Central Myanmar has been gripped by an unprecedented heat wave, amid a brutal civil war that has seen public services collapse, while the military razes shelters and sabotages water supplies.
By ANT PWEH AUNG | FRONTIER
About a month ago, 45-year-old school teacher Daw Cho Cho Han* fled her home in Salingyi Township, along with her two brothers and their 82-year-old mother. They lived near the Letpadaung copper mine, operated by the Chinese Wanbao company in partnership with a military conglomerate. The mine has become a battleground in the fight between the military and pro-democracy forces in Sagaing Region.
Like many internally displaced people, they took shelter at a monastery in a nearby village. They had been forced to flee many times before, but unlike during the other incidents, they still haven’t been able to return home. With temperatures soaring to record highs, special arrangements were needed for the vulnerable IDPs, like Cho Cho Han’s elderly and ailing mother.
“My mother is suffering from various underlying diseases, so we have to take special care of her health,” Cho Cho Han said.
To lower the temperature, volunteers built a heat shelter in the basement of the monastery, covering the walls with wet blankets that are periodically replaced when they dry out. In addition, each elderly person is monitored by their family members.
Cho Cho Han said all the elderly IDPs suffer from discomfort, such as neck pain, nausea or sore throats, but her mother also suffers from chronic illnesses that make her more vulnerable, including high blood pressure, heart disease, gout and kidney disease.
“It’s very dangerous for elderly IDPs, including my mother, to have to flee conflict during times of extreme heat. I think they are the most unfortunate people in the world,” she said.
Salingyi is in Myanmar’s central Dry Zone, an area that includes parts of Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions. Armed resistance to the 2021 military coup has been particularly fierce there, led by pro-democracy militias known broadly as People’s Defence Forces. But as the name suggests, the Dry Zone is also an area that experiences soaring heat waves during the hot season, which peaks in April and May, and sometimes severe droughts.
This year has been worse than usual, both because of record-breaking temperatures and the intensifying conflict, which has seen public services collapse while a rampaging military destroys shelters and water supplies.
Record-breaking heat
On April 28, Chauk town in Magway was the hottest city on Earth, reaching a temperature of 48.2 degrees Celsius, the highest recorded there in 56 years.
According to the El Dorado Weather website, three other towns in Myanmar also made the top 10 list – Minbu and Magway towns, also in Magway Region, and Mandalay’s Nyaung-U town – all clocking in around 45C. This was not just a one-day anomaly – Chauk was gripped by a heatwave from March 25 to May 3, during which the temperature exceeded 40C every day.
Locals said the heat rendered midday unbearable, with Chauk resembling a ghost town between 11am and 4pm, as residents took refuge in basements, using air conditioners and electric fans when they could. But electricity outages have become frequent since the coup, leaving many with nothing but handheld fans, while more resourceful individuals built temporary palm frond huts in their yards to provide additional shade from the relentless sun.
Construction workers adjusted their schedules, stopping by noon and returning only after 4pm for a shortened shift, according to Ko Kyaw Zin, a foreman who lives with his mother, his wife, and their teenage son.
“The heat here seems to worsen every year,” Kyaw Zin told Frontier. “There’s no respite. With temperatures rising year after year, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll even reach old age.”
But he’s more concerned about his 70-year-old mother, who requires careful attention, including being wiped down with wet cloths regularly to prevent heat exhaustion.
“We have to look after her constantly to ensure her safety,” he said.
Radio Free Asia reported that nearly 1,500 people died from heat-related causes in April, with another 100 dying across just four days in May – including infants, the elderly and the ill.
“The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the effects of high temperatures,” said Dr Kyaw Minn Tun, a general practitioner in Yangon. “Those with underlying health conditions, especially the elderly and children, face a potentially life-threatening situation.”
Post-coup breakdowns
The heatwave has been compounded by a breakdown of public services since the military regime overthrew the elected National League for Democracy government three years ago.
The coup sparked a deep economic crisis and a widespread strike of civil servants, known as the Civil Disobedience Movement, leaving many public services barely functioning, particularly in conflict-affected areas like the Dry Zone.
In a particularly vexing example, the regime has struggled to keep the lights on, and has been rationing electricity.
