Earthquake: 'God, have mercy on us,’ says the archbishop of Mandalay

Archbishop Marco Tin Win released a message reporting the destruction of the diocesan house in Mandalay forcing the priests to sleep outdoors together with others. Despite calls for a stop to the hostilities, the military junta continues to attack resistance forces, but has admitted that it also hit a group of Chinese rescuers.

Yangon (AsiaNews) – “God, have mercy on us,” Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay says in a video message posted on Radio Veritas Asia after last Friday’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake that devastated central Myanmar, a country already crushed by other natural disasters and a civil war that has lasted for over four years.

“The diocesan house has been destroyed and the priests are sleeping on the ground outdoors with the people,” said the prelate. “The earth is still shaking and the children are in shock. Many people are desperately looking for missing family members.”

Archbishop Tin Win notes that people of all religious faiths in Myanmar are participating in relief operations.

Among Catholics, various religious congregations are bringing aid to the displaced people. Some Salesians of Don Bosco have managed to reach the city of Sagaing, which is 80 to 90 per cent destroyed, according to residents, with more than a hundred dead confirmed so far.

Several humanitarian workers have reached the city as well (Unicef said it took 13 hours to reach the city from Yangon), including a specialised rescue team from Malaysia.

Friars Minor from the Pyin Oo Lwin area have reported that thousands are displaced in Myanmar's second-largest city, sheltering in football pitches, church compounds, and on roadsides due to ongoing aftershocks”. Meanwhile, temperatures remain high, around 37-40 degrees.

The day after the quake, Card Charles Bo and the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar called for an urgent stop to hostilities to allow the free movement of humanitarian aid for the population. Instead, the military junta has rejected ceasefire proposals by the resistance and rebel groups.

“This humanitarian crisis calls for an urgent cessation of hostilities. We urgently call for an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire by all parties involved in the conflict to ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of essential humanitarian aid by local and international supporters," reads a statement signed by Cardinal Bo.

Myanmar’s military confirmed today that they opened fire on a Chinese Red Cross convoy that was moving into Shan State, a region where some villages are controlled by the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), one of the ethnic militias that operate in the country’s northern regions and is vying for control with regular troops for some villages in the Sagaing Region.

A junta spokesman said that the nine vehicles had not received approval for travel from military authorities. Following the incident, in which no aid workers were wounded, China issued a brief statement strongly urging all the parties in Myanmar to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers engaged in earthquake relief.

China is the main backer of Myanmar’s military junta and is now trying to fill the void left by cuts to USAid by the Trump administration. China sent 30 rescue teams to Myanmar with more than  500 people.

Pro-resistance media report that Myanmar’s military is focusing on cracking down on rebel groups rather than on rescue operations, but since the US slashed funding for foreign media, they have been facing difficulties.

Two days ago, an air strike by junta planes killed at least 30 young people in Mohnyin, a town in Kachin State, where they were set to take part in military training provided by the Kachin Independence Army (KIA).

A source close to the KIA told Irrawaddy that, “The majority of the deceased were young men, with some young women among them. Most of those attacked were young people aged 20 to 27 who had decided to take up arms after fleeing forced conscription into the junta military.”

For their part, international organisations already present in Myanmar before the quake “are trying to provide aid, but are facing difficulties due to the ongoing civil war and the country's international isolation,” said a source that requested anonymity, speaking to AsiaNews.

• myanmar
• burma
• china
• civil war
• mandalay
• sagaing
• earthquake
• catholic church