A Burmese proverb says that there are five kinds of enemies: flood, fire, king or government, thief, and someone you dislike. In late July, some people in flood-affected areas of Myanmar said that they had to face two kinds of enemies: flood and the junta government, which failed to carry out enough relief efforts as the water levels rose.
In late July, floods hit some townships in Rakhine, Mon and Kayin states and Sagaing, Ayeyarwady, Bago and Tanintharyi regions, but in most of these places, the junta’s contributions to relief efforts were reportedly limited.
A TRIPLE CHALLENGE
The Myanmar junta’s failure to step up to help compounds the people’s difficulties as the country struggles not only with the aftermath of the February coup but also the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While there is little to indicate the flooding problems in Myanmar are any different than in other years, the problems posed to add to the difficulties faced this year.
A total of 48,472 people have been affected by flooding in the states of Kayin, Mon, and Rakhine, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management said citing Myanmar’s Department of Disaster Management.
The situation is dire in some areas.
Thandwe and Ramee Townships in southern Rakhine State were struck by devastating floods. A female resident in Thandwe told Mizzima that most of the areas in the township were inundated by heavy floods from July 26 to 28, and the locals had to carry out relief work on their own.
“Locals themselves had to distribute food parcels to the flood victims. During the flood days, monks led the flood relief operations. After the floods, young volunteers went to the villages to donate for flood victims,” she told Mizzima.
She continued, “Most of COVID-19 suspected patients with mild symptoms were admitted to Ngapali Hospital. There was no flood in the area of the Ngapali Hospital, so those patients were not in trouble too much. However, several patients who needed oxygen to help them breathe were being treated at Thandwe Hospital, and a new oxygen machine was submerged in water, so those patients were in danger.”
Nan Chaung electrical substation in Thandwe was flooded and high-voltage transformers in the town were also inundated, so there were power cuts in Thandwe on July 26 and 27, according to another Thandwe resident. During the widespread COVID-19 pandemic, even a few hours of power failure could put the lives of COVID-19 patients at huge risk.
A charity worker in Thandwe said on the condition of anonymity that the flood made it difficult to provide proper funeral services in the town during those days.
More than 250 households in Thandwe were evacuated to safer places, said the charity worker.
FLOODED IDP CAMPS
In northern Rakhine State, the Kalarchaung IDP camp, home to more than a thousand IDPs, located in Mrauk-U Township, was flooded in late July too. Elderly people and pregnant women were evacuated from the camp to a Buddhist monastery at Kalarchaung village, according to BNI Multimedia Group, which added that at least three other IDP camps in Mrauk-U Township were inundated by heavy floods.
Mawlamyine, Kyaikmaraw, Paung, Mudon and Yay Townships in Mon State were also affected by floods in July and the residents had to try to overcome the difficulties on their own.
In Kyaikmaraw Township in Mon State, because of the rising Ataran River, several villages in the township were flooded on July 26, a Kyaikmaraw resident told Mizzima.
On July 20, a section of Mawlamyine-Thanbyuzayat Road between Hneepadaw Village and Yaungdaung village in Mudon Township, Mon State was inundated.
Low-lying areas in Mawlamyine were flooded by the Thanlwin River, also known as the Salween. A female resident in Shwe Myine Thiri Ward in Mawlamyine, capital of Mon State, told Mizzima that her ward was inundated for three days, from July 26 to 28. She said, “The junta did not provide any assistance. Some people distributed food, but it was not enough for all the flood victims.”
Despite the floods in Mawlamyine, the junta’s officials failed to carry out relief work and no flood relief camp was set up by the junta to that date, July 28, according to residents in Mawlamyine, which had been also affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A local in Mawlamyine said that he heard that there were at least 20 deaths from what was thought to be COVID-19 during the floods in Mawlamyine.
On July 28, an independent news agency Myanmar Now reported that the junta offered no assistance as floods inundated homes in Mawlamyine in Mon State and Myawaddy border town in Kayin State.
Citing a local rescue group in flood-hit Hlaingbwe in Kayin State, another news article of Myanmar Now, dated July 29, said that the junta helped to resettle flood victims in the town and provided food but did not give any assistance for COVID-19 cases during the floods.
FAÇADE OF HELP?
The junta-run newspapers, notorious for intentional misinformation and propaganda, often reported that soldiers, officials of relevant government departments and firefighters carried out necessary relief work in flood-hit areas. A resident in Thandwe said that the news of junta’s humanitarian assistance for flood victims in their newspapers might be only partially and superficially true but the assistance was insufficient and not effective. They are more interested in getting cheap recognition than helping, he added.
The floods also affected the agricultural sector of Myanmar. Floods in Kayin State inundated 7,000 acres of monsoon paddy fields and 90 acres of maize fields, according to a news report of DVB.
The natural disaster also affected Rohingya refugees in late July. At least six Rohingya people in refugee camps on the Bangladeshi side were reportedly killed by floods or landslides in late July.
GLOBAL CHALLENGE
2021 has been a bad year for flooding globally. A total of 124 flood events across 385 locations in more than 20 nations were recorded during July, according to FloodList, a team of dedicated people bringing news and info on floods and flooding from around the world. More than 920 people have lost their lives in July including 219 in Belgium and western Germany, 192 in India, 113 in Afghanistan and 99 in central China. In Europe, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland and the UK were hit by floods. In the aftermath of floods across the world in July, a spokesperson of the World Meteorological Organization called for more action against climate change, according to a UN report. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK was ready to provide humanitarian assistance while Italy and Austria offered to send flood rescue teams to affected areas in Belgium, reported the Associated Press.
CYCLONE NARGIS HANGOVER
A succession of military juntas has a dire record when it comes to any sense of humanitarian spirit.
When Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in May 2008, about 140,000 lives were lost and 800,000 were displaced. The junta leader Senior General Than Shwe initially resisted large-scale international aid. They even arrested some volunteers and charity workers who carried out relief work. The US accused the then-junta of "criminal neglect" in its response to Nargis. Despite the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Myanmar, the then-junta held the notorious constitutional referendum in most of Myanmar on May 10 that year.
There is a pattern.
Political analysts allege that the junta had used the COVID-19 pandemic as a political weapon to consolidate power and crush dissent. Some volunteer doctors and nurses treating suspect COVID-19 patients were arrested for being involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM).
ANNUAL PROBLEM
Flooding, of course, is nothing new for Myanmar. It is an annual problem. What is different from previous years’ incidents is the junta’s negligence. In 2020, more than 60,000 people in five states and regions in Myanmar were affected by floods, according to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and. Resettlement under then NLD-led government. Nearly 200 flood relief camps were set up in the flood areas at that time. The civilian government provided food and building materials for flood victims. The ministry under the civilian government set up hotline phones for flood victims.
This year in July the floods were not as severe as in some countries, but the natural disaster has caused the people of Myanmar a great deal of suffering. People feel insecure, helpless and hopeless, thinking that no matter how severe the disaster, they will be ignored.
In times of difficulty, people of faith turn to their religion for guidance. According to the concept of Myanmar Buddhists, there are three extreme catastrophes: famine, war, and epidemic diseases.
Now, the people of Myanmar face all three, with flooding adding insult to injury.
Yet, unlike the story in the Christian Bible, there is no Noah’s Ark to rescue the people of Myanmar.
Mizzima
