Thousands of people in Myanmar’s Inle Lake region have been left homeless and stranded on small boats after the powerful 7.7-magnitude earthquake that struck on Friday, submerging entire floating villages and claiming countless lives.
The devastation is widespread. ActionAid warned that families who once lived in Inle’s picturesque stilted homes now have nowhere to go, forced to sleep in the open on boats, exposed to extreme heat, unsafe water, and worsening sanitary conditions.
ActionAid is supporting local organisations in Inle, Mandalay, and Sagaing to deliver food, water, and emergency supplies to families.
Jagat Patnaik, ActionAid’s Head of Asia Region, said:
“What we are hearing from the organizations we support in Inle Lake is devastating. The scale of the destruction has left even the most seasoned responders shocked.
Inle Lake, once a thriving tourist destination, is now a disaster zone. Entire families are crammed onto tiny boats with no protection from the blistering heat and no access to toilets, safe drinking water, or medical care.
For women and girls, the situation is even more difficult. They have no access to period products, and in a society where menstruation is heavily stigmatised, having to manage their periods whilst living on boats in close quarters with men is deeply distressing and isolating.
Humanitarian teams are doing everything they can to get clean water, food, sanitary products, and medical treatment to people who have lost their homes, but delivering supplies to people stranded on the water is an enormous challenge. The Monsoon rains are on their way, and without immediate funding, thousands will be left in a life-threatening position. We urgently need to get funds to organisations working in Myanmar, and we urge the international community to do everything they can to support those who have lost everything.”
ENDS
For media requests, please email christal.james@actionaid.org or call 7046659743.
About ActionAid
ActionAid is a global federation working with more than 41 million people living in more than 71 countries, including some of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just, fair, and sustainable world in which everybody enjoys the right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality and to eradicate poverty, including by shifting power to local organizations and movements.
