Myanmar coup has caused prices to rise, leaving millions unable to buy food
- Livelihoods have been lost after strikes and factory closures, while fuel prices have skyrocketed
- Price hikes have hit remote areas particularly hard – near the Chinese border in Kachin state, rice is almost 50 per cent more expensive
Livelihoods have been lost after strikes and factory closures, fuel prices have shot up and those lucky enough to have bank savings face day-long queues to withdraw their cash.
Venturing out in public to earn a living has also become a safety hazard against the backdrop of an indiscriminate and brutal crackdown on dissent that has killed more than 800 civilians, according to a local monitoring group.
In a country which in normal times exports rice, beans and fruit, millions will go hungry in the coming months, the World Food Programme has warned.
“We have to feed our children so they don’t starve,” Aye Mar says, sitting barefoot in the commercial capital, a baby swinging in a hammock overhead.
The 33-year-old is out of work, along with her husband who has been forced to take any odd job on offer – including digging septic tanks.
Food vendor Wah Wah, 37, says price increases since the coup mean customers can no longer afford something as modest as a bowl of dried fish.