The Myanmar junta is using transportation blockades put in place during fighting with the KNDF to stop emergency aid from reaching areas of the state affected by Typhoon Yagi.
By FRONTIER
Ko Han Thawzin struggled to wade through the raging river in the pitch dark, weighed down by a backpack filled with sand and rocks.
“I had prepared myself for the possibility that he might die in battle,” said the 25-year-old trainee medic’s older sister. “But I can’t accept that he was found floating in the water.”
Han Thawzin was one of 18 medics swept away by flood waters during an ill-fated training mission on September 11, organised by Karenni Nationalities Defence Force, one of many groups fighting to overthrow Myanmar’s military regime.
Some 100 medics were ordered to wade across the river in Kayah State’s Demoso Township – despite heavy rains from Typhoon Yagi raising water levels and current strengths to a dangerous frenzy.
“He had a good heart and always helped others. It’s tragic that this happened to him at such a young age,” said his sister.
The mass drowning of combat medics occurred at the vicious nexus of natural disaster and the conflict between the KNDF and the military regime, which seized power in a 2021 coup. The double catastrophe continues playing out in Kayah nearly two months after the typhoon made landfall, as many flood victims remain in desperate need of aid.
The war has had a devastating impact on Kayah’s civilians, displacing some 200,000 people – roughly half the state population. The Karenni Interim Executive Council, a parallel state government formed to administer territory seized from the military, said 30,000 people were impacted by the flooding, including those sheltering at camps for the internally displaced. In addition to the KNDF medics, 11 civilians were killed by flooding and landslides, said Ko Banyar, second secretary of the Karenni IEC.
Nearly 2,000 houses and over 10,800 acres of crops were also damaged or destroyed, causing substantial losses for farmers already struggling to get by, and raising the spectre of food insecurity. Meanwhile, trade and transport disruptions have caused a spike in the price of consumer goods.
But far from coming to the rescue, activists and residents say the military is making the situation worse.
Blocking the flow of goods
The Karenni IEC’s humanitarian department is collaborating with local administrative bodies and civil society organisations to form emergency relief committees in each township. But efforts to provide support have been curtailed by the military junta, which has used checkpoints to block the flow of goods into areas under KNDF control.
Ko Banyar said that even before the typhoon, military checkpoints obstructed deliveries of relief supplies to people displaced by the war. The military has long done this to stop goods from reaching insurgents, to collectively punish civilians seen as supporting those insurgents and to undermine the effectiveness of parallel public services.
The KNDF had previously seized much of Pekon Township in neighbouring southern Shan State, which served as a transport outlet to other parts of the country, but this area has been largely reclaimed by a military counter-offensive.
“All of those roads are currently under the control of the military council, which continues to block the delivery of goods to the Karenni region and is arresting those attempting to send supplies,” Ko Banyar said.
For this reason, CSOs said they have been avoiding making deliveries to some flood-affected areas.
Ko Thant Zin Oo, a member of the Armarn Thit Parahita Organisation, said the group can access KNDF-controlled Nan Mei Khon town in western Demoso Township. But crossing to the eastern part of the township, also largely controlled by the KNDF, would require passing dangerously close to military outposts.
“There are significant challenges to providing assistance near those locations, including putting our own lives at risk,” he said.
Even offering support in regime-controlled areas is difficult. Relief workers said that when they attempted to deliver aid to the state capital Loikaw, they were stopped at a checkpoint and denied access.
Compounding the blockades is the damage to farmland. An official from the Karenni Humanitarian Aid Initiative said that efforts by the junta to block food deliveries mean residents must rely even more on local products and crops – much of which was destroyed by the flooding.
“We were close to harvesting the rainy season rice, but now much of it has been destroyed,” said the KHAI official. “Some of the sesame fields had already been harvested, but the harvests have been submerged and lost. The corn crop hasn’t produced a yield yet, but the corn fields could also be lost if the water doesn’t recede quickly.”
A spokesperson for the Karenni IEC’s Department of Humanitarian Assistance and Rehabilitation said he is “genuinely concerned that there will not be enough food for the local population”, adding many farmers have lost their main source of income.
“We can say that our ‘rice pot’ has been lost,” he said.
Nan Mei Khon, in Demoso Township, is a prime example of a town that has been battered by the war and now the flood. Lying on a road connecting Demoso and Loikaw towns, the main town had largely been reduced to rubble, and now the rural areas surrounding it have been devastated as well.
One resident, who lost two acres to flooding, said farmers are now facing a “real struggle” when it comes to securing enough food for survival.
“We are relying on food supplies donated by humanitarian organisations for our sustenance, and we are grateful for their support,” he said on October 14. “However, we are also facing health issues such as skin rashes and gastrointestinal problems. Many of our homes are still submerged, and we will need to begin rebuilding once the water recedes. Some houses have been completely destroyed, so we are asking for assistance and support.”
Another Nan Mei Khon farmer, who lost seven acres of paddy fields, said she had invested K7.5 million in the crop, over US$1,600.
“If the water recedes, I can plant again, but we need capital, so I would like to request donors to support us with seeds and money,” she said.
Aid trickles in
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Despite the travel restrictions imposed by the junta, some aid has managed to reach those in need, through a combination of determination and resourcefulness.
On September 16, drones more commonly used to bomb military outposts were instead deployed to deliver food and medicine to isolated people in eastern Demoso Township.
“We stopped using drones when we were able to access the areas by boat,” Ko Banyar said.
The official from KHAI said that as of mid-October, the organisation was still distributing essential food supplies, such as rice, as well as basic household items like utensils and roofing materials.
The area has also received some support from the National Unity Government, a union-level parallel administration appointed by elected lawmakers deposed in the coup. On October 6, the NUG said it had delivered K71.7 million to the Karenni IEC, which is funnelling the aid to the joint committees established with local CSOs.
“The committees are conducting assessments and guiding local residents on how to rebuild. At the same time, we are engaging in discussions with international organisations to secure the necessary funding and assistance for rehabilitation efforts,” the Karenni IEC humanitarian department official said.
“Helping flood-affected people involves overcoming challenges like damaged bridges and security issues that make travel difficult, but we’re using various methods to deliver assistance. Organisations and donors are working with our committees, and some of them have set up local relief centres where flood-affected people can access aid.”
As the water levels have receded, donations have dried up too, but relief organisations said people are more in need of aid than ever.
“The number of donations has decreased,” said an official from the Kayah Li Phu Youth group on October 15, who added that floodwater had receded from most parts of KNDF-controlled eastern Loikaw Township. But many whose homes were completely destroyed are still living in temporary shelters, and food remains a concern.
Ko Banyar said that due to high commodity prices and the scarcity of goods, substantial support is needed not only for emergency aid but also for rebuilding.
“Many people who were displaced by the war had to collect materials and build shelters from scratch. Now that another disaster has struck, many of these shelters have been destroyed, so they have to gradually gather materials again to rebuild their shelters,” he said.
But no amount of aid will bring back the dead. As the floodwaters dried and the bodies were laid to rest, the KNDF conducted an internal investigation into the mass drowning of its medics.
The subsequent statement concluded that the tragedy was a result of poor judgment, negligence, lack of preparation and proceeding with the exercise despite being “aware of the natural disaster” wrought by Typhoon Yagi.
“I pray for all the young people who lost their lives,” said Han Thawzin’s sister. “I pray that if they’re reborn in the next life, they will not be born in Myanmar.”
