Lack of healthcare providers hinder earthquake response
The arrest of over 872 healthcare workers and the closure of private hospitals has undermined the response to the March 28 earthquake, according to Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights. About 263 healthcare facilities have been attacked and at least 74 health workers have been killed since the 2021 coup, according to Swiss organization Insecurity Insight.
“Governments supporting the earthquake response should call on the [regime] to cease airstrikes and other unlawful attacks targeting healthcare facilities and health workers and release all those wrongfully detained,” said Lindsey Green, the deputy director of research at Physicians for Human Rights, in a press release on Monday.
Sources told DVB that the regime has been blocking aid groups from providing relief in Sagaing Region – the epicenter of the earthquake. The death toll is 4,461 with 11,366 injured one month after the earthquake. At least 403 regime air and artillery strikes have killed 309 people from March 28 to April 29, according to DVB data.
Myanmar workers want wage hike on Labour Day
Labour unions in Burma told DVB they want an increase to the daily minimum wage for International Workers’ Day on May 1. Workers in Burma are paid 4,800 MMK ($1 USD) per day—a rate set in May 2018 under the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) government. The labour law requires the daily minimum wage to be revised every two years, but it has remained unchanged since then.
“We haven’t finalized our [May 1] statement yet, but I believe it will include a call for sufficient wages,” a spokesperson at the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM) told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The STUM was established in 2016 by trade unions from Yangon, Ayeyarwady, and Mandalay regions.
A seamstress in Yangon’s Shwepyitha Township told DVB that the regime began paying an additional 2,000 MMK ($0.40 USD) as an allowance on top of the daily wage last year. But it is not officially included in workers’ wages and they do not receive it during holidays. Labour rights activists told DVB they want at least 10,000 MMK ($2.2 USD) per day.
Building solidarity for Myanmar democracy in Europe
Nyein Chan May is an intersectional feminist, a pro-democracy activist, a podcaster, and the co-founder of German Solidarity with Myanmar based in Germany. She joined the DVB Newsroom to discuss her work in Europe building solidarity for Myanmar’s democracy movement since the 2021 coup.
“We feel very neglected. We feel unheard by the international community,” Nyein Chan May told DVB. “All my friends are standing up and fighting for democracy so this inspires me every day to fight for social justice, democracy and also freedom for the country.”
Watch DVB Newsroom podcast season 2 episode 14 Nyein Chan May on solidarity for Myanmar democracy in Europe on DVB English News YouTube or Spotify. Or, if you’d prefer to listen to it as audio, find and follow us on Apple Podcasts, YouTube Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or wherever you get podcasts.
News by Region
MANDALAY—A source close to the regime told DVB on the condition of anonymity that Judge Advocate General Myo Thant Naing informed residents on April 26 that all earthquake relief must be carried out via regime officials. Mandalay is located 14 miles (22 km) east of the earthquake epicenter in Sagaing.
“The regime doesn’t like donors carrying out earthquake assistance on their own,” the source added, while accusing regime officials of misappropriating rice donations. Regime Deputy Minister Soe Win stated on April 5 that aid groups must obtain approval before distributing aid.
Chanmyathazi Township residents told DVB that five men, including two wearing military uniforms, robbed the Shwe Zarmani gold shop at gunpoint on Monday. Chanmyathazi was one of the townships impacted by the earthquake.
A source close to the regime administration told DVB on the condition of anonymity that many soldiers have been deployed in the area to assist with relief work. They set up checkpoints to inspect vehicles after the robbery. But no arrests have been made by police.
SHAN—Residents of Aungpan and Hopong townships told DVB that 50 homes and nearly 100 acres of vegetable farms were destroyed by heavy wind in three villages on Sunday. Aungpan and Hopong are located 13-35 miles (20-56 km) east and west of the state capital Taunggyi.
“The wind was too strong, blowing off the roofs and walls. There was heavy rain and hail as well,” a Hopong resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Over 5,000 homes were destroyed by the earthquake and reconstruction works have not yet begun.
Residents of Nawnglen and Ommati villages in Nawnghkio Township, northern Shan State, reported “intense” fighting between regime forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) since Sunday. Nawnghkio is located 96 miles (154 km) south of the region’s capital Lashio and 147 miles (236 km) north of Taunggyi.
The regime dispatched an additional 100 troops from Pyin Oo Lwin Township in neighbouring Mandalay Region to Ommati on Monday, a military defector told DVB. The regime is planning a counteroffensive to retake Nawnghkio, which was seized by the TNLA on July 10.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,430 MMK)
