Zoya Phan, Programme Director | 1 May 2025
I would like to thank Burma VJ, Stars of Myanmar Friendship, the Myanmar Peace Museum, Sacca, and everyone involved in this timely exhibition, to raise more public awareness about the terrible impact of Burmese military airstrikes in Burma.
Burmese military airstrikes are one of the main things causing suffering in our country today, and they are preventable.
The full impact of Burmese military airstrikes is much more devastating than we see them in the pictures or read about them in the news.
More than five million people have been forced to flee their homes since the latest coup began in 2021, and a huge proportion of those people have fled because of airstrikes or the threat of airstrikes.
When they flee their homes they become homeless, they become unemployed. Most become dependent on aid and help from others. They go from growing food to depending on food aid. There is not just a humanitarian crisis created by Burmese military airstrikes, but also an economic crisis.
Children are out of school, education either stopped or badly disrupted. This will affect them and their opportunities the whole rest of their lives.
When I went back home in Kawthoolei Karen areas, I saw with my own eyes, the destruction, fear and the humanitarian crisis caused by the Burmese military airstrikes.
The population, including children, is so traumatised. In the UK when young children hear or see a plane they point excitedly at it. In Burma when young children hear a plane they cry and shake with fear.
The Burmese military depend on air power for their survival. They use jets, helicopter, and drones to drop bombs, and they deliberately target schools, medical centres, religious sites and homes.
But the jets, helicopters, and drones all come from other countries. The fuel they use to fly them comes from abroad. The bombs they drop are purchased using military controlled banks from income from abroad.
The UK, EU, USA and other countries must do more to cut off the supply of money, arms and jet fuel reaching the Burmese military.
The items on display here at the exhibition make show of the awful personal impact of Burmese military airstrikes. The personal tragedies. They also represent the tragedy of what is being done to the whole country by the Burmese military, and the unforgivable failure of the international community, including the British government, to do everything they can to try to stop the flow of money, arms and jet fuel to the Burmese military.
