Myanmar in Ruins – Earthquake Amid War

0:00 Ein kurzer Hinweis vorweg. Diese Folge ist in Englisch. Im Krisenmodus wird nun häufiger zweisprachig erscheinen. The Mandalay region in Myanmar was struck by a powerful earthquake at the end of March. A 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country, severely affecting Mandalay, Myanmar's second largest city.

0:22 The situation on the ground is dire. More than 1.600 people have already lost their lives and countless others remain trapped under the rubble. Desperate rescuers are trying to save survivors with their bare hands and shovels, by battling temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius. But this earthquake is not just a natural disaster. It has hit a country already in a state of emergency.

0:47 Myanmar has been engulfed in a brutal civil war since the military coup in 2021. And while people search for life beneath the ruins The military continues. It attacks relentlessly. Instead of helping, the Junta is bombing regions and seemingly using the crisis for its own purposes. The humanitarian situation is catastrophic. International aid is urgently needed, but the government is blocking relief organizations, preventing heavy rescue equipment and medical supplies from reaching the affected areas.

1:22 The people on the ground are left to fend for themselves. To better understand the situation, we are speaking with David Eubank from the Free Burma Rangers. He is currently in Myanmar and will report on the shocking conditions, the challenges of humanitarian aid, and the political situation that is making this disaster even worse.

1:46 In Crisis Mode, the podcast from Conflict Zones with Jan Jessen. David is a real interesting guy. He's running the Free Bulma Rangers since more than 30 years and he's a former army officer, a ranger. That's where the name comes from, Free Bulma Rangers. So yeah, Free Bulma Rangers, they are a humanitarian organization not only working in Myanmar, but also working in countries like Iraq or Syria.

2:18 And first I heard of this organization in 2014, 2015, und 2016, when the so-called Islamic State was fighting in Iraq and Syria. And David and his people, they rescued a lot of wounded people from the front lines. And they are quite interesting. They are tough. They are really working in areas that's absolutely dangerous.

2:40 And now they are back in Burma or Myanmar. And they are working, especially in the eastern part of the country. I was able to speak to David last weekend, two days after the fatal earthquake. If you could tell us something about the organization you're working for, or your organization actually, and if you could tell us where you are right now. My name is David Eubank.

3:02 I'm with the Free Burma Rangers. We're a humanitarian relief organization here in Burma. I'm in northern Kareni State, Burma. That's the eastern part of Burma. Not far from southern Shan State. We're on a relief mission and our job is to give help that's primarily medical help, hope, reminding people they're not forgotten and love.

3:26 Standing with people if you don't have anything and getting the news out. I'm grateful to be able to speak to you all because you get the news out in different ways and in some better ways than we do. Thank you. Myanmar has been hit by a terrible and devastating earthquake in den letzten Tagen. Wie haben Sie diese Katastrophe erlebt?

3:47 Ich war in der Jungen. Mit einigen von den Displaceden Menschen und einigen von den Pro-Democracy-Demokraten. Ich war eigentlich in den Soutern-Shahn-State. Und die Gäste begann, mehr als ich in den Souten-Asien erlebt habe. Die Gäste ist schäbend, die Trens sind moving, die Stoff ist fallen. Aber es gab nur die Füße und die Leibs. No big deal. Or like, wow, that was a big earthquake.

4:12 But it didn't affect almost anyone here because the Krenny population, for example, is 350,000 people. They're all displaced. They're not in their homes. They're not in buildings. They're hiding in the jungle because the Burma Army is bombing the homes, shooting the villages. And so we don't have any casualties I know of.

4:32 There may be some remote village somewhere where a landslide hit. I don't know, but we saw no casualties because the Burma Army is already wiping the villages out. After the earthquake, I went to a town called Mobia, southern Shan State. It's called Mobia, below Pecan Lake. And it is devastated. Worse than an earthquake. Bombed. And the Burma Army is still there every day shooting their mortar, every day dropping their drones to this day.

