The March 28, 7.7-magnitude quake shook more than the earth in Myanmar. It tore through homes, lives, and hope, with thousands lying buried and survivors clinging through rubble, racing against time to rescue loved ones.
Rescue workers faced limited access to the impacted area that night and the days after, as the military feared resistance fighters might lurk among the survivors. In Sagaing, the epicentre and an area partially under the control of the democratic resistance, rescue efforts were carried out under the threat of military airstrikes.
Ko Saulsman, campaigner with Myanmar Campaign Network (MCN) Australia, said: “The military don’t care about the people under the ruins. They care only about their grip on power.” The words reflect a grim reality unfolding in Myanmar, where a natural disaster has become yet another battlefield in the junta’s war against its own people.
The military announced a temporary ceasefire from 2 to 22 April, ostensibly to focus on relief efforts. Yet, the promise rang hollow as airstrikes continued unabated in the days that followed, targeting quake-ravaged regions and resistance strongholds alike. These reports suggest the junta’s so-called ceasefire as little more than a public relations stunt.
Days later, on April 3, Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, stepped onto a red carpet in Bangkok for the BIMSTEC summit. The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation espoused diplomacy, but for many, his presence, especially Thailand’s invitation, was the cause of justified outrage.
In Jakarta, Mercy Chriesty Barends, chairperson of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR), condemned the move. ‘This isn’t diplomacy, it’s endorsing oppression,’ she said.
Political isolation
In Australia, the MCN sent a letter to Peter Khalil, chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Myanmar. “Condemn this,” they urged. Their words, a plea to pierce the silence of complicity.
The junta’s attendance at the summit isn’t just a seat at the table; it constitutes a political signal of validation for an anti-democratic government to the detriment of those still trapped under Myanmar’s wreckage, both literal and political.
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military junta has killed more than 6,000 people, arbitrarily detained more than 20,000, and renewed judicial executions. More than 3.5 million people are internally displaced. Human rights groups have documented the military’s torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, indiscriminate attacks, and the denial of humanitarian aid, which may amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes.
MCN calls on the Australian government and international communities to enforce measures that disrupt jet fuel supply chains critical to the junta’s airstrikes against civilians and to expand sanctions targeting military-controlled industries such as jade, timber, oil, and gas while minimising harm to civilians.