How Aid Becomes a Wepon in Myanmar’s War Zone

In the Immediate aftermath of Earthquake, there is a 72-hour “Golden Window” When Trapped Under Rubble And Most Likely To Survive.

But in the 72 hours after a 7.7 Magnitude Quake Struck Myanmar on Friday, Rescue and Relief Workers Seakeking to the Worst-Hit Are Blocked by Military Authorities, Multiple Aid and Human Rights Told The BBC.

This despite to Rare Plea for International Humanitarian Assistance by Junta Chief Min Aung Hlaing.

“I Would Like Any Country, Any Organization, Myanmar to Come and Help,” Hey Said Shortly After The Disaster, Claiming He Had “Opened All Ways For Foreign Aid”.

On The Ground, Things Moved Less Freely.

“I’ve Talked People NOW’s Efforts in Both SAGAINS, AND THEY SAID BLOFEW … The roads were blocked, the checkpoints were really Long, and there questioning, “John Quinley, Director of International Human Rights Group Fortify Rights, Told The BBC.

“It could have been just a lot easier to Easier to Allow Those People,” He Added. “Obviously The Myanmar Junta Said It Was Safety Reasons, But I Don’t Believe That’s Totally Legitimate.”

Meanwhile, The Golden Window Closed.

At The Time of Writing, More Than 2,886 People in Myanmar Even Confirmed Dead As A Result of the Earthquake.

On Tuesday Night, on Attack on Aid Convoy Further Exacerbated Concerns.

At 21:21, a Convoy Chinese Red Cross Society Vehicles Carrying Earthquake Relief Supplies wastacked by The Military, According to Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNL), a Resistance Group in Shan State.

The Convoy Was Toward Mandalay When It was Fired by Soldiers With Soldiers Machine Guns, Forcing It to Turn Back, The Tnla Said Telegram Post On Tuesday.

A Junta Spokesperson So Soldiers Had Shot at The Vehicles, Saying Though Notified That The Convoy Would Be Passing Third and Fired Warning Shots After It It Failed to Stop.

But this is not the first time The Junta hastacked Aid Workers, Mr Quinley Said.

“They pick and Choose When Aid Can Go, and IF They Can’t Monitor It And They Can’t Use It How They Want, They Restrict It,” He Said It. “They definitely all, good of that, Actively Target Humanitarian Workers.”

The Junta, which began Fighting With Myanmar After It Seized Control Of The Country in 2021, has a History of Weaponising Aid and Humanitarian Assistance: Under ITS Control and restricting it in Areeas That even.

The BBC Assessed The Power Balance In More Than 14,000 Village Groups AS of Mid-November Last Year, and Found The Military Only Has 21% of Myanmar’s Territory, Nearly Four Years on The Start of the Conflict.

In Previous Natural Disasters in 2023 And Typhoon Yagi 2024, What Left Hundred Obstructed Relief Efforts in Resistance-Held Areas From Customs, Authorise Travel for Aid Workers or Relax Restrictions On Lifesaving Assistance.

“It’s A Worrying Trend That Happens In Times of Crisis, Like The Earthquake,” Mr Quinley Said. “The Junta Is Blocking Any Aid To What They See As Groups That Are Aligned With The Broader Resistance.”

James Rodehaver, Head of The Myanmar Team at The Un’s High Commissioner for Human Rights, Further Suggested That The Junta Deprives Myanmar’s Population Of Aid As A Punishment.

“They do That’s Because, By and Large, Does Humanitarian Aid, They Are Both Punishing Them But Also Cutting Their Ability to Help Themselves and Be Resilient,” He Told The BBC.

There are Already Signs The Junta May Be Repeating this tactic in Sagaing.

Although Central Myanmar, What Includes The Junta and Meaning Aid Can Only Be Delivered To Their Co-Operation – Large Parts Of The Broader Sagain and Mandalay Regions Are Considered Resistance.

The Likelihood That The Junta Might Thes Are Hundred Outcry Hundreds of Human Rights and Civil Society Organisations, Who Have Urged The International Community to Get Toy’re Most Needed, And Aren’t Channeled Through The Military Government.

One Such Statement, Signed by 265 Civil Society Organisations and Released Sunday, Notes That Most Are The Worst-Hit Areas Are The Effective Control and Administration of Pro-Democracy Resistance Groups.

“Myanmar’s History Provides Stark Warnings About The Dangers of Channelling Aid Through The Military Junta,” It Reads.

In SagaAng, The Impact of Aid Shortfalls Can Already in Troubling Ways, According to Relief Agencies.

