Editorial: Let Our Social Workers Do Their Work

By DMG 12 Nov 2022

Three children drowned while swimming at Sittwe Beach in the Arakan State capital on October 22. Their bodies were eventually retrieved thanks to the work of local charities and social organisations. 

Credit should go particularly to the relentless efforts of the Shwe Yaung Metta and Metta Yaung Chi charities, which searched for the missing children day and night for some five consecutive days. 

On the other hand, the Arakan State Administration Council (ASAC) under Myanmar’s military regime drew criticisms as it ignored the incident. And this tragic drowning is not the only thing the ASAC has ignored; the council has also turned a blind eye to the immense sufferings of local people, including ongoing displacement and fatal artillery strikes blamed on junta troops. 

The regime has turned its back on the people, as it is busy trying to maintain its grip on power. Making matters worse, it has warned social organisations against soliciting donations for internally displaced people (IDPs), restricted the humanitarian operations of international nongovernmental organisations and local charities, and detained and prosecuted several members of social and aid groups. 

Let’s not forget that it was social organisations that were among the first to help local people displaced by fighting between the Myanmar military and Arakan Army back in late 2018. It is social organisations that have supplemented the meagre humanitarian aid provided by authorities to IDPs. 

Facing strong opposition across the country and an inability to effectively quash the resistance, the regime is taking out its frustration on the people. It has shelled villages on purpose. And in the aftermath of these increasingly frequent artillery attacks, more often than not it is social workers who rush in to provide preliminary assistance to the wounded, and transportation to hospitals when needed. There have been cases in which victims have died unnecessarily en route to the hospital due to junta blockades of roadways and waterways. 

The regime has detained several social activists including the treasurer of Garuna Network in Maungdaw, a member of the Garuna Hline organisation in Mrauk-U, and activist Ko Zeya Kyaw and his brother in Taungup. It has also opened a case against Ko Ann Thar Gyi from Minbya, who has been in hiding. 

The military junta has also promulgated a new Organization Registration Law in a move aimed at tightening its control over charities and civil society organisations. 

More than 10,000 civilians have been recently displaced by the renewed fighting in Arakan State. When including those who remain at displacement camps after being forced from their homes in previous fighting, the number now totals nearly 100,000. 

Those IDPs live a miserable existence, depending on relief supplies provided by international aid agencies, local donors, and social organisations whose activities are increasingly being restricted by the junta. While the regime has proven itself unable or unwilling to adequately provide humanitarian assistance to those in need, its arrest and prosecution of social workers is only exacerbating the plight of those affected by the armed conflict in Arakan State. 

DMG therefore urges political parties, social activists, civil society organisations and international agencies to press demands for the prioritisation of social workers’ safety, and the freedom to do their jobs. Furthermore, we call on all able entities and individuals to support these courageous humanitarian actors in word and in deed — specifically, financially — at a time when they are stretched thin and besieged by a hostile regime.