The long isolation of Myanmar and its internal instability are likely to complicate the global response of humanitarian aid to the earthquake which struck on Friday, despite a rare plea for the external aid of the government dominated by the military of the country.
“We need and want the international community to provide humanitarian aid,” said military spokesman, General Zaw Min Tun. “We will cooperate with them to ensure the best care for the victims.”
Myanmar was cut by the United States and many other Western countries in 2021, after the military seized power during a coup and imposed a brutal repression. Even before the coup, the country had been under various sanctions for decades, more recently for violence organized against the Rohingya minority.
Western sanctions include sculptures for humanitarian aid, and the United Nations said on Friday that it mobilized help for people in need. But in a country ravaged by civil war, major logistical obstacles remain to get help to people who need it most.
Michael Martin, a non -resident scholarship holder at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the security and safety of international acided workers reach the affected regions was a problem.
There is also a risk that soldiers prevent humanitarian workers from reaching the areas held by rebels, or fail to slow down the delivery of aid, including by reconditioning it to seem that it comes from the army rather than international institutions, said Dr. Martin, who was the former main analyst on Myanmar for the Congressal Research Service. The military could also prevent help from obtaining visas or delaying treatment deadlines, he added.
And, while many international aid organizations have been based on the principle that the delivery of aid should not be political, in practice, it is not always possible. The soldiers “can try to direct more assistance to the domains which are nominally under their control” than the areas under the control of the opposition forces, said Dr. Martin.
When an earthquake of amplitude of 7.8 struck the region of northwestern Syria two years ago, under the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad, Little International Aid reached the region the next day. Some survivors had to dig through the rubble in hand, because the government limited what was going in the opposition areas.
In Myanmar, the army has reigned in an oppressed manner most of the time since 1962; And even during the limited liberalization periods, the armed forces remained a major political power. For a large part of this time, the country has limited contacts with the outside world.
Stefan Dercon, professor of economics at the Blavatnik School of Government of Oxford University, said that another problem could be to transfer funds to Myanmar, whether through sanctioned banks managed by managers or other channels, and logistics for obtaining supplies in the right areas.
“The delivery of humanitarian aid will be very, very complicated,” said Dr. Dercon. “Humanitarian operations are fundamentally logistical operations, and they need cooperation of many people.”
Another problem is to collect the necessary funds, he said. Given the isolation of the western myanmar, it is unlikely that there is a large queue for international donors, he said.
Dr. Martin also said that it was not clear to what extent the US government would help, given the hostility of the Trump administration to foreign aid programs and major reductions to the American agency for international development.
