Myanmar military still bombing towns despite earthquake crisis, rebels say

An armed resistance movement against Myanmar’s military-run government criticised the junta on Sunday for conducting airstrikes on villages even as the country reels from an earthquake that has killed around 1,700 people.

The Karen National Union, one of Myanmar’s oldest ethnic armies, said in a statement the junta “continues to carry out airstrikes targeting civilian areas, even as the population suffers tremendously from the earthquake”.

The group said that under normal circumstances, the military would be prioritising relief efforts, but instead is focused on “deploying forces to attack its people”.

A spokesman for the junta did not reply to queries from Reuters about the criticism.

Myanmar has been locked in civil war with multiple armed opposition groups since a 2021 coup when the military seized power from the elected government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Shortly after Friday’s devastating earthquake, military jets launched airstrikes and drone attacks in Karen state, near the KNU headquarters, according to the Free Burma Rangers, a relief organisation. Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan called for an immediate ceasefire to help aid distribution, following a virtual meeting with his ASEAN counterparts on the disaster.

“(Balakrishnan) called for an immediate and effective ceasefire in Myanmar which would facilitate the efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance and longer term national reconciliation, peace and reconstruction,” Singapore’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The epicentre of the 7.7-magnitude quake was in an area held by junta forces, but the devastation was widespread and also affected some territory held by armed resistance movements.

On Sunday, the opposition National Unity Government, which includes remnants of the government ousted in 2021, said anti-junta militias under its command would pause all offensive military action for two weeks.

China, Japan and South Korea held the first trade talks in five years on Sunday, amid concerns over US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs.

Richard Horsey, the senior Myanmar adviser at Crisis Group, said some anti-junta forces have halted their offensives, but fighting continues elsewhere.

“The regime also continues to launch airstrikes, including in affected areas. That needs to stop,” he said.

The regime was not providing much visible support in quake-hit areas, he added.

“Local fire brigades, ambulance crews, and community organisations have mobilised, but the military – who would normally be mobilised to support in such a crisis – are nowhere to be seen,” Horsey said.

Reuters

Nationthailna

PRESS STATEMENT: CIVIL SOCIETY CALLS FOR DISASTER RELIEF FOR EARTHQUAKE SURVIVORS AND AFFECTED COMMUNITIES IN MYANMAR

30 March 2025

Press Statement: Civil society calls for disaster relief for earthquake survivors and affected communities in Myanmar

Aid agencies must ensure relief is not exploited by the military junta

We—the undersigned 265 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations—express our deepest sorrow for communities across Myanmar and Thailand devastated by the earthquake on 28 March 2025. As Myanmar faces yet another humanitarian crisis amidst the military junta’s intensifying campaign of terror against the Myanmar people, it is imperative that the international community immediately mobilize resources and direct disaster emergency relief to survivors and affected communities of the earthquake. This must be channeled through local community groups and frontline responders in collaboration with the National Unity Government (NUG), Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs), and civil society. We emphasize that these disaster relief efforts, through any implementing partners, must not be exploited, manipulated, or weaponized by the military junta for its political and military gain.

The earthquake on Friday—a severe 7.7 magnitude and the region’s most devastating in nearly seven decades—has caused over 2,500 confirmed deaths[1] and left communities across Myanmar shattered, homes and religious infrastructure destroyed, and tens of thousands of lives in peril. With hospitals overwhelmed, roads and bridges collapsed, and aftershocks threatening further destruction, immediate and unimpeded humanitarian assistance is crucial. Areas hit by the earthquake include Sagaing, Mandalay, Magwe, and Bago Regions, eastern and southern Shan State, and Naypyidaw. Most of these areas are under the effective control and administration of the NUG, EROs, and People’s Defense Forces. In affected areas under its control as well as under the resistance’s control, the junta will attempt to weaponize aid to attack and leverage gains over the resistance movement. Myanmar’s history provides stark warnings about the dangers of channeling aid through the military junta.