“The problem is the electricity. Even if it’s hot, it’s still okay if the electricity is on. When the electricity goes out at night, the elderly and babies can’t even sleep,” said a Magway town resident.
U Than Tun, a local philanthropist, said because of the mass strike, both hospitals in Magway town are understaffed.
“There are departments in the big hospitals that can’t operate at full capacity,” he said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities cooperated with charity groups and residents to build heat shelters for the elderly and young children, like the one Cho Cho Han’s mother took refuge at in Salingyi. Heat shelters were usually established in Buddhist community halls and schools, or under the shade of large trees, and came equipped with air coolers, electric fans and free food.
While some residents are still setting up shelters on their own, charity services said local authorities are no longer involved and have stopped educating the public about how to guard against heat stroke.
A resident of Chauk town said there are no heat shelters operating there, despite the junta maintaining firm control over the town.
“In the past, authorities used loudspeakers mounted on vehicles to warn people about heat stroke in each ward, but that has stopped since the coup,” she added.
Rising temperatures have also exacerbated water shortages in many Dry Zone villages. Residents and water donation groups in Magway told Frontier that government agencies like the Department of Disaster Management have become largely ineffective in addressing this problem since the coup. Meanwhile, the regime’s crackdown on civil society means charity groups have become afraid to deliver even basic services.
“Many individual donors and charities used to help during water shortages before the coup,” said Ko Moe of the Magway Parahita Association. “Unfortunately, many of them have disappeared because of the current political situation and concerns about safety.”
Some are taking the risk to help those in need anyway, like Yenanthar Dingar, a Magway-based group that donates drinking water, digs water ponds and plants trees.
The group’s leader said there has been a significant rise in demand for drinking water donations this year in the area where they operate, with seven villages in urgent need in Yenangyaung, Chauk and Magway townships.
He said due to climate change, the situation will only continue to worsen.
“Temperatures will rise more and more year after year,” he warned. “While we can’t control the extreme heat, the authorities need to do more to enforce regulations against cutting down large trees, which offer crucial shade.”
Punishing conditions
The military has used brutal collective punishment against civilians in areas where the PDFs operate, including burning villages which leaves them even more exposed to the elements.
The S&C charity group, based in Sagaing’s Tabayin Township, is a volunteer organisation trying to help arson victims.
“We’re relentlessly building new houses for IDPs but it’s a race against time. The sheer number of houses destroyed by the junta troops using arson far outstrips our capacity to rebuild,” said the group’s leader U Htin Kyaw*.
The S&C health clinic has seen a surge in patients, with over 50 percent suffering from heat-related conditions, and 10pc of the cases involving heat stroke.
“The elderly and young children are most vulnerable,” Htin Kyaw said. “Many arrive at the clinic sweating profusely, on the verge of fainting. We prioritise administering intravenous fluids to stabilise them. Thankfully, no deaths have occurred among our patients so far.”
Dr Kyaw Minn Tun said it’s impossible to know the number of heat-related deaths across the country because many people could be dying without reaching hospitals or health centres.
“In the midst of war and unrest in central Myanmar, it’s difficult for us to get real data,” he said.
Even water sources haven’t been spared from the military’s wanton destruction. Civil society groups said regime forces have intentionally vandalised ponds and wells in Magway’s Pakokku and Myaing townships, including by contaminating them with human excrement and dead animals.
Back in Salingyi, healthcare worker Ma Su Myat Ko* is busy treating elderly IDPs like Cho Cho Han’s mother. She previously worked as a basic health service supervisor in the Lahe Township Public Health Department, in the remote and undeveloped Naga Self-Administered Zone, in northwestern Sagaing. She joined the CDM after the coup, but continued to dedicate herself to helping those in need.
“The extreme heat has taken a toll on the health of many elderly and young children among the displaced population,” Su Myat Ko said. “On average, I see around five sick IDPs every day. One elderly female IDP just died from extreme heat.”
The 85-year-old died on May 17, despite desperate efforts by her daughters to cool her down with wet blankets.
“No matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t save our mother’s life,” one of her daughters said. “Until the day she died, my mother was always longing to go home.”
*indicates the use of a pseudonym for security reasons
