5/10/23, 10:29 PM
Myanmar: Internet shutdowns shrouding torchings and killings - ARTICLE 19
information to help keep themselves safe, such as where attacks
may be launched or where road bombs may be laid. People who
wish to find out how their friends, family, or loved ones are coping
cannot communicate with them. Transport of essential supplies is
(https://www.article19.org)
blocked to villages, as drivers are unable to discern safe routes for
travel. People are unable to transfer or receive funds
(https://www.myanmar-responsiblebusiness.org/news/return-fullmobile-internet.html) as they are cut off from mobile payment
services (https://www.voanews.com/a/myanmar-junta-hitsopposition-forces-with-communications-blackouts-/6550158.html).
Amidst a pandemic, people have no way to share health
information or receive medical attention, in violation
(https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/MyanmarCOVID19-Briefing-Paper-2020-ENG.pdf) of their right to health, and
risks of gender-based violence are exacerbated
(https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/covid-19-and-coupblockage-internet-and-social-media-access-further-exacerbategender). Meanwhile, children who were already unable to receive
in-school education because of ongoing school boycotts and burnt
down schools are now cut out of online means of learning, leading
to an increasing number of school dropout cases and reported
cases of child abuse through forced child marriages
(https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1wwUFrhqUUtmGLzgwxSBycHxqM8SzazMF?
fbclid=IwAR1RXvSC1TA7mc115L4mmDQnT_VIgXduwJFpiK4W2H8mqu8Wuxx_4W7wLQ). Humanitarian actors
and many journalists who remain in the country struggle
(https://restofworld.org/2022/blackouts-myanmar-atrocities/) to
monitor and report on the ongoing human rights violations and
provide essential aid
(https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/06/50th-sessionhuman-rights-council-oral-update-myanmar), while UN experts
have highlighted (https://www.ohchr.org/en/pressreleases/2022/06/myanmar-un-experts-condemn-militarys-digitaldictatorship) challenges to their gathering of evidence of human
rights violations.
This situation on the ground will only deteriorate unless
international actors continue to keep global attention on
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