(YANGON, August 30, 2018) — The Government of Myanmar has blocked humanitarian aid to tens of thousands of Kachin civilians forcibly displaced by civil war for more than seven years and in violation of the laws of war, Fortify Rights said today in a new report. The authorities should immediately provide local and international aid groups with free and unfettered humanitarian access to all internally displaced persons in need.
“Consecutive governments and the military have willfully obstructed local and international aid groups, denying Kachin civilians access to aid,” said Matthew Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Fortify Rights.
“This may amount to a war crime, giving even more reason for the U.N. Security Council to refer Myanmar to the International Criminal Court.”
China urged Myanmar to prevent access
While widely known that displaced civilians in Kachin State lack adequate access to aid, there have been few details to date about why and how aid fails to reach those in need.
“They Block Everything”: Avoidable Deprivations in Humanitarian Aid to Ethnic Civilians Displaced by War in Kachin State, Myanmar details how Myanmar authorities — particularly the Myanmar military – have weaponized the denial of humanitarian aid in Kachin State for years.
“Depriving civilians of aid in an attempt to overcome an ethnic army is a perverse, unlawful, and ineffective strategy,” said Matthew Smith.
“All parties to this war have a duty to protect civilians and that includes by ensuring access to adequate aid.”
The government has willfully imposed restrictions on access to food, healthcare, shelter, water, and sanitation to tens of thousands of Kachin displaced by ongoing war between the Myanmar Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), one of the largest non-state ethnic armies in the country.
The new report finds that the Chinese government privately urged Myanmar authorities and non-state ethnic armies to prevent the U.N. and international humanitarian aid organizations from operating on the Myanmar side of the border near China’s Yunnan Province, where tens of thousands of Kachin civilians are displaced and in need of aid.
There are currently more than 106,000 ethnic civilians in more than 140 displacement sites in Kachin and Shan states due to ongoing armed-conflict and human rights violations.
