Disruption of Myanmar aviation fuel supply chain urged to save lives
Singapore, Apr 14 (EFE).- Several rights groups and the Myanmar opposition have sought a ban on the aviation fuel supply to Myanmar after air strikes in the northwestern Sagaing region killed over 165 people, including children, earlier this week.
The Action Burma Campaign in the United Kingdom said the Myanmar military was using the air force to bomb civilian areas, killing hundreds of people, and damaging or destroying homes, schools, hospitals, and churches.
The campaign said the majority of an estimated 2 million people fled their homes since the military coup last year because of airstrikes.
“Without aviation fuel, the jets cannot fly. If they cannot fly, they cannot bomb. Tell the British government to sanction aviation fuel now,” the campaign said.
According to Myanmar’s self-declared National Unity Government (NUG), military planes bombed the inauguration ceremony of the opposition administration in the northwestern Sagaing region on Tuesday.
The airstrikes killed at least 168 people in the rebel stronghold.
The dead include 40 children.
The NUG Human Rights Ministry called for “punitive measures” against the military regime by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a global ban on the sale of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military.
Amnesty International also sought an urgent need to suspend aviation fuel “as air strikes wreak havoc” in the military-ruled country.
“The relentless air attacks across Myanmar highlight the urgent need to suspend the import of aviation fuel,” an Amnesty statement said.
“Amnesty reiterates its calls on all states and businesses to stop shipments that may end up in the hands of the Myanmar Air Force.”
The rights group said the supply chain fueled humanitarian law violations, including war crimes, and “it must be disrupted to save lives.”
Since the coup on Feb.1, 2021, Amnesty International has documented “widespread human rights violations and possible crimes against humanity as part of the Myanmar military crackdown on the opposition across the country.”
In a report published in November last year, the group traced the fuel supply chain of the Myanmar army to PetroChina’s wholly-owned Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC), Russia’s Rosneft, Chevron Singapore, and Thai Oil.
The UN says the coup and its violent aftermath killed over 3,000 civilians, forced 1.3 million out of their homes, and turned 16,000, including the de facto leader of the ousted government, Aung San Suu Kyi, political prisoners.
The ouster of the civilian government ended a decade of democratic transition in the country, plunging it into a spiral of violence and semi-anarchy. EFE
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