4:58 And it's devastation. I thought, wow, we don't need an earthquake for that. So, the people here have not been much affected by the earthquake. However, up north, west of us, at Mandalay Division. Napidaw area, Sagang Division, there's been a lot of devastation that we've seen from our friends sending us photos and video that show collapsed bridges and destroyed homes and thousands killed. We understand, but we're not really sure.

5:27 So, right now, we're trying to work with an underground resistance quietly. How can we get help up there? Okay, and I mean, you said that, I'll be coming back to this issue later, but you said that Junta is still bombing and attacking despite the earthquake, right? Yes, there were multiple jet fighter attacks after the earthquake.

5:50 That afternoon and that evening and that night and the next morning. And then even just yesterday afternoon, there were mortars landing right over here. Und dann habe ich ein Report von einem Team weiterer South. Die Burm Army ist senden Drone Bombers und bomben sie mit einem Drone. So die attacks haben nicht stopped at all. Now, some der Airfields, ich verstehe, haben sie verletzt.

6:13 Aber das ist was ich hören. Aber es gibt viele Airfields, die noch funktionieren. Jetfighter ist noch fliehen. Drone Bombers ist noch bombardiert. Artillerie ist noch schützt. Sie haben nicht stopped fighting. Ich habe gehört, dass die Rebels ein ceasefire haben. So they are not somehow attacking right now in the moment? Or do you have any information about this?

6:34 Yes, I'm not sure about all of them. But the National Unity Government, that was the elected government, that represents some of the pro-democracy forces and some of the people's defense forces, have announced a two-week truce to help people. But I'm not sure about other groups. And I know this for sure.

6:50 The Burma Army has not stopped fighting. They're using this opportunity to attack, to try to get more sympathy, to try to get more money. Nicht zu helfen, sondern zu erhöhen, ihre Abilität zu attacken, ihre eigenen Leute zu attacken. Das bedeutet, dass es dann auch gefährlich für internationale Organisationen zu helfen und zu helfen, oder?

7:08 Well, you know, the people in Mandalay and Sagan Division and Parsianabia, they actually need humanitarian assistance. They need international organizations to go in with earth-moving equipment to rescue the trapped, to pull out the dead, to take out wounded. They need advanced and emergency medical care.

7:26 They need food and shelter and comfort. These are all things the Burma military is generally not providing. And there's humanitarian organizations around the world that are good at this. So we would like to see them go. But the problem is, so far, the Burma government is not allowing this yet. We're hoping that's going to change in the next 24 hours.

7:43 But my appeal to the humanitarian organizations is, first, please come. Get in there. You're needed. But don't be handing out money to the government. Hand it out to the people on the ground. Hand it out to groups of doctors and villagers and community workers that are there in every single place. There's people already there.

8:00 Give them the money. They will use it the best. If you give the military the money, we have this past experience. They're going to use it for whatever they want to do. And number one is stay in power. But this means that the international organizations don't have access to the, let's say, rebel-controlled areas or also to the regime-controlled areas.

8:22 Because, I mean, as you say, the regime wants to stay in power. That means that they need help for their people or in the areas they are controlling, right? Aber die internationale nicht haben diese Bereiche, oder ist es irgendwie anders? You know, I'm not I'm not sure about the regime area. The last I heard, at least my friends that are trying to get in, have not been able to get in yet.

8:47 Now, maybe, you know, someone has gotten in. I don't know if they did. Great. But I know there's some big organizations, then multimillion dollar organizations that can bring in airplanes, they can bring in heavy equipment. They have not yet been allowed in. And maybe that's changing as we speak. I don't know. But the government so far hasn't let large scale help come in.

9:09 In the hands of the international NGOs. Now, when we speak about the resistance areas, the pro-democracy areas, there are many ways to come in. If an international organization is serious about getting to Karini State or Karini State to help, very simple. But once the organization gets in, their security will be provided for.

9:30 They'll be able to do good work directly. And of course, there'll be a danger, though, because the Burma Army could bomb them, just like they bomb everybody else. The Burma Army could shoot at them. The Burma Army could blame them. But if international NGOs are willing to take the risk alongside the people in need, the resistance groups, the pro-democracy groups can get them in easily. That is not a problem.

