International Aid Fails to Reach IDPs in Burma
By Network Media Group
Saturday, July 29, 2023
International aid offered by the United Nations (UN) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations isn’t getting to many of the internally displaced persons (IDPs). These groups are cooperating with the military regime, and it is preventing funds from being delivered to the conflict zones or areas controlled by resistance forces where most of the IDPs are hiding.
“They cannot provide any person with assistance without permission from the Military Council. I think all of the international organisations, including the UN agencies, need to come up with a solution for this,” said U Soe Myint, chair of the Burma News International’s (BNI) Media Development Committee during a recent report launch.
A ‘Riddle For International Donor Governments Finding Solutions to Humanitarian Crisis’ report from BNI’s Myanmar Peace Monitor released in July has found that of 14.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Burma, only 4.361 million were able to receive it. Of these, over 500,000 people were IDPs. UNOCHA disbursed a total of $9 million, which was subsequently divided and distributed among all recipients.
The report’s primary objective was to prompt large international donor countries to reassess their mechanisms, ensuring that humanitarian aid reaches the IDPs who have been overlooked and are in dire need of assistance.
Daw Tin Tin Nyo, BNI’s managing director, a network of ethnic media organizations including NMG, explained when you break down how much money the donor counties gave to help the humanitarian crisis — it’s less than $17 per person for 2022. This is if you ignore the fact that the majority of the IDPs actually received nothing from these governments of these countries last year.
“The IDPs mainly received assistance in the form of person-to-person aid from Burmese nationals living inside and outside the country,” she explained.
The exiled National Unity Government (NUG) distributed 6.6 billion kyat (about $3.2m) from private donations, Tin Tin Nyo said. Through its Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, assistance was provided for about 300k, which includes the IDPs, government staff who joined the Civil Disobedience Movement, and families whose offspring were killed fighting as People’s Defence Force soldiers and the families of political prisoners.
According to the report, over 1.5 million people have been displaced by the various conflicts across the country. Among the areas affected, Sagaing Region bears the heaviest impact, with over 660,000 IDPs in dire need of aid.
BNI urges international donor governments, respective agencies, and all stakeholders to organize a discussion forum about providing effective relief to those in need in Burma, including implementing cross-border assistance and pushing the military regime to enact no-fly and protection zones in the conflict areas as soon as possible.
The media network recommends cooperating with NUG, local civil societies, and ethnic armed organisations that have already established infrastructure mechanisms to bring food, medicines and other assistance to the IDPs.
