People squat on the tarmac at Mandalay airport
After a four -year civil war, a serious food crisis and a decline economy, Myanmar is now devastated by a powerful earthquake.
Friday, the magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the city of Sagaing in the center of Myanmar, and was followed by information of destruction from neighboring Mandalay – the second largest city in the country – as well as the capital, not Pyi Taw, which is more than 150 miles (241 km).
It is difficult to withdraw information from Myanmar. Mobile lines in affected areas have been unequal since the earthquake, but tens of thousands of people also live without electricity and there is limited internet access. Foreign journalists are also rarely allowed to enter officially due to a lack of press freedom.
So how did myanmar get here?
The country has experienced decades of unrest and military regime since its independence from Great Britain in 1948.
In 2011, he seemed to move away from this and the free elections took place four years later, that Ang San Suu Kyi won.
Democratic hopes were destroyed in 2021, while she and her government were overthrown by a coup led by General Min Aung Hlaing.
He owned and charged Ms. Suu Kyi and other members of his government, making allegations of generalized fraud during an organized vote of months earlier, when his National League for Democracy won more than 80% of the ballot.
The coup d’état sparked huge events, thousands of people going to the streets daily, demanding the restoration of civil domination. Violence quickly intensified between civilians and the military, the army responding with brutal force, using tear gas and rubber bullets against crowds.
Rights defense groups believe that hundreds of people have died and thousands were injured during the repression.
What initially started as a campaign of civil disobedience quickly became a generalized insurrection involving pro -democracy and ethnic groups – which ultimately sparked a total civil war.
Four years later, the violent fighting continued between the army on the one hand, and the ethnic armies and the armed resistance groups on the other.
The army has undergone enormous losses and no longer controls large parts of the country. Discovery with General Min Aung Hlaing also increased among the rows of the army, as more and more soldiers defect.
The fighting has left millions of people living in constant fear and insecurity – with little access to basic needs, including medical care and food, say rights for rights.
According to the UN, more than 3.5 million people have been moved by fighting, which also said that this number would only grow as the conflict continues.
Food insecurity has reached “unprecedented levels”, says the global food program for organization, adding that rapid inflation has made food unaffordable for many.
Earlier this week, the UN announced that it would reduce aid to more than a million people in Myanmar compared to next month, citing global funding deficits.
This comes from months after more than 200 people died following the Typhon Yagi, which sparked serious floods and mud shifts in Myanmar and left hundreds of thousands of acres of destroyed crops.
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Myanmar military leader, Min Aung Hlaing (C), arrives to meet survivors of the earthquake
Friday’s earthquake will undoubtedly add to the suffering of the country’s 50 million people.
He struck near the city of Sagaing – a rebellious bastion. A few months ago, it was the site of heavy fights between the rebels and the soldiers, with local reports saying that air strikes had been launched, fleeing thousands of thousands.
The second largest city, Mandalay, was also struck by the earthquake and houses 1.5 million people. The Mandalay region has experienced intense fights between resistance troops and the army.
A very slow limited flow of information from the country suggests that a hospital in the capital Naytyidaw, where the military government is located, has been transformed into a “site of mass victims” – the few visuals that we can see painting an image of destruction, showing cracked roads and collapsed buildings.
“Hundreds of people injured arrive … But the emergency building has also collapsed,” hospital officials told AFP.
The country’s junta has now declared the state of emergency in several regions.
But we do not know how they will react to the earthquake as they fight a war under the direction of a besieged general.
