Myanmar military junta criticized over assaults on healthcare following devastating earthquake – JURIST
Human Rights Watch (HRW) called out Myanmar’s military junta on Monday for years of unlawful attacks on the healthcare system that have left 2 million people in need of assistance following a 7.7 magnitude earthquake last month.
According to HRW, the junta has arrested over 872 health workers, attacked 263 medical facilities, and killed 74 staff, leaving the remaining public hospitals unable to provide essential care.
The earthquake, which claimed over 10,000 lives, has exposed Myanmar’s collapsing healthcare system. The organization reports that nearly 1,200 attacks on facilities and staff have been recorded in the past three years, as medical personnel are often targeted for treating protesters. Over 70 percent of health workers are believed to have fled since the military coup; those who remain work without pay, often in hiding, switching off lights when jets fly overhead. The disaster faced with no medical support left displaced families lacking water, shelter, medicine, and sleeping outdoors in 44°C heat, facing disease outbreaks and snakebites.
As fears that the military government is taking advantage of the earthquake are growing, a resistance source reported that displaced civilians trying to rescue survivors from collapsed buildings were attacked by a military helicopter. The UN has condemned over 120 assaults by military forces since the earthquake. Ko Ba Hein, a senior member of the People’s Defence Force group, states, “On our side, we have declared a temporary ceasefire out of concern for civilians, but the military has not done the same”.
After blocking visas for aid workers during last year’s cyclone, the junta is again restricting international help and confiscating medicine intended for opposition areas. A new regulation requiring suppliers to present export earnings to receive authorization has voided 716 pharmaceutical import permits in a system that relies on imports for 85 percent of its medical needs. The UN is appealing for additional funds in aid, but the original response plan is only 7.5 percent funded.
The UN reported that even before the disaster, more than 20 million people needed medical assistance due to a high number of untreated cases of malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis. Now, overwhelmed hospitals with people requiring immediate care face severe delays, with most patients presenting infections and rotting wounds. The expectation of a significant number of injuries is high due to bombs and mines allegedly shifted by the earthquake in areas where resistance fighters used to battle the junta.
The United Nations’ (UN) Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar is actively collecting evidence of the junta’s atrocity crimes for future prosecution. HRW is urging the UN Security Council to hold an open meeting on Myanmar to press the junta to facilitate humanitarian relief and immediately stop attacks. After four years of destroying their healthcare infrastructure, the junta remains bound by international human rights law, which offers no justification—even in armed conflict—for violating the rights to life, health, and shelter.
