As Myanmar grapples with the aftermath of the 7.7-magnitude earthquake on March 28, the U.N. has called on Naypyidaw for unrestricted humanitarian access, and for the international community to immediately step up funding to match the scale of this crisis.
“Myanmar today is the scene of utter devastation and desperation,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres told the media on Friday. “The earthquake has supercharged the suffering – with the monsoon season just around the corner. We need rapid action on several fronts.”
The U.N. Security Council, which is the only U.N. body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states, expressed gratitude for the prompt support from regional countries, U.N. agencies, and the broader international community, in providing urgent disaster relief to Myanmar.
“We recognize the need to strengthen rescue, relief, and recovery efforts and to scale up immediate humanitarian assistance for the people of Myanmar, supported by the international community,” it stated in a press release on Friday.
Two days after the quake struck, the National Unity Government (NUG) announced a two-week humanitarian pause in operations by its People’s Defense Force (PDF) on March 30. The NUG administers six towns in Sagaing, Mandalay, and Magway – three of the six hardest-hit regions.
An alliance of ethnic armed groups which has seized large swathes of territory from the regime in northern Shan and Rakhine states, known as the Brotherhood Alliance, announced a one-month ceasefire, from April 1-30, to allow earthquake relief to be delivered by Beijing, via the China-Myanmar border, through northern Shan State into central Myanmar.
At first, Naypyidaw ignored international calls to halt its offensive against anti-regime groups across the country, but relented and announced a 20-day ceasefire on Wednesday, in effect from April 2-22.
The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has documented 61 attacks carried out by regime forces since March 28 with 16 occurring after the ceasefire on April 2.
However, DVB has documented that 96 attacks, including airstrikes, have killed 62 civilians since March 28. Thirty-five attacks have been reported since the ceasefire was announced on April 2.
“The military is failing to assist with relief while prioritizing airstrikes. They’re continuing attacks in the same regions devastated by the quake,” a PDF member in Indaw Township of Sagaing Region told DVB. He added that two residents were killed by airstrikes April 1–2. Indaw is located 229 miles (368 km) northeast of the region’s capital Monywa.
Residents of Yinmabin Township of Sagaing Region and Mogok Township of Mandalay Region told DVB that airstrikes were carried out April 3-5. But no casualties were reported. Yinmabin is located 28 miles (45 km) west of Monywa. Mogok is located 128 miles (205 km) north of Mandalay.
“In the days following the deadly earthquake that tore through central Myanmar last week, the Myanmar military continued operations and attacks, including airstrikes – some of which were launched shortly after tremors subsided,” said Ravina Shamdasani, the OHCHR spokesperson, in a press release on Friday.
She added that the attacks are not only killing civilians but also endangering the lives of aid workers and compromising delivery routes into central Myanmar.
“Even before the disaster, nearly 12 million people in Myanmar required healthcare assistance,” said Elena Vuolo, the World Health Organization (WHO) deputy representative.
She described Myanmar’s healthcare system as collapsing under pressure and warned cholera, malaria, and respiratory illnesses are likely to spread as families displaced from their homes crowd into unsanitary makeshift shelters.
The U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that shelters are overcrowded, and women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence.
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated in a press release on Thursday that over 17 million people have been affected by the disaster, with nearly nine million in areas experiencing the highest levels of devastation.
“The hardest-hit areas remain without electricity and water, while telecommunications and internet access are severely disrupted, cutting off affected communities from essential services,” UNOCHA stated in a press release on Thursday.
Roads have become impassable, flights have been suspended, and 76 percent of surveyed people have yet to receive any aid, UNOCHA added.
Guterres hopes that the earthquake could be a turning point in Myanmar’s crisis since the 2021 military coup— a moment to build momentum toward a political solution, the release of political prisoners, and the restoration of democracy.
“As communities across Myanmar unite in grief, it is also time to unite behind a political solution to end the brutal conflict,” he said.
DVB data states that the death toll is 4,173 with 6,168 injured, 769 still missing, and 498 rescued as of Saturday. The regime’s latest figures from Friday state 3,354 bodies have been recovered with 4,508 injured, and 220 still missing.
