We express our concern as health students and young professionals and urge the international community to take immediate action regarding the public health and human rights crisis in Myanmar.

It has now been over two months since the Myanmar military executed a coup d'etat in an attempt to overthrow the country’s democratically elected government, prompting widespread peaceful protests demanding a return to democracy. The military’s security forces have responded with an increasingly brutal crackdown defined by some of the worst human rights violations imaginable: unlawful and arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Myanmar’s health workers and professionals in particular—many of whom have been leading the civil disobedience movement (CDM)—have been systematically targeted by the military. Young health students have joined the masses of Myanmar youth who have been at the forefront of the protests. Escalating violence against protesters and crackdowns against the CDM movements has resulted in widespread detention of these students. Additionally, scores of health workers have been kidnapped in night raids, detained arbitrarily, or forced into hiding after the military has presented false charges against them.

Even more concerning is the increasing, deliberate assaults on medical personnel by security forces. On March 14, the medical community suffered its first casualty: a 17-year-old first-year medical student was killed from a gunshot wound to the head. The weekend of March 27 and 28 was the bloodiest in the coup to date, with over 114 confirmed civilian deaths and countless more arrested. Among those murdered were three young Myanmar healthcare workers, one of whom was killed while providing emergency care to injured civilians on the ground. Another Myanmar physician was arrested for treating injured civilians through a medical charity network. These incidents are unfortunately not isolated, and reports continue to emerge of the military harassing, assaulting, and killing health professionals across the nation.

The attacks on healthcare by the military, if allowed to continue, will result in a complete and total collapse of Myanmar’s health system. Beginning March 7, the military has forcibly occupied and established bases at public health facilities across Myanmar, in a blatant violation of several international conventions preserving the right to health in conflict. In many areas, the military has demanded mass evacuations of state-owned hospitals, which has severely impacted health care and health access for critically ill patients who require hospitalization. The United Nations has already called attention to at least 36 public hospitals occupied throughout the country. The military has also begun targeting private healthcare: several private hospitals have been attacked and raided by security forces, and directives have been issued to private facilities across the country threatening them against providing care to civilians without prior authorization by the military. By intimidating, harassing, abducting, and murdering our healthcare workers, the military is waging a war on its citizens’ right to health.

The escalating military violence is also causing a public health crisis, particularly with a global health emergency in COVID-19 still ongoing. While direct effects on individual wellbeing are immense, arresting and targeting healthcare workers and many of Myanmar’s top public health officials, and destroying Myanmar’s health infrastructure, the military has effectively brought local COVID-19 testing, treatment, and immunization efforts to a grinding halt. This compromises the integrity of Myanmar’s already-fragile health system under the combined pressure of COVID-19 and a violent coup, undermining the right of Myanmar citizens to health.

Hence, urgent action from the international community must be taken to address the health and human rights crisis in Myanmar. Diplomatic efforts are crucial to mediate a peaceful resolution to the conflict and to ensure the protection of human rights, especially the right to health. We call for accountability for the human rights crimes committed against the people of Myanmar, for all the lives lost, and for the bright futures forcefully extinguished.

We particularly call on the Myanmar military to respect the human rights of its citizens and refrain from putting their lives in danger by reacting with unreasonable and needless brutality against the unarmed protestors. We further call on the military to respect and uphold International Humanitarian Law and refrain from targeting the functional integrity of the health sector.

Lastly, we acknowledge the role of youth and student organizations in trying to preserve the freedom of speech in the country. We call upon the involved youth to uphold their non-violent protests, and we emphasize on the Myanmar healthcare workers to remain impartial and humane in providing health services to any party.

We stand in solidarity with Myanmar’s healthcare community, upholding values of human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Let us all work together to find ways to effectively support the people of Myanmar to mitigate suffering, and return to the democratic and peaceful path towards health and humanity.