Myanmar’s ruling military junta has commanded the five-day festival to have no music or dance.
Since the Mar 28 quake Mandalay temperatures have soared up to a parching 44 degrees Celsius while at night tent-dwellers are needled by mosquitos before rising at dawn to line up for aid.
More than 5,200 buildings have been destroyed according to official figures, while more than two million people are in need as a result of the earthquake, the UN says.
It has issued an emergency plea for US$275 million, following US President Donald Trump’s evisceration of Washington’s aid budget which has already hobbled some UN operations in Myanmar.
The World Food Programme says it is being forced to cut off one million people from vital aid this month because donations have dried up.
Myanmar has been riven by a civil war following a 2021 coup which spurred mass poverty and displacement even before the quake.
The tremors were felt as far away as Bangkok, where a high-rise under construction collapsed and trapped dozens of workers.
Despite an announced ceasefire, monitors say Myanmar’s military has continued air strikes, while the junta has accused anti-coup guerillas and ethnic armed groups of maintaining their offensives.
“At a moment when the sole focus should be on ensuring humanitarian aid gets to disaster zones, the military is instead launching attacks,” said UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani in a statement this week.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/myanmar-new-year-festival-mourn-earthquake-5062876
