Myanmar Spring Chronicle – September 28 View
(MoeMaKa) September 29, 2024
Hope for Recovery from Typhoon Yagi
Typhoon Yagi, which formed in the South China Sea, caused heavy rainfall and strong winds along its path through Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) reported that approximately 1 million people in Myanmar were affected by flooding caused by the typhoon. With a population of around 54 million, this means roughly 2 out of every 100 people have been impacted. The affected areas are already struggling due to ongoing conflicts, leading to loss of lives, homes, and livelihoods. As a result, recovery from the flood damage is expected to be extremely difficult.
Many of the areas affected by the floods, such as the eastern banks of the Sittaung River in Bago Region and Loikaw in Kayah State, are frontline conflict zones where armed clashes between the military junta and resistance forces are ongoing. During the floods, essential supplies like food, medicine, and other basic necessities have not been allowed to pass freely due to restrictions imposed by the military junta. Some reports state that aid in the form of food, clothing, and medicine from social organizations has been blocked or limited by the junta.
The floods, which began around September 9, have left many areas in dire need of food, healthcare, shelter, and farming materials. UNOCHA has emphasized the urgent need for assistance in these areas, particularly as many people’s livelihoods are tied to agriculture, which has been heavily affected.
If timely assistance is not provided, there are concerns about potential outbreaks of diseases, food shortages, and the inability to plant crops for the upcoming seasons, which could lead to widespread famine in the coming months. Although local communities have been working to assist one another, the aid required for agricultural recovery, such as seeds and other resources, is beyond the capacity of community-level support and needs to be provided by governments and international organizations.
Many of the flood-affected areas are under the control of the military junta, while others are held by ethnic armed organizations and the People’s Defense Forces (PDF).
While some international governments, including India, South Korea, Norway, and the United States, have pledged aid to the flood-affected regions, the assistance provided so far falls short of what is needed. The United Nations is also working to assess the impact of the floods and the need for humanitarian aid and recovery, but significant financial pledges have not yet been secured.
With wars and natural disasters occurring in many parts of the world, gaining international attention for Myanmar’s situation has been challenging. Conflicts such as the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, which has been receiving significant aid for over two years, and recent events in Gaza and southern Lebanon in the Middle East, have drawn more international focus, leaving Myanmar’s crisis to be seen as a long-term conflict.
In this context, the military junta, which still functions as the government in terms of territorial control and governance, continues to use both natural disasters and political turmoil for its own military and political gain. Consequently, the people living in the affected regions are bearing the brunt of these compounded disasters.