As per a media report on October 23, 2020 with more than 40,000 cases and 1,000 deaths, Myanmar is facing one of South-East Asia’s worst pandemics, and the Covid-19 lockdown in Yangon has left hundreds of thousands of people without work.
Poverty in the developing East Asia and Pacific region is set to rise for the first time in 20 years due to Covid-19, with about 38 million expected to remain in or be pushed back into poverty, as per World Bank.
Myanmar’s government has offered poor households a one-off food package and three cash grants of $15 each as part of its relief plan, which is not sufficient for most families. Industrial sectors in Myanmar, including garment work and tourism, have come to a halt while remittances have dried up. Even before the pandemic, a third of Myanmar’s 53 million people were considered ‘highly vulnerable’ to falling into poverty.
As the people get nothing to eat, they are eating rats and snakes and also feed the children in this way.
Households already in dire debt from paying for medical treatment, schooling, sustaining the elderly and everyday survival…many will need to pay off these loans before they can begin spending on anything discretionary.
Sectors driving industralisation in Myanmar – including garment work and tourism – have come to a halt while remittances have dried up.
For tens of millions of Myanmar’s poor, there is nothing other than the market, which in the good times provides opportunities for informal work in the cities or migration abroad but during a downturn is leaving the poorest with little more than the shirt on their backs.
Courtesy: NDTV, Asiaville Desk