Define Failed State. “Common characteristics of failed states include ongoing civil violence, corruption, crime, poverty, illiteracy, and crumbling infrastructure,” suggests Robert Longley.
“Women and children are expected to bear the heaviest brunt of the combined impact of COVID-19 and the political crisis. The effects of COVID-19, amplified by the effects of the overthrow of the civilian government, are likely to lead to a disproportionate increase in urban poverty,” says a UNDP Poverty Impact on Myanmar report.
“This is related to the fact that urban areas, where most of the income-generating activities of the near poor are, have been ground zero for the pandemic and the focus of the most severe crackdowns,” continues the report.
Ethnic Armed Groups Unite With Anti-Coup Protesters Against Myanmar Junta
KNLA troops on Karen Martyrs’ Day in Karen State’s Papun District in August 2018. / The Irrawaddy
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By The Irrawaddy 30 April 2021
In the month following the military’s Feb. 1 coup, many of Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), which have been warring with the central government for decades, said they opposed the junta’s overthrowing of the democratically-elected civilian government.
When the Myanmar military killed anti-regime protesters, people in urban areas longed for help from the EAOs in their fight against junta, believing that an armed response is the best hope of stopping the military’s atrocities against unarmed civilians.
Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Planes Bomb Kachin Villages
Thousands Flee as Myanmar Junta Planes Bomb Kachin Villages
A civilian house in Myothit, Momauk Township is reduced to ashes after a regime airstrike on April 25. / Bhamo Platform
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By The Irrawaddy 27 April 2021
The Myanmar military has been conducting frequent airstrikes on villages in Momauk Township, Kachin State for the past several days, forcing thousands of local residents to flee their homes. The air raids follow fierce fighting between regime troops and a local ethnic armed group, the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), in the area.
Fighting has intensified near Myothit and Sihark villages in Momauk Township since the KIA attacked two police outposts and a military base at the Tarpein Bridge on April 11.
Villagers Flee Heavy Fighting Between KIA and Myanmar Military irrawaddy.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from irrawaddy.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.