GENEVA - Junta forces have executed, tortured and sexually assaulted persons with disabilities while their relentless repression and violence are trapping many in a daily fight for survival according to a new report issued today by Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar.
"Dozens of persons with disabilities have been burned alive in their own homes as junta forces carried out campaigns of mass arson throughout the country," Andrews said. "Survivors of the junta's attacks are often displaced and severed from their support networks and struggle to survive in hostile, inaccessible environments. Many face high barriers in accessing life-saving humanitarian aid."
The Hidden Crisis: Disability Rights in Post-Coup Myanmar reveals how the 2021 military coup has devastated the lives of persons with disabilities in Myanmar, compounding historical stigma and discrimination. The new report describes the immense challenges facing persons with disabilities in Myanmar, including deep-rooted religious and cultural beliefs that perpetuate their isolation and disenfranchisement. It also spotlights the remarkable efforts of persons with disabilities and their organisations to address these conditions and support those caught in a vicious cycle of repression and discrimination.
"The primary drivers of exclusion for persons with disabilities are not their impairments but the social, cultural, political, and physical barriers pervasive throughout Myanmar society," Andrews said. "The widespread belief that impairments result from misdeeds in a past life not only fuels discrimination but is also internalised by persons with disabilities, leading many to withdraw from community life out of shame and an erosion of personal dignity."
Early progress towards protecting the rights of persons with disabilities was swiftly reversed following the coup. Reform efforts came to a halt as the junta cracked down on civil society, driving many disability rights advocates into exile. Even so, a remarkable network of organisations, many led by persons with disabilities, continue to work against all odds to provide essential services and defend the rights of persons with disabilities.
"As a distracted world fixes its attention on other crises and conflicts, the situation of persons with disabilities in Myanmar has truly become a hidden crisis within a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe," the Special Rapporteur said. "It is critical that the world pay attention."
The expert urged the international community to deny the military junta the means to continue its violence and partner with persons with disabilities to save lives and break the barriers of repression and discrimination.
