War on Medics: Myanmar's Military Junta Assaults Health Workers Amid Country's Chaos

Protesters Take To Yangon's Streets Despite Martial Law

(Photo : Photo by Hkun Lat/Getty Images)
YANGON, MYANMAR - FEBRUARY 12: Doctors join a protest against the military coup in front of the Chinese Embassy on February 12, 2021 in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar declared martial law in parts of the country, including its two largest cities, as massive protests continued to draw people to the streets a week after the country's military junta staged a coup against the elected National League For Democracy (NLD) government and detained de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Police fired rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon to disperse protesters at demonstrations across the country, earlier in the week, and the military junta's leader urged civil servants who had joined the civil disobedience movement to return to work. The U.S. government imposed sanctions and froze the U.S. assets of several of the coup's leaders and their families.

Myanmar's military junta has continued its aggressive takeover of the country after a coup in February, now targeting medical practitioners who are assisting protesters who officials said are part of the "Civil Disobedience Movement."

Many of the country's doctors and nurses have been forced to conduct health care in secret areas, one of which was tucked in a monastery that serves as a safe haven for injured protesters. However, security forces were able to discover this location and quickly assaulted health workers.

War on Medics

One military personnel shot his firearm and struck a young man who was defending the door. A nearby medical staff immediately tried to save the victim's life by stopping the hemorrhaging. The young man's blood quickly littered the floor.

The military junta has declared a war on medics after doctors and other health care workers were part of the initial resistance to the coup in February. Security forces continued to arrest, assault and kill medical personnel. They have been dubbed as enemies of the state for their assistance of protesters. Health care workers have been driven to hide away in fear of their safety as the country's ongoing health crisis worsens due to the coronavirus pandemic.

One Yangon doctor who has been avoiding the military for months said the junta has targeted the country's entire healthcare system to use as a weapon. The man's colleagues were previously arrested at an underground clinic during a military raid. He argued that treating injured people should not constitute a crime, the Associated Press reported.

A medical student who was assisting the secret clinic, whose name has been hidden for his safety, wept for the young boy who was slowly dying from loss of blood. It was the first time she had seen anyone shot by a firearm, but she became a target of the military too. Two protesters immediately opened an escape route by breaking a window, giving their apologies to the medical workers.

As other health care workers proceeded to escape through the window, one doctor stayed to finish treating the wounded patient. The others hid inside a nearby apartment complex for hours, waiting for the military to leave the area. Some of the medical workers were too afraid to go home. The medical student said that the incident was a terrible day, saying she was not able to sleep or eat well since, Mercury News reported.

Mass Number of Killings

Since the military coup in February, the junta has killed at least 890 people, including a six-year-old girl who was shot in the stomach, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners said. The group which monitors arrests and deaths in Myanmar, said about 5,100 people have been locked in detention as thousands of others have been forcibly disappeared. Families of the deceased have been given their loved ones' mutilated bodies as a means of spreading fear.

Many have criticized the Myanmar military's war on medics as an outrageous attempt to control the country. The country has now become one of the most dangerous regions worldwide for health care workers. This year, the country has recorded 240 attacks on medical personnel, which is nearly half of what the World Health Organization has recorded worldwide at 508, JEMS reported.