As help becomes weapons in the Myanmar military zone

In the near future, the earthquake is a 72-hour “gold window” when those who have hit the rubble are likely to survive.

But 72 hours after the earthquake, 7.7 on Friday struck in Myanmar, rescue and auxiliary workers who sought access to some of the worst areas were blocked by the military authorities, many benefits and human rights groups reported.

This was despite a rare request for international humanitarian assistance to Junta Ming Aung Hlaing.

“I would like to invite any country, any organization or anyone to come and help,” he said in a speech shortly after the disaster, saying that he “opened all ways of foreign aid.”

Everything was moving less freely on the ground.

“I talked to a few people who were in rescue efforts both in Sagaining and in Mandala, and they said that (the military) imposed a curfew … The roads were locked, the checkpoints were really long, and there was a huge check of goods and services, and many questions, the director of the International Law, BBC.

“It can be much easier to allow these people,” he added. “Obviously, Myanmar Junta said it was for security reasons, but I don’t think it is quite legal.”

Meanwhile, the golden window closed.

At the time of writing, more than 2886 people in Myanmar are confirmed by the dead as a result of the earthquake.

On Tuesday night, the attack on the conveyor assistance further exacerbated the concern.

At 21:21, in the convoys of nine Chinese Red Cross cars, transporting the reserves of the earthquake, the military was attacked, reports Ta’ang National Learning Army (Tnla), a resistance group in Shan.

The coffee was riding towards Mandala when his soldiers fired with machine guns, forcing him to turn back, Tnla reported in the telegram late on Tuesday.

Later, the Hunta press confirmed that the soldiers shot themselves in the vehicles, saying that they did not report that the convoy would be passed and fired a warning after he had not stopped.

But this is not the first time Junta attacked the help, Mr. Quinley said.

“They choose and choose when they can help, and if they cannot control it and they can’t use it the way they want, they limit it,” he said. “They are, of course, also actively aimed at humanitarian workers.”

The junta, which began to fight the civil war with the resistance forces in Myanmar after seizing control over the country in 2021, has a history of arms and humanitarian assistance: directing it in the areas under its control and restricted it in industry industries.

BBC appreciated the power balance In more than 14,000 rural groups as of mid -November last year and found that the military only had complete control over 21% of Myanmar territory, almost four years since the conflict.

In previous natural disasters, such as Cyclone Moucha in 2023 and typhoon yaga in 2024, which left hundreds of the dead, military obstacles to resistance, refusing to release supplies from the customs, will allow travel to the rescue and weakening.

“This is an alarming trend that occurs during the crisis as an earthquake,” Mr. Quinn said. “The junta blocks any help by what they see as groups that correspond to wider resistance.”

James Rodegover, head of the Myanmar team at the UN High Commissioner’s Office for Human Rights, also suggested that Junta deprives the population of Myanmar as a form of punishment.

“They do this because the local population, by and large, does not support them, so depriving them of humanitarian aid, they both punish them, but also deny their ability to support themselves and be stable,” he said BBC.

There are already signs that the junta can repeat this tactic in the passage.

Despite the fact that Central Myanmar, which includes the cities of Sagada and Mandala, is nominally managed by the junta – that is, help can only be delivered to the area with their cooperation – large parts of the broad regions of mandates and mandals are considered to be strengthening the resistance.

The likelihood that the junta could tactfully deprive these spheres of assistance, caused the departure from the hundreds of human rights and civil society organizations, which called on the international community to provide assistance where they are most needed and not directed through the military government.

One such statement signed by 265 civil society organizations and released on Sunday, it is noted that most of the most terrible areas are under effective control and introduction of groups against democratic resistance.

“Myanmar’s story gives great warnings about the danger of sending assistance through military races,” the statement reads.

According to these agencies for assistance agencies.

They talk about the lack of food, water and fuel, while the trucks that assist are in the city checkpoints. Hundreds of residents, suddenly homeless, sleep on the street. Rescue volunteers, who were forced to roll over the constipation with their bare hands, ended with body bags for those they could not save.

Other members of the community seeking to respond to the earthquake make permission from the junta bodies, presenting the lists of volunteers and subjects to be donated, local media reported.

Such tactics – the bombing of respondents with long bureaucratic control lists and processes – is regularly unfolding Junta to limit the activities of international organizations in Myanmar, the humanitarian sources of the BBC reported.

According to the registration law introduced in 2023, such organizations must receive a registration certificate and often sign a memorandum of understanding with the relevant government ministries to work legally in the country.

One of the sources that spoke to the BBC, provided anonymity, said that aid groups are often required to remove certain events, spheres or villages from its proposals, without the possibility of negotiations. A zone where the junta has no supervision and control over help are usually those who are prohibited.

Help agencies have found ways to move the junta restriction: a lot of humanitarian aid in Myanmar is underground, through local groups that can bypass checkpoints and distribute assistance without attracting attention.

Numerous financial operations in the field of humanitarian aid are also underway by the Myanmar’s banking system so that the actors can avoid control and potential investigation of the Central Bank of the country, the BBC source said. In some cases, humanitarian organizations open bank accounts in Thailand so that they can privately receive funds for help, and then transport money to the border in Myanmar.

Such hidden methods require time, and this can lead to potentially deadly days or weeks.

Some help workers hope that, given the scale of the earthquake on Friday and the international appeal for the help of Min Aung Hlaing, it can be easier to overcome barriers and help more effectively.

“In the past, we have encountered some problems,” said Louise Gorton, an emergency specialist based in Eastern Asia and the Pacific UNICEF region.

“The scale of this emergency, however, is much higher … I think there will be pressure on the mode to ensure unobstructed and unobstructed humanitarian access – and we will continue to repeat the same need and find ways, sometimes restrained ways to provide help.”

Karagg Bragg, the Country Country Manager (CRS) in Myanmar, said that while it is too early to tell whether the junta “will open all ways of foreign aid”, its team is ready to move through a difficult humanitarian situation to provide assistance.

“This certainly raises concern that they (the military) can direct help in certain places, not based on the need,” said Mr. Bragg, who is in Yongon.

“But since the CRS humanitarian subjects are working under the humanitarian mandate and will be very focused on helping to go to the most stringent areas, no matter who control them.”

Early signs suggest that, despite the request of Mi OUN HLANING to the international community, the leader of the fighting dudnto is unlikely to prioritize the unobstructed flow of humanitarian aid.

Shortly after the earthquake, military aircraft launched a number of airstrikes in the affected areas, killed by more than 50 civilians, the National Advisory Council of Unity (NUCC) reports.

Then, on Tuesday, Min Aung Hlaing rejected the ceasefire offers that were highlighted by resistance groups, trying to promote help. He said the hostilities would continue as “necessary protective measures”.

A day later, the junta changed her mind, agreeing on a 20-day ceasefire to help help help. But still it is necessary to find out if it pauses in hostilities – the military emphasized that it “reacted respectively” when the rebels launched the attacks.

For many visitors, this is seemingly a contradiction to ask for help with one hand, carrying military strikes with the other – chimes with the duplicate mines of Mi Aun Hlaing.

John Quinley, of the Rights of Fortify, suggested that a recent foreign aid appeal is likely to appeal to international recognition.

Speaking before the announcement of the ceasefire of the military, he noted that the leader of the hunt “many times lied to ceasefire and gross violations he ordered.”

Against this background, Mr. Quinley added, it is very important to provide the help of the earthquake where it is most needed.

“I do not hope to say that Min Aung Hlaing says with any hint of truth,” he said.

“I believe that as a human rights group we have to follow: OK, (Min Aung Hlaing) helps – but is it really reaches people who need? Does he help?