The military authorities of Myanmar are repressing doctors who provide aid to the aggrieved opposition. Security services are arresting, attacking and even killing medical workers, the AP agency reported on Tuesday.
The situation led to a complete collapse of the health service in the country and the opening of clandestine units providing aid to wounded opponents.
“The junta deliberately targets the entire health service as a weapon of war,” commented one of the Rangoon doctors who had been hiding for months. “We believe helping patients is our human moral duty. I didn’t think anyone would ever see it as a crime,” he added.
The World Health Organization estimates that Myanmar is one of the most dangerous countries for doctors in the world. According to the organization, as many as 240 attacks on health care workers, out of 508 registered in the world, took place in Myanmar.
Since the seizure of power in Myanmar, the security services have killed at least 890 opponents of the junta, 5,100 have been arrested, and thousands remain missing. According to the PA, the Myanmar army (Tatmadaw), in order to terrorize its opponents, even goes so far as to deliberately mutilate the bodies of the dead and send them back to their families.
Arrest warrants for 400 doctors and 180 nurses were also issued, and their images were published in the state media. Wanted are accused of “civil disobedience”.
The non-governmental organization Insecurity Insight, which analyzes data from conflicts around the world, reports that at least 157 medical workers have been arrested, 32 injured and 12 killed by the military junta since the country took power.
On February 1, the Burmese army toppled the democratically elected government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and has since brutally suppressed massive public protests and strikes across the country.
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