Regime blocks aid groups from providing relief to earthquake survivors in central Myanmar

The regime Ministry of Home Affairs instructed its Bureau of Special Investigation to record the personal information of aid workers providing earthquake relief in Sagaing Region, a source close to the ministry told DVB on condition of anonymity. This new measure coincided with regime leader Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Sagaing, the epicenter of the earthquake, on Sunday. 

“[The intelligence officials will record] where the volunteers come from, where they go, what they donate, and whether they donate individually or as a group,” the source added. Sagaing is located 68 miles (109 km) east of the region’s capital Monywa and 14 miles (22 km) west of Mandalay – another of the six regions hardest hit by the earthquake. Aid workers claimed that they have received no assistance from the regime.