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“Burma faces unimaginable repression,” says UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. Since the military coup on February 1, 2021, the country has been plunged into chaos, with more than 3,000 dead and at least 16,000 jailed for opposing the Junta. Dr. Lwan Wai (a pseudonym he adopts for security reasons) is one of those who have joined the ranks of the civil disobedience movement.
By Heike Schmidt
RFI: You founded the “Yangon Medical Network”, a network of more than 10,000 health professionals involved in unarmed resistance. Do doctors like you, involved in the resistance, practice in fear?
Dr Lwan Wai: Of course. What the fascist junta hates most is the civil disobedience movement. Because it is this movement that prevents them from getting the legitimacy they need. That’s why the military hate us. They hate not only healthcare professionals but also teachers and engineers, they hate all resistance fighters. In addition, in the health sector, the Board’s management is a total failure. The doctors who participate in civil disobedience try to fill the void left by the Junta. In fact, the army does not care about the health of the Burmese people. The soldiers are too busy rounding up people, brutally beating them and illegally killing them. In one town, a disobedience activist had his throat beheaded by soldiers, who then displayed his skull at the entrance to the town. Yes, indeed, we live in fear, depression and sadness. This is the current situation in Burma. We will live in fear until the day we win our fight.
The Junta is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least 2,890 people, 767 of whom died in detention, according to a UN estimate. In the face of this repression, how can you continue to fight?
Dr. Lwan Wai: Not even my family knows where I am now, for security reasons. I live in hiding and the military won’t be able to get their hands on me. In January 2022, I had to leave everything behind to go underground so I could continue my fight against the Junta. In order not to endanger myself, my family and my friends, I had to flee.
Two years after the coup and the coming to power of the Military Junta, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, speaks of a “catastrophic situation”. What is the situation in hospitals in the country?
Dr. Lwan Wai: Even before the 2021 coup, Burma was among the three Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries with the worst healthcare system. Obviously, this has not changed for the better. Today, under the junta, Burma is the most dangerous place in the world for medical personnel. Everyone is in danger. As long as the junta remains in power, there will be no justice, rights and peace in Burma.
The army had threatened to close clinics run by doctors who supported the resistance. Did the Board carry out this threat?
Dr. Lwan Wai: It is a pity, but unfortunately it has happened. First, in the city of Mandalay, the military prevented medical personnel from treating injured people who arrived at hospitals, because they might be protesters. If they found out that doctors from a private clinic were participating in the resistance, the army would immediately close the clinic and arrest the owner. Some were beaten to death during interrogations. This happened in Mandalay, and then also in Rangoon. Afterwards, everywhere the army controlled the place. Thousands of patients cannot be cared for and do not receive treatment. Even public hospitals are abandoned, because the Board does not provide them with anything. The health system is completely collapsed from the instability of the country. In two years, the health system has been destroyed.
“One voice, one fight”: under this slogan all Burmese are called to remain in their workplaces or in their homes on February 1, the streets must be deserted. Are you organizing this “silent strike” to show that the civil disobedience movement is not dead?
Dr. Lwan Wai: Yes, we are calling on all Burmese to join our silent strike on the occasion of the second anniversary of the junta’s takeover. We are a coalition made up of more than 39 union organizations present throughout the country. We expect everyone to participate, both in rural and urban areas. It has to be a massive mobilization. This silent strike takes place between 10:00 and 15:00. We have to show the international community that the Burmese people do not want to be ruled by a fascist junta and they must go.
