February 1 marks three years since Myanmar's military toppled the country's democratically elected government, setting off a bloody civil war that continues to tear apart the country of 57 million people. Some 18.6 million people in Myanmar – one-third of the population – urgently need humanitarian assistance this year – compared to one million before the military takeover on February 1, 2021.
With relief operations in the country dangerously and chronically underfunded, and insufficient world attention paid to the misery and needs of its people, Myanmar risks becoming a forgotten crisis. The United Nations warns that the situation requires immediate and sustained international attention to raise the necessary funds to alleviate suffering and save lives.
In Myanmar, the humanitarian situation remains precarious, particularly following the escalation of violence since October 2023 with armed clashes, artillery shelling, and indiscriminate gunfire reported in about two thirds of the country.
Three years since the military overturned the democratically elected government and arbitrarily detained its leaders, the crisis in Myanmar continues to deteriorate, with devastating impacts on civilians. The military is also accused of obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid to those in need.
Marking the somber anniversary, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday underscored the urgency of forging a path towards a democratic transition with a return to civilian rule. In a statement issued by his spokesman, Guterres condemned all forms of violence and called for the protection of civilians and cessation of hostilities.
“An inclusive solution to this crisis requires conditions that permit the people of Myanmar to exercise their human rights freely and peacefully. The military’s campaign of violence targeting civilians and political repression must end, and those responsible be held to account,” the statement said.
Guterres also reiterated his concern regarding the military’s stated intention to move toward elections amid intensifying conflict and human rights violations across the country.
“The Secretary-General stands in solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their desire for an inclusive, peaceful and just society and stresses the need to ensure the protection of all communities, including the Rohingya, who are risking dangerous journeys in increasing numbers in search of safety, basic rights and dignity,” the statement said.
In many different parts of Myanmar, ethnic armed organizations and resistance forces have been on the offensive against the junta since October 27, 2023. Waged by an alliance of three ethnic armed groups, the campaign has been dubbed "Operation 1027" for the date it began. The campaign has inflicted unprecedented casualties on the military and redefined the war.
Since the start of the offensive, opposition forces have seized several towns in northeast Myanmar's Shan state next to China, taken control of key roads to the border, and forced hundreds of junta soldiers to surrender. The military has responded with punishing air and artillery strikes, but so far failed to retake lost ground. That has emboldened other rebel groups across Myanmar to pounce, compounding the junta's losses.
According to the UN, this escalation is the largest and most geographically widespread since the military took power in 2021.
Much of the ground the junta has lost since Operation 1027 started includes stretches of border with India, Bangladesh and, most critically, China, Myanmar's main trade partner. A key trade route with Thailand has also been coming under increased attack from resistance groups.
The October offensive has emerged as the biggest threat to Myanmar’s military coup leaders. This threat reportedly persuaded the junta to accept a cease-fire agreement with the armed groups brokered by China on January 12.
“The fighting has subsided to a large degree,” said James Rodehaver, head of the UN Human Rights Office Myanmar Team. “However, there still continues to be airstrikes and some artillery barrages by the military against positions by these three-armed groups.”
"Operation 1027" was launched in northern Shan State by the "Three Brotherhood Alliance" - consisting of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA).
Speaking from Bangkok Tuesday, Rodehaver said “the armed groups have made it very clear that the cease-fire has repeatedly been violated by the Myanmar military (…) There still are instances where civilians are being killed as a result of these barrages.”
He noted that the armed groups are in control of the areas they have captured and, in some cases, have handed over the administration of some towns and villages to the civilian inhabitants.
“We are quite keen to see what impact that has had and also, of course, whether or not humanitarian access is going to expand in those areas and that the needs of the civilian population are going to be cared for,” Rodehaver said.
Also on Tuesday, the UN’s top human rights official called on the international community to redouble efforts “to hold the military accountable” for the many crimes and abuses it had committed against the country’s civilian population.
“Myanmar’s ever deteriorating human rights crisis is now in freefall, with insufficient world attention paid to the misery and pain of its people,” Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement issued Tuesday.