During Cyclone Nargis in 2008, the then military regime cynically weaponized disaster relief efforts to manipulate results of its sham referendum. International aid was obstructed from entering the country and withheld from desperate survivors to coerce their favorable vote for the military-drafted constitution in exchange for aid—all measures employed to secure its control and meddling in politics. Many local volunteers from the democratic movement were arrested and imprisoned by the regime for attempting to deliver assistance. This heavily delayed critical assistance and caused masses of civilian casualties. Once aid was finally allowed into Myanmar, the military regime and their officials diverted and misused it for personal and political gain, including benefiting constituencies with ties to the regime. This is but one example of the Myanmar military’s grotesque manipulation of human suffering for consolidation of political power and personal profit.

The military’s pattern of aid exploitation persists today, as evidenced by the junta’s obstruction and manipulation of relief efforts in response to recent natural disasters, namely Cyclone Mocha in 2023 and Typhoon Yagi in 2024, and its relentless commission of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity against civilians across the country. Even after the earthquake on Friday, the military junta repeatedly bombed civilian areas in Chaung U Township in Sagaing Region, Phyu Township in Bago Region, and Naung Cho Township in northern Shan State—areas under its illegitimate declaration of state of emergency for natural disaster management. Earlier this month, the junta had already shut down seven private hospitals in Mandalay following an accusation of their employment of healthcare professionals from the Civil Disobedience Movement, severely limiting healthcare capacity in Mandalay, now torn by the earthquake. Against this backdrop, the junta has systematically imposed years-long internet and phone line shutdowns, coupled with an aggressive crackdown on VPN usage, significantly restricting the flow of information about the devastation inside Myanmar and hindering emergency response efforts. The junta’s callous contempt for human life, even in the face of widespread earthquake devastation, underscores its unsuitability to oversee aid—and more importantly, its willingness to manipulate any humanitarian response.

At this critical time, we welcome the NUG’s announcement of a two-week pause in its offensive military operations in earthquake-affected areas, effective today. However, the military junta has continued dropping bombs in earthquake-affected Pauk Township, Magwe Region, as recently as this morning. We look to the United Nations’ and ASEAN’s facilitation to ensure the junta ceases all military offensives, especially the immediate halt of ongoing airstrikes.

As communities across Myanmar mobilize to support one another amidst the devastation, we call on UN agencies, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), neighboring countries, international organizations, and the wider international community to collaborate directly with Myanmar’s legitimate stakeholders—namely the NUG and EROs—and civil society to ensure aid is not obstructed, manipulated, or weaponized by the junta. Aid can and must reach earthquake survivors and affected communities without delay through border-based channels which have proven the most effective. The NUG’s swift activation of the Emergency Operation Coordination Committees following the earthquake exemplifies its readiness and capacity to lead relief efforts in collaboration with ethnic and community partners. We commend the prompt and impactful responses to this disaster, particularly through crowd-funding efforts, including by the NUG and Myanmar Earthquake Response Coordination Unitcomprised of Myanmar civil society organizations, which have already provided essential support to affected communities.

We once again remind the international community, particularly aid agencies, that humanitarian assistance must be guided by the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, do no harm, and operational independence. The UN Country Team must fully embody these principles in their action, remembering the hard lessons learned from past engagements on aid with the military junta and past military regimes. Disaster response to this latest catastrophe must prioritize collaboration with stakeholders who demonstrably value the lives, safety and well-being of the Myanmar people—the NUG, EROs, and civil society—while actively preventing the junta from obstructing or exploiting aid delivery. Failure to do so will deepen the already dire humanitarian crisis and guarantee further abuses by an illegal body notorious for its active destruction of human lives.

We urge the UN, neighboring countries, and the wider international community to remember Myanmar’s painful history of the military’s manipulation of aid in times of natural disasters, and act resolutely to protect affected and vulnerable communities from exploitation and further suffering. The people of Myanmar deserve aid that alleviates suffering—not aid weaponized against them.

