'Eating rats': Myanmar's second COVID-19 lockdown drives hunger in city slums

A man prepares a rat trap amid a lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, in a slum area of Yangon, Myanmar, October 21, 2020. Picture taken October 21, 2020. REUTERS/Shwe Paw Mya TinYANGON: After the first wave of coronavirus hit Myanmar in March, 36-year-old Ma Suu closed her salad stall and pawned her jewelry and gold to buy food to eat.

They live in Hlaing Thar Yar, one of Yangon's poorest neighborhoods, where residents shine flashlights in the undergrowth behind their homes, looking for some night creature to stave off their hunger.While rats, reptiles and insects are often eaten by families in rural areas, people in some urban areas are now being reduced to getting nutrition however they can.

Myat Min Thu, the ruling party lawmaker for the area, said government aid and private donations was being distributed but acknowledged not everyone could be covered.The crisis has cast a shadow over a general election planned for Nov 8, though Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is still expected to win by a comfortable margin.

Myanmar’s government has offered poor households a one-off food package and three cash grants of US$15 each as part of its relief plan, but families say it falls far short.

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