Burma’s Aftershock: How the Burmese Junta Hijacked Disaster Relief to Crush the Revolution for the Ethnic People
How the Earthquake Became a Political Weapon Against the Karen and All Resistance Forces Fighting for Freedom
Context: The Karen People’s Long Fight Against Military Oppression
The Karen people—long among the most resilient of Burma’s ethnic groups—have spent decades resisting domination by a Burman-led military regime. Their fight for self-determination in Kawthoolei, their ancestral homeland, is not just about land or identity; it’s about survival and dignity in the face of systemic persecution.
Since the 2021 military coup, Karen communities have taken a leading role in the broader Spring Revolution, allying with other ethnic groups and pro-democracy actors to dismantle Burma’s violent military apparatus once and for all.
But the recent earthquake has not only shattered homes—it has been weaponized by foreign actors and the junta alike to derail the momentum of this revolution and prop up a regime that is rapidly losing ground.
The Earthquake as a Political Reset
While the earthquake delivered immense suffering to civilians, the junta saw something else: an opportunity. The State Administration Council (SAC), facing mounting battlefield losses, used the disaster to:
Regain access to international funding under the banner of “aid”
Redirect humanitarian supplies to its own garrisons and military strongholds
Justify resuming foreign diplomatic ties under the guise of coordination
Launch fresh waves of forced conscription and population control
For ethnic communities like the Karen, this is a cruel replay of past betrayals—where crises become cover for military consolidation, and the same international voices that claim to support human rights quietly shake hands with war criminals.
Pre-Earthquake: The Fix Was Already In
Long before the ground shook, Thailand, China, and India had already shifted their post-coup stance. Instead of standing with the people of Burma, they began exploring ways to rehabilitate SAC’s rule—for the sake of border security, resource extraction, and geostrategic interests.
Key motives included:
Access to Karen natural wealth (rare earths, gold, copper, timber, and energy)
Political alignment with centralized authoritarian systems
Preference for “the devil they know”—the Tatmadaw—over revolutionary unknowns
Influence from key Thai figures like Thaksin Shinawatra, whose networks have longstanding ties to Burma’s military elite
What they saw in SAC was not legitimacy—but utility. The earthquake merely gave them a public excuse to normalize ties.
Aiding Oppression: The Four-Front Push for Junta Normalization
Four powerful interest groups converged after the earthquake to reshape global perception of SAC and push for a “return to dialogue”:
Neighboring countries China, Thailand, India and ASEAN, calling for “humanitarian coordination” while avoiding any condemnation of SAC
International humanitarian NGOs, many of whom have been eager to re-enter Myanmar with minimal restrictions
Peace process facilitators, nostalgic for the donor-funded frameworks that excluded true ethnic leadership
Registered political parties and peace deal remnants, whose relevance depends on military inclusion
Together, they have launched a wave of messaging designed to:
Convince the world that “neither side can win,” so negotiations must resume
Recast Min Aung Hlaing as a “partner” in disaster recovery
Pressure the resistance into “ceasefires” that freeze their momentum
Pave the way for fake elections to enshrine SAC’s grip on power
These narratives do not arise from truth—they stem from strategic self-interest, a refusal to accept ethnic-led governance, and the desire to maintain Burma as a geopolitical pawn.
Karen Reality vs. International Pretense
The Karen people know better than anyone what “dialogue” with the military means. They have survived decades of:
Broken ceasefires
Weaponized aid
Displacement, torture, and airstrikes
Politically orchestrated peace processes that erased ethnic autonomy
Today, despite these challenges, the Kawthoolei Army (KTLA) and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), local PDFs, and allied ethnic forces have liberated territories, run local administrations, and built new systems of support for their people.
Yet now, under the smokescreen of “humanitarian neutrality,” the same powers who stood silent during years of massacre and displacement are channeling aid and legitimacy back into the hands of war criminals.
Resisting the False Peace
Karen resistance leaders have repeatedly warned that true peace cannot come through compromise with the perpetrators of genocide. As General Tar Parn La of the TNLA declared:
“If our generation fails to eliminate the military dictatorship, future generations will continue to suffer… from an endless cycle of ceasefires, negotiations, and renewed fighting.”
The revolutionaries, including those from Karen, Kachin, Chin, Rohingya, and Bamar communities, understand this deeply. That’s why the goal remains unchanged: the complete dismantling of the military dictatorship and the rise of an independent state for each ethnic group with full autonomy. Federalism has never worked, as the Burmese military and Burman elite (NUG) continue to isolate and marginalize the ethnic people, try to speak on their behalf, and force them into one religion, one language, and one culture: “Burmanization!”
Conclusion: Stand with the Ethnic People, Not Their Oppressors
This earthquake’s true aftershock is not geological—it’s political. It has created a new front in the war for Myanmar’s future, where propaganda, policy, and foreign diplomacy are being used to erase the sacrifices of the ethnic revolutionaries.
To the international community, the message must be clear:
No recognition of SAC as a legitimate actor
No aid routed through junta-controlled channels to include NUG acting as proxy for the ethnic people
No dialogue that ignores war crimes and ethnic aspirations
Full support for local and ethnic-led humanitarian delivery
Active pressure on China, Thailand, and India to stop propping up dictatorship
The Karen people are not asking for pity. They are asking for principled solidarity—and for the world to stop using neutrality as a mask for complicity.
References
Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG). (2024). Obstructing Aid in Karen Territories.
Fortify Rights. (2023). How the Junta Uses Aid as a Weapon.
Burma Campaign UK. (2024). No Business with the Military.
Myanmar Peace Monitor. (2023). Regional Shifts and Their Impact on Resistance Forces.
UN OCHA. (2024). Humanitarian Access Denied: Myanmar Earthquake Update.
Myanmar Now. (2024). Military Profiteering and Currency Exploitation in Disaster Zones.
Eyewitness reports from Karen civil society, April 2025.