For more information, please contact:

Signed by 265 civil society organizations, including seven organizations that have chosen not to disclose their name.

  1. #MilkTeaAlliance Calendar Team
  2. #MilkTeaAlliance Friends of Myanmar
  3. 5/ of Zaya State Strike
  4. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
  5. A-Yar-Taw People Strike
  6. Action Committee of Basic Education Students (ACBES)
  7. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
  8. All Aung Myay Thar San Schools Strike Force
  9. All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
  10. All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Monywa District)
  11. Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI)
  12. Alliance of Students’ Union – Yangon (ASU-Yangon)
  13. ALTSEAN-Burma
  14. Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon-AJAY
  15. Anti-junta Forces Coordination Committee (AFCC -Mandalay)
  16. Arakan Rohingya National Union (ARNU)
  17. ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum Philippines Process
  18. Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR)
  19. Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
  20. Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD)
  21. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
  22. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP)
  23. Association of Spring Rainbow (ASR)
  24. Association Suisse-Birmanie
  25. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
  26. Auckland Kachin Community NZ
  27. Auckland Zomi Community
  28. Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway
  29. Basic Education General Strike Committee (BEGSC)
  30. Basic Education Worker Unions – Steering Committee (BEWU-SC)
  31. Blood Money Campaign (BMC)
  32. Burma Affairs and Conflict Study (BACS)
  33. Burma Action Ireland
  34. Burma Campaign UK (BCUK)
  35. Burma Canadian Network
  36. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
  37. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
  38. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
  39. Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
  40. Campaign for a New Myanmar
  41. Campaign for Popular Democracy
  42. CDM Medical Network (CDMMN)
  43. Chanmyatharzi Township People’s Strike
  44. Chaung Oo Township Youth Strike Committee
  45. Chin Community in Norway
  46. Chin Community of Auckland
  47. Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO)
  48. Chindwin (West) Villages Women Strike
  49. Civil Information Network (CIN)
  50. Civil Rights Defenders (CRD)
  51. Civil Society Organizations Coordination Committee (Monywa)
  52. Co-operative University Mandalay Students’ Strike
  53. Coalition Strike Committee – Dawei
  54. Community Resource Centre
  55. Creative Home (CH)
  56. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
  57. CRPH Funding Ireland
  58. CRPH Support Group, Norway and members organizations
  59. Daung Sitthe Strike
  60. Dawei (Ashaetaw) Women Strike
  61. Dawei Youths Revolutionary Movement Strike Committee
  62. Defend Myanmar Democracy (DMD)
  63. Democracy for Ethnic Minorities Organization (DEMO)
  64. Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
  65. Depayin Township Revolution Steering Committee
  66. Depayin Women Strike
  67. Doh Atu – Ensemble pour le Myanmar
  68. Educational Initiatives Prague
  69. Emergency Management Committee – Mandalay
  70. Equality Myanmar (EQMM)
  71. Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee (Mandalay)
  72. ETOs Watch Coalition
  73. Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (NZ)
  74. Former Political Prisoners and New Generation Group – Monywa
  75. Free Burma Campaign (South Africa) (FBC (SA))
  76. Free Rohingya Coalition (FRC)
  77. Friends Against Dictatorship (FAD)
  78. From Singapore to Myanmar (FS2M)
  79. Gangaw Women Strike
  80. Gender Equality Network (GEN)
  81. General Strike Collaboration Committee (GSCC)
  82. General Strike Committee of Basic and Higher Education (GSCBHE)
  83. General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB)
  84. Generation Wave (GW)
  85. Generations’ Solidarity Coalition of Nationalities (GSCN)
  86. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (GMSR)
  87. Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF)
  88. Human Rights Educators Network (HREN)
  89. Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
  90. Human Rights Working Group
