BANGKOK (Reuters) – Myanmar’s ruling junta should free up movement by international aid workers to help survivors of a devastating earthquake, even in areas controlled by groups battling it, aid and human rights groups said, as the death toll looks set to cross 3,000.
The military has struggled to run Myanmar since overthrowing the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, reducing to tatters the economy and basic services including healthcare.
With thousands injured and infrastructure crippled following Friday’s quake of magnitude 7.7, regional authorities were struggling to cope and desperately needed support, the groups said.
“The situation remains critical, with disrupted communications and road access hampering response efforts, particularly in Sagaing,” the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said, referring to one hard-hit area.
More than 28 million people live in the six regions affected by the quake, it added in a statement, saying it had $12 million in emergency funding for food, shelter, water, sanitation, mental health support and other services.
China’s official Xinhua news agency said the death toll rose to 2,886 on Wednesday, with 4,639 injured, citing the junta.
The rural parts of hard-hit Sagaing were mostly under the control of armed resistance groups fighting the military government, the International Crisis Group said.
“They will be among the most challenging for aid agencies to reach, given regime restrictions, a complex configuration of local administrations and control by armed resistance groups, and the persistent conflict,” it added in a statement.
Even before the quake, the ICG said, information had been hard to gather from such areas, because of a junta blackout of internet and mobile phone networks as part of the conflict.The military has dismissed as misinformation accusations that it committed widespread atrocities as it fought against a multi-pronged rebellion that followed the coup.
UNFETTERED ACCESS
Human Rights Watch urged the junta to allow unfettered access for humanitarian aid and lift curbs impeding aid agencies, saying donors should channel aid through independent groups rather than only junta authorities.
“Myanmar’s junta cannot be trusted to respond to a disaster of this scale,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a report.
“Concerned governments and international agencies need to press the junta to allow full and immediate access to survivors, wherever they are.”
Australia announced a further A$6.5 million ($4.1 million) in humanitarian support for Myanmar, supplied “through thoroughly vetted international and local partners.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said, “We take proactive steps to ensure our assistance does not legitimise the military regime in Myanmar.”
The military council has rejected requests from international journalists to cover the quake devastation, citing the lack of water, electricity and hotels.
In neighbouring Thailand, the death toll from the quake rose to 22 on Wednesday, with hundreds of buildings damaged.
Rescuers scoured for survivors in the rubble of a collapsed skyscraper under construction in the capital Bangkok, where the death toll is 15, with 72 missing.
The government is investigating the collapse and initial tests showed some steel samples from the site were substandard.
(Reporting by Bangkok Bureau, Shoon Naing; Writing by John Mair; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
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