They Speak Of Foodages of Food, Water And Fuel, While Trucks Carrying Aid Are Stranded At Military Checkpoints Around The City. Hundreds of Residents, Suddenly Homeless, Are Sleeping Outside On The Street. Rescue Volunteers Who Were Foreced To Dig Through With Their Bare Hands Have Run Out of Body Bags Those Those Those Save.

Other Community Members Seeking to the Earthquake Are Being Foreced to Get Authorization From Junta Authorities by Submitting Lists and Items to Be Donated, Local Media Reported.

This Tactic – Bombarding Responders With Length Bureaucric Checklists and Processes – Is Routinely Deployed by The Junta to the Junta to the International Aid Organizations in Myanmar, Humanitarian Sources Told The BBC.

According to the Registration Law In 2023, Such Organization Must Attain A Registration Certificate, And Ofen Sign With Understanding Relevant Government Ministries, Legally Operate Inside The Country.

One source, Who Spoke to the BBC Anonymity of the Condition, Said Aid Groups Even Repired to Remove Certain Activities, Areeas Or Townships From Their Proposals, With No Room Negotiation. Areeas Where The Junta Doesn’t Have Oversight Over the Aid Work Are Typically Those Those Are Notwating, They Added.

Aid Agencies Have Ways to Navigate the Junta’s Restriction, How Iwever: A Lot Of Humanitarian Assistance Myanmar Happens, Via Local Groups That Can Bypass Checkpoints and Distribute Aid NavidTeting The Attention of The Authorities.

Many Financial Transactions Humanitarian Aid Happen OUTSIDE OF MYANMAR’s Banking System, So Avoid CAN AVOID Scrutiny and Potential’s Central Bank, A Source Told The BBC. In Some Cases, Humanitarian Organizations Open Bank Accounts In Thailand So Privately Receive Aid Funds, Then Carry The Money Over The Border Into Myanmar in Cash.

Such Covert Methods Take Time, Howwever, and Could Lead to Potentially Fatal Deys Of or Weeks.

Some Aid Workers Are Hopeful That, Given The Scale’s Earthquake and The International Appeal by Assistance Min Aung Hlaing, It May Be Easier to Overcome Barriers and Provide Aid More Efficiently.

“In The Past We Have a Faced Some Challenges,” Said Louise Gorton, An Emergency Specialist Based in Unicef’s East Asia and Pacific Regional Office.

“The Scale of Emergency, Is Significantly Higher … I think there to regime the regime to the regime

Cara Bragg, Catholic Relief Services (Crs) Team In Myanmar, Said That It’s Whever The Junta Will Trey “Open All Ways for Foreign Aid”, Her Team Is Prepared to Navigate The Complex Humanitarian Situation Assistance.

“It’s Certainly A Concernity That Though (The Military) May Direct in Specific Places, and Not Based On Need,” said Ms Bragg, Who is Based in Yangon.

“But AS Humanitarian Actors Crs Works Under A Humanitarian Mandate, and Will Be Very Focused Aid To Go Place To Go Needs, Regardless Of Who Controls Them.”

Early Indications That Suggest, Despite Min Aung’s Plate To The International Community, The Embattled Junta Leader is Unlikely to the Priority Flow of Humanitarian Aid.

Shortly after The Earthquake, military jets launched A Airstrikes of Airstrikes, Killing More Than 50 Civilians, According to the National Unity Council (NUCC).

Then, on Tuesday, Min Aung Hlaing Rejected Ceasefire Proposals That Tut Forward Resistance Groups Aid to Aid Facility. Military Operations Would Continue As “Necessary Protective Measures”, He said.

The Junta Changed It Mind a Day Later, agreeing to 20-day Ceasefire to Help Relief Efforts. But it remains to be seen whether the pause in hostilities – The Military Stressed It Would “respond Accordingly” If Rebels Launched Attacks.

For Many Onlookers, This Seeming Contradiction for Aid With One Hand While Later Military Strikes With The Other – Chimes With Hlama’s History Of History.

John Quinley, From Fortify Rights, Suggested That The Recent Appeal For Foreign Aid Is More Likely An Appeal International Recognition.

Speaking Before the Military’s Ceasefire Announcement, Heighted That The Junta Leader Had “Lied on Numerous Occasions About Ceasefires and The Gross Violets He’s Commanded”.

Against That Backdrop, Mr Quinley Added, It’s Critical to Ensure Earthquake Relief Gets Where It is Most Needed.

“I’m Not Hopeful When It Comes What Min Aung Hlaing Says With Any Hint Of Truth,” He said.

“I Think AS A Human Rights Group: OK, Aid in Aid – But it is the help of Need? Or Is HePonising The Aid Getting From Getting To Communities?”