Senior UN officials on Monday voiced alarm over the continued escalation in conflict in Myanmar, amid reports of direct targeting of civilians in aerial attacks, and the abduction and forced recruitment of children by armed forces.

Fierce fighting broke out in early July in eastern Myanmar, collapsing a ceasefire between the military and a coalition of three ethnic armed groups that had banded together in October last year against the junta.

Reports indicate that the ethnic armed groups have captured key regional towns, while the tatmadaw – as the Myanmar armed forces are known – has employed heavy weapons, including artillery and airstrikes. Hundreds of civilians have been killed and tens of thousands more displaced.

The situation in Myanmar has deteriorated since the military overthrew the elected government in February 2021 and imprisoned its leaders, including President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and many others. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain incarcerated across the country.

Brutal toll on civilians

In a joint statement, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, and Mô Bleeker, UN Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect, highlighted the impact of the renewed fighting on civilians.

“Since October 2023, civilians across the country are paying the brunt of renewed violence between the ethnic armed groups and the Myanmar military,” they said.

They emphasized the obligation of the military to ensure everyone is protected regardless of religion, ethnicity, origin, gender or political affiliation.

“The Myanmar military is primarily responsible to address and counter hate speech and prevent incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence against minorities, as well as to prevent and protect the entire civil population from and against the crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity”, they stressed.

Attacks against the Rohingya

Ms. Nderitu and Ms. Bleeker also voiced deep concern over the situation of the members of the minority Muslim Rohingya community in the country’s western Rakhine province, where both the ethnic armed group Arakan Army as well as the military are alleged to have committed gross human rights violations.

These include beheadings, burning of villages, drone attacks and killings of unarmed people fleeing. There are reports that Rohingya as well as civilians from other minorities, are being used as human shields and conscripted into the armed forces and armed groups.

“Hate speech is also being used again, since 2017, to stoke ethnic tensions between Rohingya and Arakhan community, with the view to exacerbate interethnic polarization,” the statement added.

Rakhine was the site of a brutal crackdown on the Rohingya by the military in 2017, leading to the killing of some 10,000 men, women and newborns and the exodus of nearly 750,000 community members, many of whom continue to languish in refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh.

Humanitarian situation

The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar continues to worsen, with an estimated 18.6 million people in need assistance and protection, including about three million internally displaced.

Extreme weather, marked by heavy rains and destructive storms are adding to the plight, destroying homes, crops and livelihoods. Women, children and the elderly are among the worst affected.

Efforts to provide aid are hindered by ongoing fighting and attacks targeting aid workers and assets. 

Last month, a UN World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Maungdaw in northern Rakhine province was looted and set on fire, destroying enough food to sustain 64,000 people for a month.

Resources for aid programmes also remain a major challenge, with the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan critically underfunded, having received only 12 per cent of its $994 million appeal.