Widespread floods and uptick in fighting deepen humanitarian crisis in Myanmar

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A surge in conflict combined with torrential rains and floods is deepening the crisis in Myanmar, leading to a surge in displacement, UN humanitarians have said.

Overflowing rivers have submerged towns and villages, impacting nearly 400,000 people, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.

Critical infrastructure has been damaged – including roads and railways – along with wide swaths of cropland, threatening both livelihoods and food security.

“Across Myanmar, people are facing the painful consequences of widespread conflict and devastating disaster. The spiralling crisis has pushed many people into survival mode,” the Office of the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator said in a statement on Monday, applauding aid workers and host communities.

“Local and national humanitarian organizations are at the forefront of this response, showing tireless determination to help those in need…Host communities across Myanmar are providing crucial support…They are often the first responders in this crisis and a lifeline to affected people,” the statement added.

More than three million displaced

Across Myanmar, some 3.3 million people are internally displaced, with many living without proper shelter and in areas affected by fighting, such as Sagaing province in the north, which hosts about 1.25 million.

Fresh fighting has been also reported there, as security forces launched a fresh offensive against ethnic armed groups opposing the military junta, forcing about 10,000 people to flee their homes this month alone.

Clashes also displaced thousands in the country’s third most populous province of Mandalay, including in the capital Mandalay City.

Clashes have also intensified in Rakhine state, the site of a brutal crackdown by the military against the minority Muslim Rohingya community in 2017 that claimed thousands of lives and drove several hundred thousand more into neighbouring Bangladesh as refugees.

Across the country, more than 18.6 million people – about a third of the population – urgently require humanitarian assistance, including six million children.

The situation in Myanmar has been in a freefall since the military overthrew the elected government in February 2021 and imprisoned top leaders, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

Spike in deadly diseases

Meanwhile, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reported a sharp rise in cases of cholera and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in parts of Myanmar, including in Yangon, the country’s largest city and business hub.

More than 2,400 people have been hospitalized in the city and nearby areas for AWD, with cholera confirmed in some of the cases, the agency said earlier this month, citing national health authorities.

A “notable surge” is also reported in Rakhine state, including patients suffering from severe dehydration as a result. The presence of cholera has also been confirmed in an unspecified number of cases.

In response, WHO has offered trainings on infection prevention and control to partners in Yangon. It also supplied some 500 oral rehydration salt kits and 201 40-kilogramme drums of bleaching power to civil society and health authorities.

The agency cautioned that there is a lack of access to real-time disaggregated data which is proving a major impediment to effective planning and disease response.