Junta accused of ‘hoax’ ceasefire as shunned General Min Aung Hlaing welcomed back by regional powers
“We saw that they released a ceasefire statement. However, the fighting hasn’t stopped,” Naw Bu was quoted as saying.
It was unclear if there were casualties.
The official death toll from the magnitude earthquake exceeds 3100, a figure still expected to rise significantly as overwhelmed rescuers, many of them civilians, continue to sift through the rubble.
A Bhutanese medical volunteer attends to a patient at a makeshift tent after last week’s earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on Friday.Credit: AP
While humanitarian organisations reported aid efforts getting through to certain areas, the military junta was also hampering or outright blocking response efforts in others, particularly those controlled by resistance groups.
Large towns in the Sagaing region and areas of Bago and Shan State “remained inaccessible to humanitarian emergency assistance – except for what can be organised locally by residents,” according to the UN.
Ko Saulsman, a Melbourne-based campaign manager for the Myanmar Campaign Network, told this masthead the military had been shutting down civilian rescue efforts in areas near Sagaing at 10pm because it was worried resistance fighters could be among the crowds.
“The [regime] doesn’t care about people in the rubble, under the buildings and houses,” he said. “They care more about democratic forces threatening them.”
In addition, young people who would normally be the first to help were either scared of being forcibly conscripted into the military, a tactic employed by the regime since early last year, or were already members of the anti-junta People’s Defence Forces, he said.
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For days since the earthquake, the junta continued attacks across Myanmar even as it asked the international community for humanitarian support. It eventually committed to a ceasefire the day after accidentally firing on a Chinese Red Cross convoy in the northern part of Shan state that had failed to declare itself in advance. China is the regime’s most important backer.
In a statement, the regime said the ceasefire would run from April 2-22, “with empathy and understanding towards the people across the country”, adding that it would take “necessary response measures” if provoked.
The NUG, which controls the People’s Defence Forces, and several powerful ethnic armies had already declared ceasefires before the military.
A junta spokesman has not responded to requests for comment. In Bangkok, On the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit, Min Aung Hlaing also met with Indian Prime Minister Naredra Modi who reportedly pushed for an early restoration of the democratic process in Myanmar.