9:51 The problem is most international organizations don't want to do that. Okay, that's fine. We're grateful for any help we can. But then you've got to go through the government to get to the affected areas. And we hope that happens. Okay. As I understand, there are a lot of people still under the rubble.

10:08 Nobody really knows the number of casualties. So urgent need is necessary. Urgent help is necessary right now, right? Yes, I understand the latest numbers are close to 2,000 dead and thousands more trapped. And some of my friends say it's over 10,000 dead. We really don't know. But that is my understanding right now.

10:30 Und das we sorry I gotta sorry that's my you wanna see the vehicle we just got yeah sure, sorry you guys I'm doing an interview this is our vehicle check it out wow nice isn't that cool that's cool yeah absolutely, Das sind cool, Leute. Sorry, ich bin in der Mitte der Interview. Hey, Angzia, tell them who you are.

10:55 Hey, tell them who you are and what's going on with the earthquake, real quick. I'm Angzia from Georgia. Right now, because I quit, like, more than 100, 2,000 people killed in the Burma. Mandalay is the kind of area. Also, we just hear a lot of the health, like, humanity and health, some from the international, that it's not good writing to the people.

11:16 All of the status, Kavachar, by the Burma Army. Did you get that? Yes. I love it. At least they're still laughing, right? Yeah, he laughed at everything. If you shot him in the leg, he would say, ha, ha, ha, you shot me in the leg. Okay, great. Actually, his home, that was Angzia, his home is in Mandalay.

11:38 It was totally destroyed in the earthquake. He can't go home because the dictators will kill him. But now the whole home collapsed. Und ich meine, das Erdquick ist eine Katastrophe, wie du sagst, eine Devastatung und so weiter. Aber es ist einfach, ich würde sagen, der Topf der Eisberg, wenn wir über die Situation in Myanmar und Burma in generell sprechen.

12:00 Kannst du uns ein Update geben über diese Situation? Myanmar ist seit 2021 vorhanden, wie ist die Situation für die Menschen? Yes, thanks for asking about that So Burma is the longest running war in the world Over 74 years Since 1949 The succession of Burma dictators Have oppressed the people And generally it's been the ethnic minorities That have suffered the most and fought back But in 2021 When the dictators took even more power The Burman people rose up Now there had been student uprising in 1988 That was student This was.

12:41 Across the whole population of Burma, most people tired of the dictators and stood up. College students, housewives, computer programmers, engineers, professional boxers, soccer players, Miss Myanmar, beauty to everybody stood up. And I think this really shocked the dictators. They did not expect this.

13:00 And people came out in peaceful protest in 2021, and the Burma army gunned them down. And when that happened, many of the people fled to the jungle. And these are Burman young people, and they joined the ethnic resistance groups, some as ethnic affiliated people defense forces, some as national unity government affiliated people defense forces, some as their own independent people defense forces.

13:23 But that infusion of Burman volunteers building up military against the regime of Burma really frightened the regime. Ich denke, für den ersten Mal in der Geschichte, sie wussten sie, dass sie ihre Lande verloren haben, weil die Bermans haben die Ethnischen. Even wenn die Ethnic Gruppen, die Bermans, die PDF-Gruppen, es gibt keine Ausgaben von außerirdischen Luftgeist-Gruppen.

13:46 Du will nicht finden gute Weapons hier. Die nur gute Weapons sind die sehr alten, die vom Vietnam War. New Weapons sind, sie sind Replicas, sie sind nicht in guter Qualität. People sind schraubt zusammen mit Geld und Geld zu kaufen, eine Pistole. Oder von der Burma Army. So, sie sind nicht powerful military forces, aber sie haben sie, sie sind.

14:08 Und sie waren die Fähne gegen die Burma Army mit muskets, ball und cap und powder, single-schot, break-open shotguns that you would use to haunt with. Und sie haben viele in den Battle. Now sie haben mehr captured weapons. Aber all together, because of their heart, this ist ein major threat to the Burma military.

