The human rights situation in Myanmar has “plummeted to a new low”, the United Nations said in a report published on Tuesday, citing worsening abuse of the Rohingya minority and the devastating effects of illicit economies.
The UN Human Rights Office said the military’s campaign for control and legitimacy since its 2021 coup has deepened civilian suffering through airstrikes, arson attacks, displacement and the denial of assistance. The military is fighting ethnic armed groups and militias across the resource-rich country.
Rohingya face renewed abuses in Rakhine State
In western Rakhine State, the military and the Arakan Army have continued what the UN described as widespread and systematic violations and abuses against the mostly Muslim Rohingya minority.
The report accused the Arakan Army of arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, forced labour and recruitment, as well as the destruction of villages and religious sites. Rohingya people trying to escape forced recruitment have been detained and subjected to ill-treatment, according to accounts cited by the UN, including beatings, fingernail removal and chilli applied to genitals.
The violence has caused renewed displacement, coming nine years after a crackdown that forced about 700,000 Rohingya to flee to Bangladesh.
Key figures
- An estimated 8,075 civilians, including 1,074 children, have been killed since the 2021 coup; at least 1,241 were killed in the past year.
- Open-source information indicates the civilian death toll could be as high as 15,731 since the coup and 3,102 in the past year.
- Internal displacement has reached 3.6 million people.
- Some 12.4 million people face acute hunger, while 400,000 young children and mothers suffer acute malnutrition.
- Satellite imagery identified 302 new rare-earth mining sites in Kachin State since 2021, a 149 percent increase.
Illicit mining is widening the crisis
The UN Human Rights Office said the absence of the rule of law has helped illicit economies and transnational criminal networks expand. Illegal rare-earth mining in northern Kachin State and northeastern Shan State was identified as a major concern.
Mining run-off has contaminated the environment and affected maternal and reproductive health, the report said, citing sharp increases in miscarriages and other pregnancy complications linked to heavy-metal and chemical exposure.
UN commissioner calls for scrutiny
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called the findings deeply troubling and described suffering, misery and cruelty across Myanmar.
Turk urged states, companies and investors to reconsider their involvement with the state and to examine whether their actions or inaction are fair and just for Myanmar’s people.
No comments yet. Start the discussion.