The situation in Myanmar is very sad and desperate. We had calls with our partners there last week and wanted to share their updates (with all identifying information removed).

• People are dying everyday from COVID and numbers of cases and deaths are increasing at a rapid pace. (One partner Director) said that it is frightening to live in Yangon right now because of the COVID situation. He shared stories of several neighbors recently dying due to COVID. As part of (partner organization’s) relief committee he was out trying to find oxygen for people. There is none to be found at this time. He said some of the wealthier people with connections to the government are hoarding oxygen. When people get seriously sick with COVID (or other illness), there is no medical help. The hospitals for the most part are closed and/or not accepting patients for treatment. People have no options but to try to treat at home. Pharmacies are closing and those that remain open have shortages of medicines. (He) said antibiotics in particular are very hard to come by.
• (One partner Director) said that the poor are being affected much more than people with resources and they are dying in larger numbers as opposed to wealthier people
• People do not have respect for the government and so when it issues advice or warnings regarding COVID prevention and transmission, people are ignoring it.
• (One partner Director) expressed that especially in Yangon right now, there is a general feeling of helplessness.
• In Yangon, food prices are rapidly increasing. (Two partner staff) mentioned that egg prices had tripled in the last couple of days and now there was a shortage of eggs as well. (Another partner staff) expressed a worry that MCC funding for food relief would not go as far because of rising food prices.
• The military has taken over the quarantine centers and the photos show hard bamboo mats on concrete floors with curtains between them. People are scared to get Covid-19 because of getting sick, but they are also very scared to go to the quarantine centers. Food provided at the centers appears to be white rice in a banana leaf with a few pickles and sour sauce.
• Medical facilities and medical supplies continue to be difficult to access. While we haven’t had recent reports of the military actively entering medical facilities and destroying supplies like they were doing regularly during April-May, there just aren’t supplies or personnel available, even for treatment of common illness/injury
• Medical personnel who fled the violence in some areas have set up ad-hoc medical care in homes, abandoned libraries or in the jungle to help meet the needs of people.
• Rakhine state, where MCC has done most of our work, is actually doing well compared to most of the country. This is because the armed group AA (Arakin Army) who was actively fighting the civilian government, has a tenuous peace with the military. This is classic military strategy – they make peace with some of the armed ethnic groups which attacking other groups. So civilian life is generally better there, but the internally displaced people continue to struggle. The “side effect” of this peace in Rakhine is that both the military and the AA may seize relief supplies. (One partner director) said that they were learned 2 weeks ago that the military had heard they were delivering food relief to the internally displaced people and planned to stop and search their car. Because (our partner) had notice, they were able to put a minimal amount of relief aid in the car and loaded the rest on a boat which they sent around the other side of the internally displaced community. This allowed them to be monitored and not draw additional attention, plus they allowed the car through once they saw the relief supplies were too few to be worth taking.

Both partners have expressed deep appreciation for MCC’s ongoing support, our international advocacy offices, and MCC’s flexibility around programing. All of the staff from both partners are currently safe, though one is hiding with relatives in another province after being targeted by the military for delivering food to the people in the jungle.

We appreciate your continued prayers for peace and safety.