\n
Presenting his final report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the outgoing Special Rapporteur who examines conditions in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, urged governments to renew efforts to protect civilians and support the country\u2019s embattled population.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe current geopolitical climate is less than conducive to advancing human rights in Myanmar and beyond,\u201d he said. \u201cThe United Nations and the principles on which it was founded more than 80 years ago are under severe strain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Andrews \u2013 who is mandated by the Council to serve as an independent expert and is not a UN staff member \u2013 warned that waning international pressure and shrinking humanitarian funding could have devastating consequences for people<\/strong> already enduring widespread violence and deprivation.<\/p>\n\u201cActions by the international community to weaken the military junta\u2019s ability to sustain itself and its attacks on the people of Myanmar have shown promise,\u201d he said. \u201cAlarmingly, however, there are signs that the resolve of governments is waning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coup\u2019s human toll<\/h2>\n
Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military seized power in February 2021, overthrowing the civilian government and arresting top leaders including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The coup also triggered nationwide protests and subsequent armed resistance movements which control large swathes of the fractured country.<\/p>\n
Violence against civilians has also intensified dramatically. There were nine airstrikes on civilian targets in 2021, compared with 1,140 in last year<\/strong>.<\/p>\nMore than 100,000 homes have been burned down, while the use of landmines by junta forces has increased sharply, leaving communities across the country living in constant fear.<\/p>\n
Deepening humanitarian crisis<\/h2>\n
The conflict has fuelled a spiralling humanitarian emergency.<\/p>\n
According to the UN relief coordination office, OCHA, nearly one-third of Myanmar\u2019s population now requires humanitarian assistance and more than 12 million people face acute hunger<\/strong>.<\/p>\nMore than 3.6 million people are displaced nationwide as fighting spreads across several regions, including Sagaing, Magway, Chin, Bago and Kayin, where intense clashes and airstrikes continue to drive people from their homes.<\/p>\n
Civilian casualties are also rising.<\/p>\n
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, reports that airstrikes attributed to Myanmar\u2019s armed forces killed at least 982 civilians in 2025<\/strong> \u2013 a 53 per cent increase compared with the previous year \u2013 including 287 children.<\/p>\nIn Rakhine State alone, more than 190 people were killed in aerial attacks that also destroyed homes, medical facilities and camps for internally displaced people.<\/p>\n
Calls for stronger action<\/h2>\n
Despite the worsening conditions, Mr. Andrews said international measures aimed at isolating the military leadership have shown results.<\/p>\n
Sanctions targeting military-controlled businesses and arms supply networks have disrupted the junta\u2019s ability to acquire weapons, he noted, while the regime has struggled to gain international legitimacy.<\/p>\n
The international community also faces a critical choice, he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill it bring to scale measures that have proven to be effective and support the people of Myanmar who continue to demonstrate remarkable courage and tenacity?\u201d <\/strong>Mr. Andrews asked. \u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cOr will it retreat and abandon the people of Myanmar precisely when they need that support the most?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Presenting his final report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the outgoing Special Rapporteur…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":83534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"yoast_head":"\n
Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert - Gulf Times | News by the minute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gulf Times: Latest news across the GCC from UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gulf News| UAE's Largest News aggregator site\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gulf Times | News by the minute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100084981843786\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-13T12:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"gulftimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Gulftimesuae\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Gulftimesuae\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"gulftimes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert - Gulf Times | News by the minute","description":"Gulf Times: Latest news across the GCC from UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert","og_description":"Gulf News| UAE's Largest News aggregator site","og_url":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132","og_site_name":"Gulf Times | News by the minute","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100084981843786","article_published_time":"2026-03-13T12:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":560,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"gulftimes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Gulftimesuae","twitter_site":"@Gulftimesuae","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"gulftimes","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=83533"},"author":{"name":"gulftimes","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5b0f90aae48bb43165ee6e39ddc977"},"headline":"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert","datePublished":"2026-03-13T12:00:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=83533"},"wordCount":513,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif","articleSection":["Asia Pacific"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=83533","url":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132","name":"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert - Gulf Times | News by the minute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif","datePublished":"2026-03-13T12:00:00+00:00","description":"Gulf Times: Latest news across the GCC from UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Saudi Arabia","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773505116_image560x340cropped.avif","width":560,"height":340},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2026\/03\/1167132#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Myanmar at a \u2018crossroads\u2019: The world must not forsake civilians there, urges UN expert"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/","name":"Gulf Times | News by the minute","description":"Largest News Aggregator in the Gulf","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#organization"},"alternateName":"Gulf News Aggregator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#organization","name":"Gulf Times","url":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"","contentUrl":"","caption":"Gulf Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100084981843786","https:\/\/x.com\/Gulftimesuae"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/#\/schema\/person\/4c5b0f90aae48bb43165ee6e39ddc977","name":"gulftimes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8f9c2e07a9cd7e7e7c302c8c7ce8d5e0865a0bbcc732793d6e761588fd10b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8f9c2e07a9cd7e7e7c302c8c7ce8d5e0865a0bbcc732793d6e761588fd10b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8f9c2e07a9cd7e7e7c302c8c7ce8d5e0865a0bbcc732793d6e761588fd10b03?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"gulftimes"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/gulftimes.ae"],"url":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=83533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/83534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=83533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=83533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=83533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}