MoeMaKa, June 21 2022
Villages in Sagaing Region that are still being torched and crisis in the delivery humanitarian assistance
During these days, the areas in Sagaing Division that are being torched are villages in Shwe Bo Township. The news reported that nearly 300 houses were burnt down within 5 days. They were torching houses in the villages with the accusation of being the base for PDF or supporting PDF for almost a year.
According to a local person, some farmers in the rural areas have to work hard for 20 years to get a house. And their houses in the villages of Sagaing Division were burnt down by the junta’s arson attack last month. Food, edible oil tanks, rice, motorcycles for transportation, clothing and kitchen wares were all burnt down. His brother’s house was built at a cost of 400-600 lakhs and he was worried after hearing the news of arson attacks on villages in Magway and Sagaing Divisions at the mid and end of last year. Even though other people had fled, he clung to his home and hoped he would not lose his home, but his wishes were not fulfilled because the house was destroyed when his village was set on fire late last month.
They had to evacuate quickly as soon as the junta troops entered the villages and they watched out from nearby villages or the border of the forest in the hope of whether their houses were left during the arson attack upon witnessing the smoke coming out of the villages and waited until the junta had left. When the junta left after staying for hours to days, they experienced their houses being left burnt on checking the remains.
For those who live by agriculture, they can’t afford to build houses more than once in their life.Hundreds of thousands of lives who earn their livings by growing crops such as beans, sesame, rice, watermelon, cucumber and etc. Now regions of Sagaing Division like Pale, Yinmarbin, Kani, Shwe Bo, Taze, Myinmu, Bu Talin, Kant Balu and Kyung Hla etc. were devastated by the arson or loss of lives.
It’s not new that the Myanmar military is cracking down on armed attacks systematically including destroying villages but it’s the first time for an area like Sagaing Division and the same for Magway Division.
It’s also read on the news that the NUG’s prime minister recently urged the Defense Ministry to find a way to prevent homes from being set on fire. I think this needs to be considered as a priority early on. It may need to choose to make armed attacks either based in villages or based on a particular forest or mountain range. If the choice is made to attack based in villages, it may need to consider tactically how to prevent the villages from arson attacks.
I think it may be needed to choose a guerrilla tactic or tactic by establishing dominions based on situations. If not, the current condition is like an uprooting system to separate fish from water by draining the water so that the fish is uninhabitable.
Concurrently, another problem is the need for humanitarian assistance for refugees in war-torn areas. According to data, there were 1.2 million of refugees all over the country previously and it has now reached 1.4 million from the latest updates. This is just the number of refugees at home, and if you add up the number outside the country, it will be over 2.5 million.
To deliver the humanitarian assistance to 1.4 million at home, the main problem is the condition unfavorable for delivering the humanitarian assistance. The military junta blocks the route for food and medicines and not not letting the humanitarian organizations to war-torn areas.
The United Nations stated that they have helped about 300,000 people recently. The news reported that they had provided assistance to some areas in Kayah State but there are still some areas that are out of their reach. Areas like Sagaing Division, organizations such as the United Nations and the ICRC have not been able to provide assistance. All the actors of armed organizations should cooperate for humanitarian assistance as it is the fundamental right for everyone but the military council wants to gain the upper hand and so they are blocking humanitarian aid, food, medicine and communication like the tactics of “Four-cut” policy.