In quake chaos, Myanmar diaspora shares guilt, pain and 1 rule: do not help the junta
Those living overseas have urged international donors not to send aid via the junta, saying the military will weaponise relief efforts to increase exploitation
For the millions of Myanmar’s people living overseas, there is one rule in their determination to help their compatriots in a homeland devastated by Friday’s earthquake: do not give anything to the junta.
Millions have fled Myanmar since the 2021 coup led by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, whose crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed thousands, sparked an attritional civil war and tanked the economy – all before the earthquake hit.
Hours after the 7.7-magnitude quake – followed by an aftershock measuring 6.4 – Min Aung Hlaing made an extraordinary appeal for outside help by a paranoid military that has isolated the nation for most of the last six decades, calling on “any country and organisation” to send relief.
But in those same hours, the air force he commands bombed areas of Kayin state under control of anti-coup forces, according to doctors and the UN, a pattern that fits the junta’s disregard for Myanmar’s civilian population.
UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said it was “nothing short of incredible” that the military was continuing to “drop bombs when you are trying to rescue people”.
More than 2,000 people had died in Myanmar, with another 3,900 injured, the junta said on Monday.