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Violence Against or Obstruction of Health Care in Myanmar (May 2022 update)

Pays
Myanmar
Sources
Insecurity Insight
Date de publication
Origine
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On 1 February 2021 the Myanmar armed forces (known as the Tatmadaw) seized control of the country following a general election that the National League for Democracy (NLD) party won by a landslide. The military junta that the Tatmadaw established to run the country is officially known as the State Administration Council (SAC). Over the period February–November 2021 hundreds of people, including children, were killed and many injured during nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) protests against the coup and violent SAC crackdowns on those opposing it.

Doctors and nurses were arrested for providing medical care to protesters, health workers were injured while providing care to protesters, ambulances were destroyed, and health facilities were raided. In the first few months of 2022 health care in Myanmar continued to be under attack.

By the end of 2021 what began as an urban-based protest movement had escalated into a wider conflict extending into the countryside. In September the opposition National Unity Government (NUG) declared war on the Tatmadaw. Shortly after, the Tatmadaw began a brutal offensive throughout the country, razing villages, damaging or destroying health infrastructure with artillery or air strikes, and blocking medical aid to opposition-controlled areas.

This update to the one-year report published in February has been prepared by Insecurity Insight, as part of the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC). It highlights reported incidents of violence against health workers, facilities, and transport in Myanmar between 1 January and 31 March 2022 to highlight the impact on the health system as a whole. It does not include information on violence against patients. It is drawn from credible information that is available in local, national, and international news outlets, online databases, and social media reports