Today marks 77 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) affirmed that all people are entitled to safety, dignity, and equal protection under the law. Yet in Myanmar, these principles have been systematically violated for decades by the military, through persecution, dispossession, and violence carried out with impunity.
For nearly eight decades, the military has engineered systems of control, segregation, and erasure against Muslims and other minorities, including the Rohingya. These abuses have included forced displacement, denial of citizenship and legal status, mass killings, and the destruction of homes, religious sites, and entire communities.
Since the attempted military coup on 1 February 2021, the junta has expanded this violence nationwide. Airstrikes and artillery attacks continue to devastate villages across every region, forcing families into forests and makeshift camps as their homes, schools, and places of worship burn. Arbitrary arrests, extortion, enforced disappearances, torture, and deaths in custody continue without legal restraint. Humanitarian access shrinks as displacement grows, and communities are left without adequate food, shelter, and medical care.
While the junta’s post-coup violence has drawn international attention, the intensified persecution of Muslims has continued largely under the radar. Muslim communities face targeted attacks and collective punishment, including airstrikes on Muslim villages, the destruction and closure of mosques, surveillance of religious life, raids on gatherings, and the desecration or demolition of cemeteries for military projects. Conscription policies have heightened the vulnerability of Muslim men and families, with refusal punished through detention and other forms of coercion. At the same time, extremist nationalist networks aligned with the military amplify hate and incitement through social media and propaganda, creating conditions conducive to mass violence.
In Rakhine State, Rohingya communities face grave abuses from multiple armed actors amid shifting territorial control. Both the junta and the Arakan Army subject Rohingya to forced labor, arbitrary detention, extrajudicial killings, and property seizures, intensifying fear and instability. Discriminatory laws and policies restricting movement, employment, and citizenship continue to trap hundreds of thousands of Rohingya in conditions that amount to crimes against humanity, while humanitarian organizations remain blocked from reaching entire townships.
The infrastructure sustaining this violence remains intact. Aircraft used in civilian bombings rely on international supply chains, while arms and munitions enter through direct state transfers and intermediaries. Energy revenues flow into military-controlled accounts, funding operations despite sanctions. Regional and global institutions issue condemnations while maintaining policies that preserve the systems enabling atrocities, allowing individuals credibly accused of crimes against humanity and genocide to exercise command authority.
Despite extraordinary risks, the people of Burma continue to resist: rebuilding after bombardment, searching for detained loved ones, documenting abuses, and sustaining their communities under constant threat. This resistance cannot succeed without substantive international support. Yet amidst this ongoing violence and brutality, the international response has proceeded in a slow and fragmented manner. The longer the international community waits to act, the more emboldened the junta will become as it continues to commit atrocities.
On this anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) calls on governments worldwide to:
- Sever the military's access to aviation fuel, weapons, and foreign currency through comprehensive and coordinated sanctions that target supply chain enablers and financial networks. Redouble efforts to pursue international legal action against the junta, including by joining the Gambia's case at the International Court of Justice and by actively pursuing investigations and prosecutions under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
- Increase engagement with and recognition of democratic and resistance stakeholders, including the National Unity Government, ethnic resistance organizations, and civil society leaders, in order to support a rights-respecting future.
- Reject the junta's sham elections scheduled for December 2025 and January 2026 as illegitimate, withhold recognition of any results, and refuse to provide any technical, material, or political support for the electoral process designed to legitimize continued military rule.
Additionally, BHRN calls on:
- The UN Security Council (UNSC) to end its inaction and refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court. The UNSC should also impose a binding global arms embargo including a prohibition on security assistance, the sale and transfer of arms, dual-use technology, and suspend the supply of aviation fuel.
- ASEAN to reject the junta's sham elections scheduled for December 2025 and January 2026, coordinate strong action against the junta including blocking Myanmar from all its meetings, and support UN member states in enforcing sanctions and a global arms embargo on the military regime.
- Neighboring countries, including India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, to devise a comprehensive regional response to the refugee crisis, provide protection, support, and humanitarian and legal aid to all refugees fleeing Myanmar, and to authorize emergency cross-border aid to internally displaced persons.
Organisation’s Background
BHRN is based in London and operates across Burma/Myanmar working for human rights, minority rights and religious freedom in the country. BHRN has played a crucial role in advocating for human rights and religious freedom with politicians and world leaders.
Media Enquiries
Please contact:
Kyaw Win
Executive Director
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
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T: +44(0) 740 345 2378
Ye Min
Editor
Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
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T: +66(0) 994 942 358
BHRN's Full Report PDF File
