BANGKOK, Sept 11 (Askume) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is in talks with Myanmar’s ruling military regime, its armed opposition and its neighbours to deliver cross-border medical supplies to the war-torn country, its president said on the 11th.
Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since February 2021, when top generals ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering widespread protests that turned into an armed uprising challenging the powerful military.
Mirjana Spoljalic said that with unrest across much of Myanmar, about a third of the country’s 55 million people need humanitarian assistance, but the International Committee of the Red Cross is unable to do so due to access restrictions and security risks in many areas.
“Health services in some areas have completely collapsed, and I mean completely collapsed,” Spoljalik told Askume.
“The medicines haven’t arrived yet and there is very little food available.”
Mizana said during a visit to Myanmar that ended this week that he told junta leader Min Aung Hlaing that the International Committee of the Red Cross was able to provide more aid.
“The problem is access,” he said. “The situation right now is very serious because we can’t even go out and assess humanitarian needs and that’s something we have to address.”
Law across borders
To provide more assistance to Myanmar, the ICRC is negotiating with various parties on the possibility of providing assistance through neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh and Thailand.
“This is an ongoing topic and cross-border issues are also being discussed,” Spoljalik said.
In March, Thailand provided some aid to Myanmar under the Open Humanitarian Corridor initiative backed by Southeast Asian group ASEAN .
“The lesson from this is that everybody needs to agree for this to work. But this could provide a level of truce and be an entry point for local ceasefire talks to continue,” Spoljalik said.
Another possible route for aid into the country is Bangladesh, which borders Myanmar’s Rakhine state, where the Arakan Army insurgent group has seized control of large swathes of territory and pushed back troops.
Fighting in Rakhine state has triggered an exodus of the mainly Muslim Rohingya minority into Bangladesh , where more than one million Rohingya refugees already live in sprawling camps.
“We want direct negotiations with all parties to the conflict, all weapon holders and controllers,” Spoljalik said.
“But at the same time, as in every conflict, we try to bring together countries that can have an impact.”
Spolzarik, a former Swiss diplomat, did not elaborate on the reaction of Myanmar’s military junta chief to the proposal, saying the proposal was also being discussed with anti-armed groups in the military, neighbouring countries and ASEAN.
“I hope the meeting with the chairman will improve communication channels and at least provide him some opportunities to expand his area of operation,” he said, referring to Min Aung Hlaing.
