Human rights in Myanmar hitting a ‘new low’ according to UN report and discussion

Mizzima/AFP

The already dire human rights situation in Myanmar has plunged to a “new low”, particularly for minorities, the United Nations warned in a new report and discussion on Tuesday.

The UN human rights office denounced the “ever-worsening brutal abuse” of the Rohingya minority, and the “devastating impact” of illicit economies, notably illegal mining for rare earths, according to the report.

Myanmar’s ruling junta seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021 that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, ending a 10-year experiment with democracy and plunging the southeast Asian nation into bloody turmoil and a humanitarian crisis.

Over the past five years, more than 100,000 people are estimated to have been killed across all sides as the military battles an array of pro-democracy and ethnic minority rebels.

In the report covering June 1, 2025 to May 31 this year, the UN rights office drew the connection between violence and a conflict economy, and civilian suffering.

“This report depicts a picture of suffering, misery, and cruelty on multiple levels and across the country that is heartbreaking,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

“I call on all states, companies and investors to undertake serious soul-searching with respect to their actions — or inaction — to ask: is this fair and just for the people of Myanmar?”

Coup-leader Min Aung Hlaing took over as Myanmar’s civilian president in April — surrendering the office of armed forces chief to a key aide.

Min Aung Hlaing is currently spearheading a diplomatic blitz to shake off Myanmar’s post-coup pariah status and gain diplomatic recognition abroad.

India, China, Laos and Thailand have all openly embraced him with visits to their capitals — drawing criticism from campaigners who complain they have granted him undue legitimacy.

“The military’s persistent quest for control and legitimacy has only deepened the suffering and the multiple life-threatening protection and humanitarian concerns civilians face,” the UN report said.

“Military tactics aimed at imposing fear and control, facilitated by the use of new technologies to expand surveillance, permeate every aspect of life.”

The report highlighted military violence against civilians, through the persistent use of airstrikes, arson attacks and displacement.

It also said illicit economies were helping to finance the conflict, with human rights crises multiplying due to illegal mining, drug production, human trafficking, and scam centres.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired a hybrid press briefing in Geneva on 25 August, which was attended by the spokespersons and representatives of the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Children’s Fund, and the World Health Organization.

During the meeting, the following human rights situation in Myanmar including that of the Rohingya was discussed.

Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), stated that the new OHCHR report found that the human rights situation in Myanmar, in particular that of minority communities, had plummeted to a new low, from the ever-worsening brutal abuse of the Rohingya population to the devastating impact of illicit economies, notably illegal mining for rare earths. The report detailed how unrelenting violence and a conflict economy worked together to expose civilian populations to untold misery.

Highlighting acts of military violence against the civilian population, the report noted the persistent use of airstrikes, arson attacks, displacement and denial of assistance. It also detailed the commission – by both the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army – of widespread and systematic violations and abuses against the Rohingya, nine years since the terrible violence of 2017 that had forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya to flee.

Across northern Rakhine, the Arakan Army had perpetrated arbitrary arrests, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, instances of enforced disappearance, forced labour and recruitment, unlawful confiscation of land and residential property, and the destruction of villages, religious and cultural sites, caused renewed Rohingya displacement. Children were systematically used for labour, with witnesses describing workers as young as six years old clearing jungle, constructing buildings and doing menial work for Rakhine families. In one case, for example, a child had been forced to clear bones and skulls of victims of a massacre.

The absence of the rule of law across Myanmar had acted as an enabler for illicit economies in the country, helping to finance the conflict, worsen the crisis, and with impacts on the wider region. Economic collapse and conflict-induced displacement had also generated a labour market that was easy for economic actors and criminal organizations to exploit, finding that civilians were lured into a system marred by endless human rights violations and abuses.

Unregulated exploitation of natural resources had destroyed the environment, livelihoods, and traditional community-based systems in a growing number of areas in the country, particularly minority areas. Findings indicated a peak in trade flows in 2023 amounting to USD 1.4 billion. Lack of economic opportunities, displacement and forced conscription have also triggered an influx of women into the mining sector, which aggravated risks of sexual violence and harassment by supervisors, guards, and militia members who operated with absolute impunity. OHCHR called on all States, companies and investors to undertake serious soul-searching with respect to their actions – or inaction; to ask: is this fair and just for the people of Myanmar? Their own reputations and their credibility were on the line.

James Rodehaver, Chief of the Myanmar Team at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), speaking from Vienna, said that today marked nine years since the operation in which over 10,000 Rohingya had been killed and displaced over 700,000 to Bangladesh. The Rohingya community was still being abused in numerous manners. Thus far, in the 5.5-year long ongoing conflict in Myanmar, over 8,300 civilians had been killed by the military, he said.

Just in the last 100 days, at least 146 civilians had been killed in airstrikes. The Myanmar military had said that the past 100 days would be dedicated to bringing peace to Myanmar, but the period had instead seen increased airstrikes on civilians and other violations of international humanitarian law. Mr. Rodehaver said that the crisis deserved the world’s attention as it was only worsening and tearing civilian lives apart.

Answering questions from the media, Mr. Rodehaver said that almost all cases referred to in the report were on young Rohingya children being exploited and abused, but there were also cases of children from other ethnic minorities. The UN had still not recognized the Myanmar military as the legitimate government of the country, an action which would need to be taken by the UN Credentials Committee.

Ms. Shamdasani added that the military’s persistent quest for legitimacy was deepening the crisis.

Mr. Rodehaver said that rare earth materials were leaving Myanmar and going to other countries. OHCHR had reached out to both to the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army, for the purposes of this report, but it had not received responses from either. The figure of 140,000 put forward by UNHCR referred to the movement of Rohingya since January 2024.

Regarding the scam centres in Myanmar, he said that thousands of people still remained in the clutches of the system, and oftentimes these did not shut down, but simply moved elsewhere within the country. Those centres were sometimes building local infrastructure as a way to endear themselves to local communities. Many scam centres were profitable for the military and border guards, he reminded. There was no progress in establishing who the individuals behind those centres were.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), referred to the Secretary-General’s Spokesman’ statement in which he called for renewed global attention and action to the plight of the Rohingya.

Sources: UN, Mizzima, AFP