Mobile medical units and clean drinking water are among the greatest needs in central Myanmar days after Friday's massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake, according to an official from the International Rescue Committee.
"People are sleeping outside, and the hospitals are overcrowded and the people living there are experiencing a lack of clean water," said Mohamed Riyas, acting country director for Myanmar at the International Rescue Committee.
The death toll has already exceeded 2,000 people, according to state media, with the number expected to rise as bodies are uncovered in the rubble. The earthquake has created a crisis on top of another crisis. The country has been in a civil war since 2021 and the fighting has not stopped, despite the natural disaster.
Riyas noted that neighboring countries like India and China have pledged aid, and said there was an uptick in European donations to aid organizations.
On Friday, as President Trump said the U.S. would help with the earthquake response, which also hit Thailand, his administration was dismantling what was left of the U.S. Agency for International Development.
On Monday, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said a team will be traveling to Myanmar and the department is providing $2 million to local aid organizations.
Riyas said he has not seen American funding so far for this particular crisis at IRC, but he made an appeal to the U.S. for assistance.
"This is one of the major humanitarian crises in the history of Myanmar," Riyas said. "And I think the U.S. funding is going to be very critical to respond to this emergency."
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
Mary Louise Kelly: When you say there is a growing need for things as basic as clean water, just give me a sense of what that means. How many people we're talking, how difficult the situation is.
Mohamed Riyas: Just to give you a number of one town in Mandalay experienced nearly about 80 percent of the houses damage[d] because of the earthquake in one town. So, that's the scale that we are talking about. Then if you look at the total population of Mandalay, I would say nearly about 60 to 70 percent of that population will need urgent support. That's the scale that we are talking about.
Kelly: And you're talking about teams that were, what, already in the country before the earthquake. What about aid that is now arriving because of the earthquake? Where is it coming from? Is it getting in?
Riyas: Some international aid is coming in. I mean, India and some other countries have sent the search and rescue teams. So, in that form, the aid is kind of coming. I've also seen the international donors are increasing their contribution.
Kelly: For Americans listening, it feels important just to put this into context: the country was already in crisis. There's been a civil war raging in Myanmar since 2021. And I was seeing that fighting has continued, that the military fighter jets are dropping bombs on rebel positions even after the earthquake. Is that affecting relief efforts?
Riyas: There are, of course, still restrictions when it comes to getting approvals and moving humanitarian stuff. But at least my team, they were able to reach Mandalay this evening. Of course, they are out there are checkpoints in the road. And, you know, they want to make sure what we are kind of carrying. We still have not taken anything to Sagaing and other areas, but at least in Mandalay we did not face any significant challenges.
Kelly: And once they are there and up and running, what will they be able to do? What's item number one?
Riyas: Item number one is a mobile medical help. There are a lot of people who got injured. They're coming to the hospital to take medicine. The health system can't cope with this number. So, we have deployed our mobile medical health team to support the effort already that is happening in the hospital and then making sure people have clean drinking water because we have seen in emergencies, if you don't provide clean water to people, then you will end up with so many issues like waterborne diseases. That's going to be a disaster on top of another disaster.
Kelly: Problems creating further problems. Indeed.
Riyas: That's right.
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