When a powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar on March 28, the ground shook violently, toppling homes, schools and temples. Sagaing, Mandalay, Naypyitaw and other cities were almost flattened. Aung Ban and Inle Lake in Shan State have also been badly affected.

Within hours, the death toll climbed into the hundreds; within days it was in the thousands. Millions of people have been affected. But the victims are helpless as the ruling junta, too busy waging war against its own people, was unprepared for such an event.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing immediately made an unprecedented plea for international emergency aid and rescue teams. Right away, foreign rescue teams launched life-saving operations in the rubble of affected cities, including Naypyitaw, where the junta’s offices and the generals’ houses were damaged.

However, the junta continues to send jet fighters and helicopters to target not only resistance and ethnic forces, but also residential areas not far from quake-affected zones. Hours before leaving for Bangkok on Thursday to attend the BIMSTEC summit, Min Aung Hlaing announced a unilateral ceasefire in the regime’s fight against anti-junta rebel groups, effective until April 22, to expedite relief and reconstruction efforts. But just hours later, the junta resumed its bombings and attacks.

The UN said on Friday that the regime has conducted dozens of attacks since the devastating earthquake hit the country last week, and at least 14 since the temporary truce was announced this week.

The UN rights office “has received reports that the military has carried out at least 53 attacks, including strikes by aircraft and drones, artillery and paramotors in areas affected by the earthquake,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.

Since the earthquake struck the country, junta security forces have done almost nothing to help the victims. We’ve seen security forces in Mandalay clearing debris and carrying broken bricks one by one from quake-affected temples and the walls of the old palace, while foreign rescue teams have been busy saving lives.

The majority of the fatalities were not killed immediately in the earthquake; most of them died because they were not rescued within hours or even a few days. The generals don’t even have enough common sense or rational thinking—let alone the proper mechanisms in place—to save lives first, rather than clear away debris.

What an insane mentality! The awful truth is, that’s always been the collective mentality of the ruling generals. We can recall this mentality and attitude from past disasters.

Prime Minister Thein Sein visits cyclone-affected people in the Irrawaddy Delta region after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008. / AFP

In 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed over 130,000 people. The junta led by Senior General Than Shwe and Prime Minister General Thein Sein, instead of helping, blocked international aid, arrested local volunteers and used the disaster to push through a sham constitutional referendum. Today, as Myanmar confronts another disaster, history is repeating. The regime, quick to bomb and kill its own people, is painfully slow to respond to real emergencies.

 Military rule: an unending disaster

But the real catastrophe struck long before the earth trembled.

For decades, Myanmar has endured an even greater disaster—one not caused by shifting tectonic plates or tropical cyclones, but by the iron grip of its military rulers. While natural disasters come and go, leaving destruction in their wake, the generals have spent decades systematically dismantling the country, leaving behind a political, economic, and social ruin far worse than any earthquake or cyclone could ever produce.

Natural disasters are brutal, but they do not choose their victims. The military’s destruction, however, is deliberate—targeting its own people, erasing their futures, and crushing any hope for recovery.

When Myanmar gained independence in 1948, the country had a promising future. It was rich in resources, with a relatively strong economy and political stability compared to its neighbors. But that hope was short-lived.

The first “man-made disaster” struck in 1962 when General Ne Win staged a coup, dismantling the democratic government and imposing military rule. His so-called “Burmese Way to Socialism” shut the country off from the outside world, crushed political opposition, and sent Myanmar into an economic freefall. Dissidents were jailed, the press was silenced, and an entire generation grew up in fear. This was a political storm that uprooted the nation’s fledgling democracy and its promising future more severely than any natural disaster ever could.

That was just the first episode of the man-made disaster for Myanmar.

(From left to right) General Ne Win, Senior General Saw Maung, Senior General Than Shwe, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Then came the next wave of destruction. The 1988 pro-democracy uprising was drowned in blood when the military, under General Saw Maung and his deputy Than Shwe, massacred thousands of demonstrators. A tsunami of oppression followed—dissidents were hunted, entire communities lived in fear, and political and economic stagnation became the norm.

Natural disasters temporarily disrupt life; but the military rulers have permanently crippled the nation. They have left behind a landscape of despair: the economy is a wreck, education is in ruins, and the people’s spirit has been battered beyond recognition.

This man-made disaster—to be specific, the military-made disaster—has now been devastating the country for more than six decades. The deliberate destruction the generals have caused—out of political and economic greed—is greater than that caused by any earthquakes or storms.

 Economic devastation

After decades of military rule, Myanmar—once called the “Asian Rice Bowl”—became one of the world’s poorest countries. Ne Win’s socialist policies destroyed private enterprise, leading to chronic shortages and an economic collapse. By 1987, the country was classified as one of the world’s least developed nations.

When Cyclone Nargis hit in 2008, the devastation was immense. Yet, even then, the military junta’s incompetence worsened the crisis. While foreign aid poured in, the generals delayed relief efforts, fearing that outside assistance would undermine their authority. People who survived the cyclone were left to fend for themselves, much like they had been forced to survive under decades of economic mismanagement.

Myanmar’s economy remained crippled by military rule, except for a short period under an elected government in the late 2010s. While cyclones and earthquakes can damage infrastructure, they don’t erase a country’s potential. The generals, however, have turned Myanmar’s economy into a wasteland, where corruption thrives and opportunity is scarce.

Take education—a sector that natural disasters might disrupt but never destroy. This has been crippled by military rule. Myanmar’s universities, once among the best in Asia, were shut down or relocated to remote areas to prevent student uprisings. The result? Generations deprived of quality education.

 The recurring disaster—coups

The most recent and perhaps most destructive chapter in Myanmar’s man-made tragedies began on Feb. 1, 2021. Once again, the military—this time led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing—seized power from an elected civilian government, citing false claims of electoral fraud. The National League for Democracy (NLD), having won more than 80 percent of the vote, was removed from office. The coup was not only illegitimate—it was catastrophic.

Myanmar coup leader Min Aung Hlaing during his trip to Russia in 2021.

Unlike previous eras, this time the people responded with overwhelming resistance. Peaceful protests swept across the country, followed by a widespread civil disobedience movement. In return, the junta cracked down with brutal force—killing protesters, torturing detainees and arresting thousands. The brutality gave rise to a new wave of armed resistance. People’s Defense Forces (PDFs) emerged nationwide, joining hands with ethnic armed organizations in what has become a full-scale civil war.

Min Aung Hlaing’s regime has taken Myanmar to an even darker place. Entire villages have been burned to the ground. Airstrikes on civilian areas have become routine. The economy has collapsed. Healthcare and education have nearly ground to a halt. Millions of people have been displaced, while the junta’s corruption, cronyism and mismanagement deepen every day.

The 2021 coup, built on lies and violence, represents a culmination of six decades of military rule. It has pushed the country to the brink of total collapse. More than just another chapter, it is a warning that unless the cycle of coups ends, Myanmar’s future will remain hostage to disaster—not from nature, but from those who rule with impunity.

Myanmar is now a failed state.

The people of Myanmar have however proven resilient in the face of both natural and political disasters. But while rebuilding from a disaster is possible, recovering from decades of military misrule is far more difficult. The destruction left by the generals cannot be measured in collapsed buildings; it is measured in lost futures, broken dreams and a nation perpetually struggling to rise.

Myanmar needs to be freed from the man-made disaster that has lasted far too long. Until then, no amount of rebuilding will be enough.

Kyaw Zwa Moe
Executive Editor of the Irrawaddy

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