“Amid all of the crises around the world, it is important no one is forgotten. The people of Myanmar have been suffering for too long,” he said.
Ahead of the anniversary of the military coup, the High Commissioner said that “pitched battles between the military and armed opposition groups have resulted in mass displacement and civilian casualties” and as the military has suffered multiple setbacks on the battlefield, it has lashed out by launching “waves of indiscriminate aerial bombardments and artillery strikes.”
Of the 2.3 million people displaced in Myanmar since the military takeover, one-third – almost 800,000 - have fled their homes in the past three months alone due to the fighting.
According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), credible sources in Myanmar have verified that more than 554 people have died since October 2023. Overall last year, 1,600 civilians reportedly have been killed by the military.
As of January 26, the sources have documented the arrests of nearly 26,000 people on political grounds - of whom 19,973 remain in detention, “some reportedly subjected to torture and abuses, and with no hope of a fair trial.” Over the last three years, OHCHR said some 1,576 individuals “have died while being held by the military.”
"Military tactics have consistently focused on the punishment of civilians who they view as supporting their enemies," said Türk. "As a result, the military has routinely targeted civilians and protected objects under international humanitarian law, especially medical facilities and schools."
"Indiscriminate shelling and airstrikes underline the lack of measures to protect civilians on the ground, including disruption of basic communications that would help warn civilians in advance of fighting so they could get out of harm's way," he added.
The High Commissioner for Human Rights said that Rakhine State had been particularly hard hit since fighting restarted there in November.
“Many communities, especially the Rohingya, were already suffering from the impacts of Cyclone Mocha and the military’s months-long limitation of humanitarian access and provision of assistance” he said.
“There have now been several reports of Rohingya deaths and injuries amid the military’s shelling of Rohingya villages,” Türk added, noting that fighting between the Arakan Army and the Myanmar military on January 26 “reportedly left at least 12 Rohingya civilians dead and 30 others wounded.”
Rodehaver noted that there were very few places to where people can flee.
“The Rohingya have very limited options, which is one of the reasons why so many are trying to find any way to get out and into a safe location. And that includes even trying to flee on unseaworthy boats either directly from Myanmar or out of Cox’s Bazaar,” he said.
Growing desperation in Bangladesh's refugee camps and ongoing violence in Myanmar are driving a dramatic increase in the number of Rohingya risking perilous journeys across the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says 569 Rohingya perished or disappeared last year in Southeast Asian waters, with nearly 4,500 embarking on deadly sea journeys - the highest number since 2014, when the total reached 730.
“Estimates show one Rohingya was reported to have died or gone missing for every eight people attempting the journey in 2023,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR spokesperson. “This makes the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal one of the deadliest stretches of water in the world.”
The UNHCR says that most of those embarking on deadly unseaworthy journeys are refugees departing from Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh, where hundreds of thousands of refugees who fled violence and persecution in Myanmar in August 2017 are living in cramped, overcrowded camps.
Rohingya people have endured unspeakable hardship for years. For decades, the Rohingya have faced institutionalized discrimination in Myanmar, such as exclusion from citizenship. An estimated 600,000 Rohingya people, living in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, are unable to move freely and are subject to government persecution and violence.
Nearly 1 million ethnic Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim minority from Buddhist-majority Myanmar, live in the world’s largest refugee camp in eastern Bangladesh.
August 25, 2023, marked the sixth anniversary since over 700,000 Rohingya women, men and children fled Myanmar to Bangladesh, following coordinated attacks by the Myanmar military. They joined hundreds of thousands of other Rohingya who had previously sought refuge in the country.
Some information for this report provided by VOA.
Further information
Full text: Secretary-General Underscores Urgency of Forging Path Towards Democratic Transition, Civilian Rule in Myanmar, statement issued by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, released January 31, 2024
https://press.un.org/en/2024/sgsm22123.doc.htm
Full text: Myanmar: Human rights situation worsens as military lashes out indiscriminately amid losses – Türk, statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, released January 30, 2024
https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/01/myanmar-human-rights-situation-worsens-military-lashes-out-indiscriminately