Myanmar Crisis

Myanmar Map
Source: OCHA/ReliefWeb

The country

Myanmar, formerly Burma, is a Southeast Asian nation that borders India, Bangladesh, China, Laos, and Thailand. The country gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 4 January 1948. Its capital is Nay Pyi Taw. Myanmar covers a land area of 676,578 square kilometers. As of 2022, the country had an estimated population of around 57,5 million people. Over half of Myanmar's population consists of diverse ethnic groups.

The humanitarian situation

Myanmar faces multiple overlapping humanitarian needs caused by genocide, persecution, protracted armed conflicts, inter-communal violence and natural disasters. Humanitarian needs in Myanmar have continued to grow due to ongoing armed violence and political unrest since the military coup in February 2021. Myanmar is also one of the most vulnerable countries in South East Asia to natural disasters, facing numerous hazards such as floods, cyclones, and earthquakes.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), ongoing fighting across Myanmar continues to endanger the lives, safety, and health of civilians. Heavy armed clashes, including airstrikes, artillery fire and ambushes are reported predominantly in the northwest and southeast of the country, as well as in Rakhine and southern Chin state.

As of February 2023, there were an estimated 1.6 million internally displaced people (IDP) across Myanmar, including some 1.3 million people who have been displaced within the country since the military takeover on February 1, 2021. 330,000 People are internally displaced due to conflict prior to February 2021, mainly in Rakhine, Kachin, Chin, and Shan state. More than one million refugees and asylum-seekers from Myanmar – mostly from the Rohingya ethnic group - have fled to neighboring countries. Nearly half of the refugees and internally displaced people are children. Over 70,000 people have fled the country since the military takeover in February 2021.

For decades, the Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority, have faced institutionalized discrimination in Myanmar, such as exclusion from citizenship. Since August 2017, ongoing conflict and violence in northern Rakhine state forced hundreds of thousands of people, mostly Rohingya, to flee Myanmar to Bangladesh. Most of the Rohingya refugees are living currently at the Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camps in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar region. 

Rising despair in Bangladesh’s refugee camps and ongoing violence in Myanmar are driving a dramatic increase in Rohingya risking perilous journeys across the Andaman Sea. In December 2022, the United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR) issued a public alert to warn of the sharp rise this year in the number of people, mostly Rohingya, fleeing both Bangladesh and Myanmar by boat. 

According to the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 15.2 million people in the country are food insecure. The United Nations estimates that 17.6 million people in Myanmar will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2023, an increase of more than 3 million compared to 2022. Among the population requiring humanitarian aid are some 5.6 million children.

Access restrictions imposed by the authorities and funding constraints severely hamper the ability of aid agencies to respond to humanitarian needs in Myanmar. Relief operations in Myanmar and neighboring Bangladesh (Rohingya refugee crisis) are dangerously and chronically underfunded. The United Nations requested $826 million in funding for the Myanmar crisis in 2022. As of December 2022, only $291 million had been received from donors (35% coverage). For the Rohingya emergency in Bangladesh, $881 million was targeted. As of December, international donors had provided only $434 million (49% coverage). 

Myanmar LocationThe security situation

In August 2017, the Myanmar government launched a military campaign that forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. The United States have declared the Myanmar government has committed genocide against the Rohingya. 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.

On February 1, 2021, the military staged a coup d'état and arrested State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint, as well as other leaders of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD). More than 2,940 people were killed in protests and unrest after the coup, and over 17,570 were arrested.  

In 2022, intense armed clashes in several states, exacerbated by tight security and restrictions on the movement of people and goods, continue to threaten the lives and safety of Myanmar people. Frequent, indiscriminate attacks, including airstrikes and artillery shelling in civilian areas, have claimed victims and spread fear. Displacement also continues to increase despite some reported returnees. 

In December 2022, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed a landmark resolution on Myanmar (Resolution 2669), demanding the military government immediately end violence in the Southeast Asian nation and release all arbitrarily detained prisoners. In reiterating the necessity for full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access, the UNSC underlined the need for scaled-up humanitarian assistance to all people in need in Myanmar and to ensure the full protection, safety and security of humanitarian and medical personnel.

In 2023, armed conflict in multiple states across Myanmar continues to claim lives, trigger displacement and affect civilians. In the first two months of this year, more than 154,000 people have been internally displaced and are living in precarious conditions in camps and informal sites often in jungles and forests. Over 55,000 civilian structures, including homes, clinics, schools and places of worship, have been reportedly burned or destroyed over the past two years. Some 255 of the country’s 330 townships have been impacted by armed clashes. Martial law is currently declared in 47 townships across multiple states and regions.

Donations

Your donations for the Myanmar emergency and the Rohingya emergency can help United Nations agencies, international humanitarian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and their local partners to rapidly provide water, food, medicine, shelter and other aid to the people who need it most.

Further information

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