KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — States neighbouring Myanmar must set aside politics and open their borders to allow international humanitarian aid to reach the people of Myanmar through resistance authorities and civil society networks, said the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M).
In a statement, SAC-M said Typhoon Yagi hit northern Myanmar on September 10, causing severe flooding, landslides, and widespread destruction across the country, including the inundation of low-lying townships surrounding Naypyidaw and Mandalay.
Besides that, areas in Bago and Magwe, as well as eastern and southern Shan, Karen, Karenni and Mon states, have also been impacted, it added.
According to SAC-M, the full extent of the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in such circumstances is difficult to ascertain, but it undoubtedly exacerbated the crisis.
“An international humanitarian response to Yagi is urgently needed.
“The onus now is on Myanmar’s neighbouring states — China, India, Thailand, Laos and Bangladesh — to open their borders and allow international aid to cross into Myanmar and be distributed to people in need in coordination with Myanmar resistance authorities and civil society.
“Myanmar’s neighbours and the wider international community must act in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and not allow Myanmar junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to exploit this latest disaster to further deepen Myanmar’s suffering,” the statement read.
Xinhua News Agency reported that based on data from the Information Team of Myanmar’s State Administration Council late Monday, the death toll from Myanmar’s flooding has risen to 226, with 77 people still missing.
SAC-M is an independent group of international human rights experts working to support the peoples of Myanmar in their fight for peace, genuine democracy, justice, and accountability.
SAC-M stated Myanmar was already facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, devastated by almost four years of revolutionary war against the military junta.
It said the military’s heavy aerial and artillery bombardment of populated areas has led to massive civilian casualties and widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, leaving an estimated three million people internally displaced and many without basic food, shelter, and sanitation, while consistently preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need.
SAC-M stressed that it is essential for international humanitarian actors to engage with Myanmar resistance authorities and civil society groups to support relief efforts.
It said resistance actors have greater control in more of the country than the military and, along with civil society, have experience in administering humanitarian assistance to people in their areas and beyond.
“Donors must be especially careful to ensure aid is provided in a way that reaches the people most in need and is not instrumentalised by the military junta.
“The military junta’s lack of de facto and de jure legitimacy means international actors are not legally bound by the arbitrary restrictions it has sought, and will continue to seek, to impose on humanitarian access to and around Myanmar,” it said.
— Bernama
