Myanmar’s long isolation and its internal instability are likely to complicate the global humanitarian aid response to the earthquake that struck on Friday, despite a rare plea for outside help from the country’s military-dominated government.
“We need and want the international community to provide humanitarian aid,” said the military spokesman, Gen. Zaw Min Tun. “We will cooperate with them to ensure the best care for the victims.”
Myanmar was cut off by the United States and many other Western nations in 2021, after the military seized power in a coup and imposed a brutal crackdown. Even before the coup, the country had been under various sanctions for decades, most recently over organized violence against the Rohingya minority.
Western sanctions include carve-outs for humanitarian aid, and the United Nations said on Friday that it was mobilizing help for those in need. But in a country ravaged by civil war, major logistical hurdles remain in getting the aid to the people who most need it.
Michael Martin, a nonresident fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that the security and safety of international aid workers in reaching affected regions is one issue.
There is also a risk that the military prevents aid workers from reaching rebel-held areas, or will slow-walk the delivery of aid, including by repackaging it to appear as if it is from the military rather than international institutions, said Dr. Martin, who was the former lead analyst on Myanmar for the Congressional Research Service. The military could also prevent relief workers from getting visas or delay processing times, he added.
And, while many international aid organizations were founded on the principle that delivery of aid should not be political, in practice, that is not always possible. The military “may attempt to direct more of the assistance to areas that are nominally under their control” than areas under control of opposition forces, Dr. Martin said.
When a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Syria’s northwest region two years ago, under the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad, little international aid reached the region in the immediate aftermath. Some survivors had to dig through rubble by hand, as the government limited what went to opposition-held areas.
In Myanmar, the military has ruled oppressively for most of the time since 1962; and even during periods of limited liberalization, the armed forces remained a major political power. For much of that time, the country has restricted contacts with the outside world.
Stefan Dercon, an economics professor at the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford, said that another issue may be transferring funds into Myanmar, whether through sanctioned banks run by officials or other channels, and the logistics of getting supplies to the right areas.
“The delivery of humanitarian aid will be very, very complicated,” Dr. Dercon said. “Humanitarian operations are fundamentally logistical operations, and they need cooperation from a lot of people.”
Another issue is raising necessary funds, he said. Given Myanmar’s isolation from the West, there is unlikely to be a big queue of international, Western donors, he said.
Dr. Martin also said that it was not clear to what extent the U.S. government would help, given the Trump administration’s hostility to foreign aid programs and major cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development.
