
The total number of patients infected with COVID-19 in Myanmar has exceeded 300 after the health ministry at 8pm on July 1 reported four new cases from returnees.
Description:
"These include a 38-year-old man, Case-300 in the ministry’s list, who lives in Hlegu township and a 24-year-old man, Case-301, from Kaya township in Yangon. They are both returnees from the United Arab Emirates and were undergoing facility quarantine at a centre in South Dagon township when they tested positive. The ministry says they did not have contact with a positive patient upon arriving in Myanmar.
The other two patients are also from Yangon and they are a 28-year-old man, Case-302, from Thaketa and a 32-year-old man, Case-303, from Taikkyi. The two returned from England and did not have contact with a COVID-19 patient in Myanmar. They were also undergoing facility quarantine at a center in Hlegu Township when they tested positive. All four have been admitted to the South Okkalapa Specialist Hospital for treatment.
Myanmar has so far reported 303 COVID-19 cases including six deaths and 222 recoveries.
From May 16 to July 1 at 8pm, a total of 117 returnees have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the health ministry.
These comprise 50 returnees from India, 23 from Thailand, 17 from Malaysia, ten from the United Arab Emirates, nine from Bangladesh, three from Qatar, two from Italy, two from England and one from China..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-02
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"Twelve cases confirmed in Rakhine State with one local transmission from a known contact in Buthidaung Township and eight among people with travel history in Bangladesh.
• Limited local transmission with majority of cases confirmed among returning migrants. No cases have been reported in camps for internally displaced people (IDP) or displacement sites. A total of 293 cases, six fatalities and 215 recoveries have been confirmed across the country.
• More than 111,600 migrant workers have returned, including 71,735 from Thailand since March, per the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
• Four humanitarian flights arrived in Myanmar in June, carrying sets of protective items, medical supplies as well as humanitarian and relief personnel.
• Nearly 1,000 schools in conflict-affected areas used as quarantine facilities are disinfected and being prepared for classes as Government plans to reopen schools in mid-July.
• Preparedness and response activities across camps and displacement sites, as well as in quarantine centers, continue by government and humanitarian actors.
• The Addendum to the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) has been revised, with a total of 915,000 people targeted and financial requirements of US$275.3 million.
• A total of US$54 million has been contributed to the 2020 HRP, including $15 million to the COVID-19 Addendum– FTS..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-07-01
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Format :
pdf pdf
Size:
314.73 KB 231.83 KB
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Description:
"The Myanmar government has lifted the stay-at-home orders in all designated townships after seeing no new COVID-19 cases in the areas, a health official told Xinhua on Tuesday.
The government imposed partial lockdown, named "Stay at Home" in 10 townships of Yangon region and one in Sagaing region as the townships registered most infection cases of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, Insein, one of the townships in Yangon region, was last removed from the stay-at-home measures while others were removed separately in May and earlier this month.
"We have brought the pandemic under control to some extent in the country, with everyone's participation," said Director of Health Literacy Promotion Unit, Public Health Department under the Health and Sports Ministry, Than Naing Soe.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said in a post on social media on Monday that the effective measures may prevent the country from the second wave of COVID-19 in a couple of months while restrictions of mass gatherings are still in effect and urged people to be alert of asymptomatic transmissions.
According to the ministry's figures, Myanmar has reported 299 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with six deaths while the number of recovered patients reaches 221 as of Tuesday morning..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Local URL:
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Description:
"As of 29 June 2020, there have been 299 confirmed cases, including six fatalities and 218 recoveries across the country. The rate of local transmission has been low so far with cases confirmed mainly among people returning from abroad..."
Source/publisher:
OCHA (New York) via Reliefweb (New York)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-30
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
Language:
Format :
pdf
Size:
924.7 KB
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Sub-title:
Myanmar has approved a K92 billion COVID-19 relief plan for the domestic food production industry, U Hla Kyaw, Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, said on June 26. The approved funding will enable the ministry to support people in the rural areas amid the pandemic.
Description:
"Under the government’s plan, nearly K15 billion will be spent on establishing contract farming jobs on 100,000 acres of farmland. Investment capital totalling K41 billion will be allocated to more than 1700 villages in all the states and regions.
