Myanmar’s government-in-exile criticises Thailand’s humanitarian assistance
Minister Win Myat Aye said he fears Thailand's cooperation with the military junta, proposing an alternative aid mechanism. In November, a group of ASEAN lawmakers, after a fact-finding mission in the border region, noted that the Myanmar military obstructs assistance distribution. Meanwhile, the number of internally displaced persons reached to 2.7 million.
Yangon (AsiaNews) – Myanmar's National Unity Government (NUG) has criticised the way aid is delivered to the country since it plunged into civil war three years ago.
In an interview with The Irrawaddy, Win Myat Aye, NUG Minister for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, said his government welcomes the Thai government's initiative but is not satisfied with its implementation.
According to UN data, 18.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Myanmar, while the number of internally displaced people has risen to 2.7 million.
Thailand plans to create a humanitarian corridor, but "we don't think it will be effective," Win Myat Eye said.
"Previously, humanitarian aid has been delivered through the AHA Center," ASEAN's Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management.
The “AHA Center has to deliver aid through the regime. Aid deliveries are controlled by the regime, so they are not effective in reaching the people in need.”
“Now, Thailand says it will use the AHA Center to implement its new initiative. This is like repeating a past mistake. There will not be significant improvements if aid is still delivered through the AHA Center.”
Last month, the Thai government, led by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, announced the creation of a centre on the Thai-Myanmar border to oversee the distribution of aid – initially food and medical supplies – with the help of the Myanmar and Thai Red Cross.
Win notes that “the Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) will be used to implement distribution in Myanmar,” which "is now under the control of the regime, and the delivery therefore will not be effective. Aid can’t reach affected people in areas controlled by the NUG, People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) and EROs[*].”
The initiative seeks to help 20,000 internally displaced people in three locations, but this is “small in scale”, according to the NUG minister, who fears the regime will still lay claim to it “by saying that it enabled cross-border humanitarian assistance with help from Thailand. So, this will enable the regime to reap huge credit from a tiny project.
“We do not oppose this initiative,” Win said. “We are just suggesting that a supplementary or alternative or parallel mechanism is implemented alongside the initiative,” which the NUG proposed to the Thai government after consultation with local players.
At present, it is unclear whether Thailand will accept the proposal.
In November last year, ASEAN MPs for Human Rights and the People's Empowerment Foundation conducted a fact-finding mission in the border towns of Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang to assess the war’s impact on communities in Myanmar’s Karen and Kayah states.
In their final report, they pointed to the Myanmar’s military permanent obstructions in the distribution of humanitarian aid, highlighting continuous air force strikes against civilian refugees in the border areas between Myanmar and Thailand.
“Despite its recent military losses, the Myanmar junta remains a grave threat to the well-being of Myanmar civilians, and continued airstrikes and other military operations have led to an increasing number of IDPs and refugees along the Thai border," the report reads.
The document goes on to note that humanitarian assistance is mainly provided by "women-led civil society organizations”, while “the junta has blocked pathways to aid and weaponized its delivery.”
[*] Ethnic revolutionary organisations.
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10/05/2021 14:41
