Populations in Myanmar are facing crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated by the military and armed groups following the February 2021 coup.

BACKGROUND:

Since the February 2021 military coup and prolonged states of emergency in Myanmar (Burma), the military – known as the Tatmadaw – has perpetrated widespread violations, compounding an existing human rights and humanitarian crisis in the country. Peaceful mass protests against the coup were met with brutal crackdowns. Civilian militias, known as People’s Defence Forces (PDFs), formed as part of an armed resistance. The junta has retaliated with relentless airstrikes, scorched earth campaigns and other systematic attacks on civilian areas, while denying or blocking humanitarian aid to civilians, particularly in the anti-military strongholds of Magway and Sagaing regions and Chin, Kachin, Shan, Kayah and Karen states.

Attacks by the junta and clashes with other armed groups threaten civilians, with 13 of Myanmar’s 15 states and regions affected by conflict. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, has documented abuses against aid workers and the burning alive, dismembering, raping and beheading of civilians unable to flee attacks. At least 6,874 people have been killed in attacks by the junta, more than 22,192 people remain detained, 3.5 million have been displaced and 19.9 million need assistance – an increase of one million from 2024. Last year also saw the highest civilian casualties since the coup, according to High Commissioner Türk. Anti-junta armed groups also threaten civilians amid the escalating conflict and have been accused of torture, extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, forced recruitment and other abuses.  

On 27 October 2023 a coalition of ethnic resistance organizations (EROs) launched “Operation 1027,” capturing military outposts across the country. Other groups, including some PDFs, and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State, subsequently increased attacks. Following months of escalating conflict, the junta began forcibly recruiting at least 5,000 people per month in April 2024 and responded to growing armed resistance with intensified – often indiscriminate, disproportionate or targeted – attacks on civilians. 

The junta has also intentionally stoked inter-communal conflict between the ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya communities. Following significant advances in December, the AA now controls all of Rakhine State, except for the capital and two smaller areas. Throughout the AA’s takeover, the UN reported violence against Rohingya civilians and displacement. Prior to the coup, in August 2017 the military launched so-called “clearance operations” in Rakhine State with the purported aim of confronting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. During those operations, the majority of Myanmar’s Rohingya population were forced to flee, leaving over 900,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Despite increasing risks, the junta and Bangladesh have promoted a “pilot repatriation program” for Rohingya to return to Myanmar.

In April 2021 the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted a “Five-Point Consensus (5PC),” which called for a cessation of hostilities, among other steps. No progress has been made in its implementation. In December 2022 the UN Security Council (UNSC) passed the first and only resolution on the country, demanding an end to the violence. The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) has adopted several resolutions on the crisis, including one urging member states to halt the sale of aviation fuel to the junta. Many governments have imposed targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s leaders, military-affiliated companies and others who enable their crimes, suspending development funds, imposing arms embargoes, banning dual-use goods and halting the supply of aviation fuel.  

 In 2018 the HRC-mandated Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar concluded that senior military officials, including General Min Aung Hlaing, should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya and for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Kachin, Rakhine and Shan states. Several processes are underway to investigate and hold perpetrators accountable for crimes against the Rohingya, including the UN Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar and a trial at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) initiated by The Gambia accusing Myanmar of violating the Genocide Convention. On 27 November 2024 the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for an arrest warrant for General Min Aung Hlaing for the crimes against humanity of deportation and persecution of the Rohingya. Courts in the Philippines and Türkiye have also filed cases under universal jurisdiction. On 13 February 2025 an Argentine court also issued arrest warrants for 25 officials, including General Hlaing, former State Counsellor of the civilian government overthrown by the junta in 2021, Aung San Suu Kyi, and former President Htin Kyaw for genocide and crimes against humanity perpetrated against the Rohingya. 

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:

On 28 March powerful earthquakes struck central Myanmar, killing at least 3,800 people and causing widespread destruction. Although many EROs and the junta announced temporary ceasefires, the junta has continued airstrikes. The Institute for Strategy and Policy – Myanmar has documented at least 741 airstrikes across the country since the earthquakes, with nearly 90 percent occurring after the ceasefire. According to High Commissioner Türk, junta attacks killed at least 200 civilians from 28 March to 29 April alone. The junta has also diverted and blocked aid from reaching those in need. On 12 May at least 23 civilians, mainly children, were killed in an airstrike on a school in Depayin, Sagaing region – the epicenter of the earthquakes – while around 200 children were taking exams.

During the annual ASEAN summit in May, the bloc held two meetings to address the crisis in Myanmar and called for an extension of the temporary ceasefires and unfettered access for humanitarian aid.  

ANALYSIS:

Impunity for past atrocities has allowed the military to continue widespread and systematic abuses, especially against ethnic minorities and those seen as opposing the junta. Operation 1027 poses the most serious challenge to the junta since the coup. Some EROs have also committed abuses, including along ethnic lines, heightening protection risks. The military’s pattern of sexual and gender-based violence, evident during the Rohingya clearance operations, continues against those perceived as opposing the junta. The Rohingya face heightened risk of genocide and other atrocities due to junta-stoked inter-communal tensions and attacks by armed groups, including the AA.  

Divisions within ASEAN and the UNSC, and ASEAN’s strict commitment to the 5PC, coupled with increasing influence and support by China to the junta, have hampered the development of a coordinated international response to atrocities in Myanmar. Despite extensive targeted sanctions, fuel and arms continue to be shipped into Myanmar, including from entities based in countries imposing sanctions. 

The coup, ongoing hostilities and a lack of trust complicate the prospects for the safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. 

RISK ASSESSMENT:

• • • Impunity for decades of atrocities perpetrated by the military.
    • History of institutionalized persecution and discrimination against ethnic minority groups. 
    • The military’s continued access to weapons, aviation fuel and money, providing the means to perpetrate atrocities. 
    • Indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure while targeting anti-military strongholds. 
    • Increasing desperation of the junta to quell armed resistance.

NECESSARY ACTION:

The UNSC should impose a comprehensive arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Myanmar, ensure continued reporting on the crisis and refer the situation to the ICC. All UN member states, regional organizations and the UNSC should impose sanctions on Myanmar’s oil, gas and banking sectors and block the military’s access to arms and aviation fuel. Foreign companies should immediately divest and sever ties with all military-linked businesses. 

The junta should not be diplomatically recognized as the legitimate representatives of Myanmar, including after the elections planned for December 2025 or January 2026. ASEAN states should condemn the Tatmadaw, increasingly engage with the exiled shadow government, the National Unity Government, and urgently reassess the 5PC. 

More states should formally intervene in the ICJ case. All those responsible for atrocity crimes, including senior military leaders, should face international justice. 

EROs must operate within the parameters of international humanitarian and human rights law. 

For more on the Global Centre’s advocacy work on the situation in Myanmar, see our Myanmar country advocacy page.