14:29 So, the Burma military is now coming with a speed and a violence of force we haven't seen. In the Freedom Rangers, we've had this name for about 28 years, but we've been working for almost 32 years in Burma. And we've never seen this pile on. And part of it is the desperation and anger of the dictators and their army.

14:48 Also, part of it is heavy support by China and Russia. Chinese Korokorum 8 and 9 fighters. Chinese, massive quantities of Chinese drones, hit by Chinese drones almost every single day. Big bombs, small bombs, little bombs, suicide drones, scout drones, dropping incendiary, burning weapon systems. That's Chinese.

15:10 And jet fighters, artillery pieces, heavy mortars. Russian Yak-130 fighters, MiG-29 fighters, Su-30 fighters, Russian hind-attack helicopters, North Korean rocket systems and artillery. And then we have Chinese Y-12 transport that drop bombs. So we have this international support from China, Russia, some from North Korea, that is pouring into Burma to keep them up and kill the people.

15:36 We have never seen the casualty rates like we see them now. You know, for example, we're a relief organization. We're not a militia. We're not pacifists. We can defend ourselves. But most of our rangers aren't even armed because they can't get them. But our job is not fighting. Our job is helping people.

15:52 But, you know, we have engaged sometimes when they attack us and we can't run. But even then, we're humanitarian. We're trying to avoid the fight. We have lost 30 people killed in the first 25 years of, or 26 years of FDR, we lost 30 killed. The last four years, we've lost 38 killed. So more than half in this short period of time. That's representative.

16:16 There's thousands of people have been killed. And that at a rate we'd never seen before. So with international support from Russia, China, North Korea, and others, the Burman army is just hammering its people. Systematic destruction of hospitals For example, every single hospital In Kroenig State has been destroyed, every one, Every clinic destroyed. And the four hospitals that were rebuilt in the jungle, in their hiding places, three of those destroyed again in their hiding places.

16:43 We've had many medic teams wiped out. Churches, almost every church I've seen here has been destroyed or is hit by rocket fire, by airstrikes, by mortars. Monasteries, most monasteries have been hit. Schools, most schools. So you can, before this, before the coup of 2021, these kind of actions happened, but they were more episodic. They were random.

17:06 Now it's very systematic to kill people and break them. So right now, in spite of all that, the pro-democracy resistance groups and ethnic groups control about two-thirds of the country. The two-thirds of the country you can move in. You can come right now. But these are the rural areas, right? The rural, exactly. One-third is controlled by Burma military, and 99% of all the major cities are controlled by Burma military.

17:33 So Burma military still controls the biggest cities in Burma. Rangoon, Mandalay, Napida, others. But they don't control a lot of the countryside. So we're in a situation now where I believe, by my eyes and what I see, the Burma army is slowly losing. But it's at a terrible cost to the people. I was just at a funeral for a young 19-year-old who was killed by Burma Army.

17:58 And hundreds of people have lost their legs, civilians, as well as the resistance fighters, landmines everywhere. When you look at a Burma Army camp, if the resistance takes over a camp, you see bags and bags, maybe 500 landmines in the camp. They've already put maybe 500 out in the fields. They have 500 or more to put out.

18:15 And when they go to a village, after they steal, they burn the village. After that, they put landmines here and there. So, when the villager comes back, boom, they lose their leg. And this is at a rate that, you know, has happened before, as you know, but it's all increased. So, it's very much a fight to the death, it looks like to me.

18:34 Why do you think is the world turning a blind eye, the Western world, let's say, a blind eye to the situation in Myanmar and Burma? I'm not sure. Wir sehen uns viel engagement in Ukraine, wir sehen uns in Gaza, über die Situation in Gaza und so weiter, aber niemand spricht über Myanmar-Booma. Warum? Ich bin nicht sicher. Ich bin glücklich, dass du es nicht sagen.

19:01 Ich denke, dass es eine Grunde ist, dass die meisten Amerikaner und Europäer sind. Der zweite Grund ist, dass sie sich anders aussehen. Es sieht nicht wie unsere Gruppe aussehen. The third reason is it's generally been an internal conflict. And so it's hard for people to understand an internal conflict and they don't understand who's right, who's wrong.

