Myanmar’s earthquake response has exposed a brutal truth: disasters aren’t just natural – they’re political. And in Myanmar, aid is being weaponised.
“There’s no such thing as a natural disaster, and the disaster management community has said so many times,” Adelina Kamal, an Indonesia-based independent ASEAN analyst, said in April. Political corruption, extractivism, and systemic neglect are understood by climate scientists and geographers to deepen the risks for people marginalised along race, class and gender lines. Contributing to the deaths and harm to thousands, the politicisation of humanitarian aid in Myanmar in the wake of the devastating earthquakes this spring…