Six months after coup, Myanmar's political, rights and aid crisis is worsening
Jul 31, 2021
Naypyitaw [Myanmar], July 31 : An estimated 170,200 people remain displaced in the south-eastern parts of Myanmar due to violence, armed clashes and insecurity since 1 February, a UN report said on Friday.
This includes around 121,400 people displaced in Kayah State and neighboring townships of southern areas of Shan State following an escalation of clashes since May 21. This comes as six months has passed since the military coup in Myanmar where there's grave concern over the widening impact of the deepening political, human rights and humanitarian crisis affecting the country's people.
Speaking to UN News, the organisation's top aid official in Myanmar, described how people have been severely impacted across the country since the junta's power grab on 1 February. "The situation in the country is characterized now by instability and a deteriorating socio-economic and security situation and to add to that we have a raging third wave of COVID-19," said Acting Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Ramanathan Balakrishnan, in an exclusive interview to UN News.
Highlighting the ongoing nature of armed resistance to State security forces "in several ethnic minority areas" including in the states of Shan, Chin and Kachin, the UN official said more than thousands of people had been uprooted from their homes there to date.
Due to the ongoing political crisis, children's rights in Myanmar are facing an onslaught that risks leaving an entire generation damaged, the UN Child Rights Committee (CRC) has warned.
Since February's military coup, 75 children have been killed, about 1,000 arbitrarily detained and countless more deprived of essential medical care and education, according to credible information obtained by the Committee.
"Children in Myanmar are under siege and facing the catastrophic loss of life because of the military coup," Mikiko Otani, Chair of the CRC, said.
Nearly 6,000 people have been arbitrarily detained in Myanmar since the military overthrew the elected Government and seized power on February 1. In addition, approximately 900 people, including children, have been killed and countless more wounded.
