Britain urges halt to Myanmar clashes to allow Covid vaccinations

Only 3 per cent of people in the country have so far been inoculated

Demonstrators march during an anti-coup protest in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, on July 3. EPA

The UK on Tuesday called for an immediate and sustained pause in clashes that followed the military takeover in Myanmar to allow for vaccinations against a third wave of Covid-19 that is ravaging the country.

Britain’s deputy UN ambassador, James Kariuki, said after closed Security Council talks that the call for a humanitarian pause and strong international response was backed by Brunei Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof.

Mr Yusof is the new special envoy for Myanmar from the 10-member Association of South-East Asian Nations, who joined the meeting online.

Mr Kariuki said UN special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, and UN deputy humanitarian chief Ramesh Rajasingham told the council that the humanitarian crisis in Myanmar was getting worse every day.

“Prior to the coup, Myanmar had a strong vaccination record and was developing a Covid-19 plan,” Mr Kariuki said.

“Now, Myanmar’s health system is barely functioning, unacceptable attacks on hospitals, doctors and nurses continue, and only 3 per cent of the population are vaccinated.”

Myanmar has been struggling with one of the worst Covid-19 surges in South-East Asia.

The military leaders who seized control from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government on February 1 have been accused of exacerbating it by taking medical supplies for themselves and their supporters.

Last week, Ms Schraner Burgener said that more than 333,000 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Myanmar, including 3,611 new cases on August 9.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Mr Rajasingham “outlined what is basically a collapsing healthcare system, resurging wave of the virus, increased hostilities and violence [and] significant displacement".

Ms Schraner Burgener on Tuesday called for UN member states to support pandemic and humanitarian work in Myanmar, Mr Dujarric said.

She also called on Myanmar's parties to let a vaccination campaign “go forward through all available avenues in the country", he said.

Mr Kariuki said: “The UK is calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian pause to allow vaccines to get to all in need, and for medical and humanitarian staff to work without fear or attack.”

He said that at the council meeting “we had a lot of calls for a humanitarian pause", but members did not take any action.

Mr Kariuki said UN officials would work with the Security Council, other UN members and international partners such as the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation “to ensure the people of Myanmar get access to vaccines in an equitable way, regardless of politics, ethnicity or religion".

“Vaccines must be tools of protection, not politics."

Myanmar was for five decades under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions.

As the generals loosened their grip, culminating in Ms Suu Kyi’s rise to leadership in 2015 elections, the international community responded by lifting most sanctions and pouring investment into the country.

The February 1 coup followed an overwhelming victory by her National League for Democracy party in November elections that the military contested as fraudulent.

The takeover led to widespread protests that have resulted in a lethal crackdown by security forces, which routinely fire live ammunition into crowds.

Armed resistance to the military is growing in urban and rural areas.

Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners reported on Tuesday that 999 people have been killed since the coup.

It said 7,320 have been arrested, of whom 5,712 are still detained, including Ms Suu Kyi and ousted President Win Myint.