Myanmar: Intensified conflict leaves 3.3 million displaced

UN Interviews

Myanmar’s civil war has escalated to include systematic atrocities, including attacks targeting civilians, torture and sexual violence, according to a new report on Tuesday from the UN human rights office.

Since the military seized power on 1 February 2021, at least 5,350 civilians have been killed, and more than 3.3 million displaced. Over half the population is living below the poverty line mainly due to violence perpetrated by the national armed forces.

The situation is particularly alarming in Rakhine state, the site of a brutal crackdown on the Muslim Rohingya community by the military in 2017, leading to the exodus of nearly 750,000 community members into neighboring Bangladesh.

UN News’s Mehboob Khan spoke to UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Global Spokesperson Babar Baloch and asked him to sum up the situation in the country.