The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) called on Myanmar’s neighbouring countries, China, India, Thailand, Laos, and Bangladesh, to allow international humanitarian aid to cross from their countries into Myanmar.
The call came in a 17 September statement by the SAC-M, which describes itself as: “An independent group of international human rights experts working to support the peoples of Myanmar in their fight for peace, genuine democracy, justice and accountability.”
Typhoon Yagi, the most powerful storm to hit Asia so far this year, made landfall in northern Vietnam on 7 September 2024. On 8 September it was downgraded to a tropical depression before first hitting eastern and central regions of Myanmar on 10 September as heavy rainfall.
The rainfall has caused extensive flooding and landslides in Shan, Mon, Karen, and Karenni states, and Bago, Sagaing, and Magway regions and areas surrounding the capital, Naypyidaw.
According to junta-controlled state media at least 113 people have been killed and 325,000 have been internally displaced by Typhoon Yagi, though SAC-M says the actual figures are likely to be far higher.
Determining the exact extent of the damage caused by Typhoon Yagi remains challenging but surveys compiled by ethnic resistance forces involved in social relief efforts estimate that around 700,000 people were impacted, with the number of casualties surpassing 1,000.
According to SAC-M “Myanmar was already facing a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, devastated by almost four years of revolutionary war against the military junta,” which had already led to an estimated three million people being displaced throughout the country before the recent flooding.
The flooding has worsened Myanmar’s ongoing crisis and there is an urgent need for aid.
Despite this, the junta has been deliberately blocking aid from reaching flood victims. Even prior to this most recent flooding the junta “has consistently prevented humanitarian assistance from reaching those in need,” according to SAC-M.
In its statement SAC-M said: “States neighbouring Myanmar must drop the politics and open their borders to allow international humanitarian aid to reach the Myanmar people.”
To this end it recommends that aid providers engage with Myanmar resistance authorities and civil society because ”resistance actors have greater control in more of the country than the military and, along with civil society, have experience in administering humanitarian assistance to people in their areas and beyond.”
The statement also warns humanitarian actors against working with the Myanmar junta, saying it “will seek to use engagement with international actors on humanitarian grounds to advance its own military and political agenda at the expense of the Myanmar people.”
In its advice it says: “Donors must be especially careful to ensure aid is provided in a way that reaches the people most in need and is not instrumentalized by the military junta. The military junta’s lack of de facto and de jure legitimacy means international actors are not legally bound by the arbitrary restrictions it has sought, and will continue to seek, to impose on humanitarian access to and around Myanmar.”
Talking of how the junta uses aid to legitimise itself Saw Kelly, a spokesperson for Committee for Internally Displaced Karen People (CIDKP), said: "The junta widely publicized its meetings with international representatives in an attempt to present itself as internationally recognized. We strongly dislike the junta portraying itself as a legitimate regime by exploiting humanitarian relief efforts.”
The SAC-M statement ends with a call to action saying: “Myanmar’s neighbours and the wider international community must act in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and not allow Min Aung Hlaing to exploit this latest disaster to further deepen Myanmar’s suffering.”