19:25 Will it ever change? It seems confusing. Another reason is where Burma is situated right under China, people are afraid to get China angry. But our appeal is, in spite of all those things, you help the people of Burma because it's the right thing to do. It's the right thing to do. You can't help everyone, but some of us can help people of Burma.

19:47 We help them because we would want someone to help us when we're oppressed. You know, when Europe was under the Nazis, people came and helped them. When America is in trouble, people come to help. When your house burns down in Germany or England, someone comes to help you. Und das ist einfach human zu human, helping no one besser als someone else.

20:07 Another reason ist, ich glaube, spiritual. God made people a family. Wir need to take care of each other. Another reason ist, geopolitically and strategically, a democratic Burma, if we help them form a democracy, ist es viel besser für international security. To have a democratic Burma below China, they don't have to fight China, but they're no longer a tool of China.

20:28 They're another voice back into China. They can be friendly, but they're not going to be part of that dictatorship block. They're not going to facilitate aggression in the region. Another reason, economics. Burma was the leading exporter of rice in the world in the 50s, and now it imports. It's just killed itself economically.

20:46 And a democratic Burma would be economically better for the people of Burma, the region, and the whole world. It's another trading partner. The environment, because people are chased out of their homes, they're in the jungle, they have to eat. They cut the trees down. They make a field, no more trees, no more animals.

21:03 And all this pollution and heating and degradation, it doesn't stay inside Burma. It spreads throughout. It crosses borders. Another reason, again, humans and economic is when you have people flee the country, now you have millions of refugees in other countries. Right. Die ihre Systeme verbreitet. Es gibt keine Dignität für die Flüchtlinge, keine Arbeit, und andere Regierungen müssen sie bezahlen.

21:27 Also für mich sind diese humanitären, spirituell, geopolitisch, ökonomisch und environmentaler Reaktionen, warum wir die Menschen in Burma sollten. Aung San Suu Kyi ist noch eine Rolle in dieser civilen Krieg? Was ist jetzt ihre Rolle? Ich meine, sie war eine sehr famous Person. Yes, Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize winner, one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Burma, loved by many people in Burma, a symbol of democracy in Burma, now under arrest for the second time in her life and held captive without a voice.

22:07 She still has a role her role is giving people hope that truth will prevail, democracy will prevail that one day they can remember they did have a form of democracy because between roughly 2015 and 2021 there was growing democracy and Aung San Suu Kyi was one of his leaders but by 2021 the dictators were tired of that they were afraid of losing control and they just arrested her arrested many other members of parliament killed others, killed any opposition und took back control und took more control than they ever had.

22:37 So she is alive and remains a symbol of hope for her country. Okay. And we pray that she will be released. Great. David, I thank you so much for this impact. Und diese Informationen, das war wirklich interessant. Und ich hoffe, dass die Welt jetzt noch looking mehr intensiv auf was going on in Myanmar und Burma ist.

22:59 All die besten für Ihre Arbeit. Wirklich sehr, sehr, sehr, sehr, sehr, was du da, guys. Ja, danke für die Frage, was du da. Du bist sehr, sehr. Außerdem, der recenter Erthquake in Myanmar hat auch in Bangkok affected, wo der death toll in Thailand hat 17, mit 77 Menschen still missing. The collapse of a high-rise building in the city has left many injured and trapped, and the rescue efforts are ongoing.

23:24 The effects of such disasters extend beyond borders, reminding us of the interconnectedness of our world. The stories we have heard today are just a small glimpse into the immense challenges people face in times of crisis. If you are wondering how you can help, consider supporting humanitarian organizations that provide aid in disaster-stricken areas.

23:47 Donations to groups like the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders or local relief organizations can make a real difference. That is for the episode of In Crisis Mode. This podcast was produced by Alexander Baumeister. He's also a journalist in one of the radio channels of the Funko Media Group. You can find our podcast wherever podcasts are available, like on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Follow us, write us.

24:11 Our email address is in the show notes or find me on Facebook at Jan Jesen. Take care and all the best. In Crisis Mode, the podcast from Conflict Zones with Jan Jessen. Music.