Hundreds of civil war victims treated every day as Myanmar chaos spills over Thailand border

Published

2 weeks ago

April 24, 2024

admin

Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, a frontier town along the border with Myanmar, is a harrowing window into a civil war that has suddenly escalated.

In the searing heat of early morning, the wards are packed full of patients, some with catastrophic injuries.

We walk into a room full of amputees, many recently injured by airstrikes and landmines.

Lying on a bed with his stomach held together by a bandage, we meet Maung Maung.

His voice is incredibly strained, and he can hardly move. He’s just lost his two daughters. One was two years old, the other 14.

“They were hiding in a school. I thought it would be safe. After the bomb, I saw the body of one of my daughters ripped apart,” he tells us.

Many here say they’re too terrified to return to their home country and that fighting is now a daily threat.

For decades, Dr Cynthia Maung, founder of the clinic in Thailand, has seen the graphic side effects of the world’s longest-running civil war, a brutal clash between Myanmar‘s military and a mix of pro-democracy groups and local ethnic rebel armies.

In recent weeks though, she says the number of patients coming to her almost doubled to 500 a day.

“This is the worst in my time in 35 years here. This is the worst situation,” says Dr Maung.

As we talk, there are patients of all ages. She is their great hope, but she’s juggling increasingly complex and desperate cases.

There’s recently been a sharp increase in those coming here wounded by bombs.

The embattled ruling junta has increasingly been carrying out airstrikes in the face of big losses. The resistance now controls more than half of Myanmar’s territory.

One of the most symbolic defeats came two weeks ago in Myawaddy. The small town has an outsized economic role, known as the so-called “gateway to Thailand”.

It has long been a focal point for many of the ethnic and pro-democracy groups, but rarely looked vulnerable.

Yet two weeks ago, rebel forces led by the Karen ethnic army made their move, stunning observers by taking the town.

Social media videos show the military seemingly launching an operation to retake it – but their convoy is ambushed, resistance fighters taking over their vehicles and sending them fleeing.

At the top of a hill on the Thai side of the border, the army is watching everything closely. There’s a nervousness and tension that hasn’t been there since the coup in 2021.

Sub-Lieutenant Chuchat Farangtong tells me: “I felt the resistance groups were well prepared.

“There were signs before they attacked. My unit could see their manpower and their weapons. And there were civilians waiting along the river getting ready to cross over.”

Now it seems control of the town could be shifting once again, with video emerging on Tuesday of a Junta soldier from 275th Battalion in Myawaddy raising their flag. Reports say fighters of the KNA faction, a Border Guard Force, allowed them through to re-establish control. We may well see more clashes ahead.

In the past few days alone, thousands have fled the fighting in Myanmar, many running away from conscription driven by a military desperately in need of more men.

Among them is 19-year-old Nyi Nyi, now in hiding in Thailand after secretly crossing the border – a terrifying journey that took three days.

“When I was fleeing, most of my friends got arrested by the military,” he says.

“They were interrogated and tortured. They trained them for just three weeks and then sent them to the frontline.”

He claims opponents are being brutally attacked by a military desperate to cling to power: “They starve opponents, put them in stress positions and beat them until they bleed from their ears.”

We asked the ruling junta about his allegations. They did not respond to our request for comment.

Myanmar’s military government has been losing ground in its borderlands for months, as pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups have launched a series of successful offensives.

That’s been made possible by previously disparate groups coming together.

It is unlikely the ruling military government is at risk of being overthrown imminently, but we haven’t seen a shift like this for years.

That’s a challenge for neighbouring countries trying to navigate their relationship with Myanmar, the creeping violence on the border areas and the exodus of Myanmar’s people.

We went on patrol with the Thai police who seem to be trying to play the role of protector and enforcer, helping some find refuge and detaining others.

They tell us they’ve arrested up to 30 people trying to cross illegally into Thailand every day.

“I’m worried that the bullets are flying to the Thai side,” Lieutenant Manop Sivadumrong says.

“So, we’ve deployed border police and provincial police along the border to prevent illegal migrants and to help the Myanmar people on both sides in case they are injured.”

It is a delicate balance for them and many other countries – one by-product of a conflict many have ignored.

But the international community is slowly waking up.

China, the US, and Thailand are reassessing their strategies. Whatever happens next, the future of Myanmar will probably remain splintered, with no one authority in charge.

And a splintered state will likely reap havoc on innocent civilians and continue to spill across national borders.

World

Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire deal that would ‘leave Hamas intact’

Published

12 hours ago

May 5, 2024

admin

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu rejects ceasefire deal that would 'leave Hamas intact'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected ceasefire proposals because he says Hamas’s call for a withdrawal of all troops from Gaza and an end to the war is unacceptable.

Mr Netanyahu said agreeing to such proposals would “leave Hamas intact” and leave the possibility of another attack in future.

“Surrendering to the demands of Hamas would be a terrible defeat for the State of Israel,” he said in a video statement.

Mediated negotiations for a pause in the fighting in return for the release of hostages held by Hamas have been going on in Egypt, but a deal still appears some way off.