Around K25 billion will be used to acquire and distribute agricultural machinery to farmers in 11 regions and states including Nay Pyi Taw. Furthermore, about K6 billion will be spent on assisting local fish farms and training, while K1.5 billion will be used to create jobs in the livestock industry in 100 townships.
“The goal is to create jobs for as many people as possible. Our plan will benefit more than 120,000 families,” said U Hla Kyaw.
The plan was announced on the same day the World Bank approved a US$200 million credit from the International Development Association to increase agricultural productivity and diversification and enhance market access for Myanmar farmers. The funds will go towards supporting income retention for farmers by improving the quality and utilisation of agricultural inputs, and generate labour-intensive cash-for work-activities to create jobs for poor households, in particular for migrants returning to Myanmar..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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Sub-title:
The government’s efforts to improve its testing capacity for COVID-19 is moving at a snail’s pace due to a lack of money, with a laboratory in Lashio township in Shan State unlikely to be ready for at least three months.
Description:
"While Myanmar has so far effectively mitigated the spread of the disease through quarantines, contact-tracing and targeted lockdowns, testing remains one of the most effective ways of quickly identifying cases.
Myanmar has five testing centres – one in Mandalay, one in Mawlamyine in Mon State, and three in Yangon, which is the epicentre of the virus outbreak in the country.
As of June 28, these laboratories had tested 71,692 people, according to the Health and Sports Ministry.
Dr Than Soe Naing, director of the ministry, said it would take about three months for Lashio township to get its own COVID-19 tests as the laboratory isn’t finished yet. But he added that the testing facility in Taunggyi township in Shan could start operating early next month. Dr Thuzar Chit Tin, head of the state’s Public Health Department, said a donor who was supposed to finance construction of the laboratory in Taunggyi had backed out, so the Shan government had to find other funding sources..."
Source/publisher:
"Myanmar Times" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-29
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus), Public Health
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Description:
"The total number of COVID-19 cases in Myanmar has increased to 296, with three more confirmed cases reported on Sunday morning, according to a release from the Ministry of Health and Sports.
According to the release, the newly confirmed cases are returnees who were under quarantine after their recent arrivals from Thailand and India.
As of Sunday morning, a total of 71,692 samples were tested for COVID-19 and 5,878 patients are under investigation at present, the ministry's figures said.
According to the ministry's figures, 216 patients have recovered from the disease so far.
Myanmar reported its first two positive cases of COVID-19 on March 23 and six deaths have been reported so far..."
Source/publisher:
"Xinhua" (China)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
Category:
COVID-19 (Coronavirus)
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Description:
"The latest edition of the half yearly Myanmar Economic Monitor- June 2020 of the World Bank has devoted its analysis to the economic impact of COVID-19 and how to recover from the disruptions caused by the pandemic and associated measures for the prevention of its spread.
“The pandemic and associated containment measures are undermining aggregate demand, disrupting value chains, and reducing the labor supply, following strong activity in the first 5 months of the year”. The crisis has had an especially negative effect on wholesale and retail trade, tourism-related services, manufacturing and construction. Sectors like agriculture and telecommunications appear to have demonstrated resilience compared to others.
The pandemic has impacted the firms of all sectors (agriculture, industry and services) severely as per the survey conducted in May 2020 by the World Bank. About 16 percent of the firms it has surveyed reported closing their operations for an average of eight weeks due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but this figure rose to 39 percent among service sector firms. By contrast, just 12 percent of manufacturers and 6 percent of agricultural firms reported temporary closures. 89 percent of manufacturers reported a reduction in sales, compared to 75 percent of agricultural firms. Adaptation of firms to changing scenario in terms of production, sale and marketing strategies appear to be slow. And very few firms have applied to seek support from the government announced package of relief measures. This reflects the need for adopting an outreach strategy to support the firms in a more systematic way..."
Source/publisher:
"Mizzima" (Myanmar)
Date of entry/update:
2020-06-28
[field_licence]
Type:
Individual Documents
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