Hamas said in a statement on Sunday it’s “still keen to reach a comprehensive, interconnected agreement that ends the aggression, guarantees withdrawal, and achieves a serious prisoner exchange deal”.

The impasse comes after Egyptian media reported “noticeable progress” in ceasefire talks on Saturday.

The proposal mediators had put to Hamas set out a three-stage process for an immediate, six-week ceasefire and partial release of Israeli hostages, with some sort of Israeli pull-out in exchange.

More than 34,600 Palestinians have been killed and more than 77,000 have been wounded in Israel’s military operation, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Israel has said it remains committed to a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where more than a million have fled in search of safety, as it tries to wipe out Hamas.

The UN and others have warned of catastrophe if it goes ahead.

The war began in October after Hamas killed about 1,200 people, according to Israeli figures, when it launched a surprise attack.

More than 200 were abducted and many remain as hostages, while others are thought to have died.

World

Health warning issued as heatwave grips South and Southeast Asia

Published

1 day ago

May 4, 2024

admin

Health warning issued as heatwave grips South and Southeast Asia

Countries in South and Southeast Asia have been coping with a weeks-long heatwave which has seen record temperatures sweep parts of the region.

Pupils in the Philippines, India and Bangladesh have been told to stay at home and learn remotely due to a severe health risk.

Schools in Cambodia have also cut back on their hours.

Cambodia faces its hottest temperature in 170 years, according to meteorologists – as high as 43C (109F).

Bangkok in Thailand has reached 40C (104 F), but the heat index is said to have topped 50 C (122 F) due to the heat being trapped among the mass of buildings.

The United Nations Children’s Fund warned in April that the heat could put the lives of millions of children at risk and asked people who care for them to take extra precautions.

A spokesperson for UNICEF said around 243 million children were exposed to hotter and longer heatwaves.

They said the increased heat was “putting them at risk of a multitude of heat-related illnesses, and even death”.

Thirty people in Thailand have died from heatstroke in the past month, according to data from the country’s health ministry.

People are being advised to avoid outdoor activities and to stay hydrated.

Several towns in Myanmar were included on lists of the hottest spots globally last month, with temperatures reaching 48.2C (118F) in at least one case.

Parts of eastern India also experienced their hottest April on record.

Kerala, on India’s west coast, this week instructed all schools and colleges to close until Monday, while influencers in Bangladesh have encouraging people to plant trees in response to the record heat.

Benjamin Horton, director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, said there were three factors for heatwaves: a naturally-occurring climate phenomenon known as El Nino, an increase in global temperatures, and human-induced climate change.

Brazil is currently experiencing another climate phenomenon – La Nina – with 39 dead and 68 missing in floods across the country.

More than 24,000 people have been forced to leave their homes due to the flooding.

Scientists believe the naturally-occurring phenomenon has intensified due to the impact of climate change.

World

Philippine coastguard hits out at China’s ‘brute force’ after water cannon attack

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

admin

Philippine coastguard hits out at China's 'brute force' after water cannon attack

China has been branded “a bully” and an international lawbreaker after its ships blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon in the South China Sea.

Sky News was on board the BRP Bagacay when a Chinese vessel fired water at it, causing significant damage.

Philippine coastguard spokesman Jay Tarriela told Sky News that this week’s confrontation was the first time China had used “such aggression” against their ships.

“The metal parts and the railing were bent. The canopy was also destroyed. So this came as a surprise for us that China never hesitated to use brute force,” he said.

“It completely justifies us calling The People’s Republic of China a bully country.”

The Philippine coastguard was on a resupply mission to the Scarborough Shoal to deliver food and fuel to Philippine fishermen when they were struck.

The submerged reef lies in disputed waters. China claims sovereignty over the reef but it is much closer to the Philippines and lies within its legally recognised exclusive economic zone.

The vessel Sky News was on board was the closest the coastguard had ever been to the shoal – just 600 metres away from it.

Asked if the mission to the shoal was a provocative move by the Philippine coastguard, Commodore Tarriela denied they were “poking the bear” but rather “driving the bear out of our own territory”.

The Philippines has been stepping up its patrols in the area under the instruction of President Bongbong Marcos, and reasserting its claim to the shoal in recent months.

It has raised the spectre of open conflict. While neither side currently wants that, there is now a greater threat of open conflict.

Asked what the end game was for the Philippines, Commodore Tarriela said their priority was to “tell the world” about China’s aggression.

He said their secondary goal was to ensure “like-minded states” also made China “fall in line and respect international law”.

“Otherwise, it’s everybody’s loss,” he added.

Philippine government policy is not to resist using water cannon against Chinese vessels – and Commodore Tarriela insisted that policy remains in place after the confrontation.

The government also remains intensely determined to protect the waters it believes it has every right to operate in.

“We’re not going to yield and we’re not going to surrender a square inch of our territory,” Commodore Tarriela insisted.

Beijing has called the action its own coastguard took as “necessary”.

Speaking at the Chinese foreign ministry’s daily news conference, spokesperson Lin Jian described the coastguard’s conduct as “professional, proper, and lawful”.