  91. India for Myanmar
  92. Industries Strike
  93. Info Birmanie
  94. Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
  95. Inter Pares
  96. International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
  97. International Campaign for the Rohingya
  98. International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR-Net)
  99. International Peace Bureau
  100. Italia-Birmania
  101. Jubilee Campaign
  102. Justice & Equality Focus (JEF)
  103. Justice For Myanmar (JFM)
  104. Justice Movement for Community-Innlay
  105. K’cho Ethnic Association (Europe)
  106. Kachin Association Norway
  107. Kachin Legal Aid Group (KLAG)
  108. Kachin State Civilian Movement
  109. Kachin Student Union
  110. Kachin Women Association Thailand (KWAT)
  111. Kalay Township Strike Force
  112. Kalay Women Strike
  113. Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
  114. Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN)
  115. Karenni National Women’s Organization (KNWO)
  116. Karenni Society New Zealand Overseas Mon Association. New Zealand
  117. Keng Tung Youth
  118. Kontras
  119. Kyae Lak Myay
  120. Kyain Seikgyi Spring Revolution Leading Committee
  121. Kyauktada Strike Committee (KSC)
  122. La Communauté Birmane de France
  123. Latpadaung Region Strike Committee
  124. LGBT Alliance
  125. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kalay Region)
  126. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kyaukse Region)
  127. LGBT Community Yangon
  128. LGBT Union – Mandalay
  129. Magway People’s Revolution Committee
  130. Magway Region Human Rights Network
  131. Maharaungmyay Township People’s Strike
  132. Mandalar University Students’ Strike
  133. Mandalay Alliance Coalition Strike
  134. Mandalay Medical Family (MFM)
  135. Mandalay Regional Youth Association – Revolution Core Group
  136. Mandalay Strike Force (MSF)
  137. Mandalay Women Strike
  138. Mandalay Youth Strike
  139. Mandalay-based People’s Strike
  140. Mandalay-Based University Students’ Unions (MDY_SUs)
  141. MayMyo Strike Force
  142. Mekong Watch
  143. Milk Tea Alliance Thailand
  144. Minority Affairs Institute
  145. Monywa LGBT Strike
  146. Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee
  147. Monywa Women Strike
  148. Monywa-Amyint Road Strike Leading Committee
  149. Monywa-Amyint Road Women Strike
  150. Movement for Alternatives and Solidarity in Southeast Asia
  151. Multi-Religions Strike
  152. Muslim Youth Network
  153. Mya Taung Strike
  154. Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP)
  155. Myanmar Action Group Denmark
  156. Myanmar anti-military coup movement in New Zealand
  157. Myanmar Campaign Network (Australia)
  158. Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway
  159. Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
  160. Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
  161. Myanmar Community in Italy
  162. Myanmar Community in Norway
  163. Myanmar Emergency Fund – Canada
  164. Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
  165. Myanmar Global Support Foundation
  166. Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
  167. Myanmar Hindu Union
  168. Myanmar Institute of Information Technology Students’ Strike
  169. Myanmar Labor Alliance (MLA)
  170. Myanmar Labour News
  171. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
  172. Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
  173. Myaung Youth Network
  174. MyaYar Knowledge Tree
  175. Myingyan Civilian Movement Committee
  176. Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
  177. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
  178. Network of University Student Unions – Monywa
  179. New Myanmar Foundation (NMF)
  180. New Zealand Campaign for Myanmar
  181. New Zealand Doctors for NUG
  182. New Zealand Karen Association
  183. New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
  184. NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway
  185. No Business With Genocide
  186. 12 Basic Education Branch High School (Maharaungmyay) Students’ Union
  187. North Dagon & East Dagon News
  188. Norway Matu Community
  189. Norway Rvwang Community
  190. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
  191. OCTOPUS (Youth Organization)
  192. Pa-O Women’s Union (PWU)
  193. Pale Township People’s Strike Steering Committee
  194. Politics for Women Myanmar
  195. Progressive Muslim Youth Association (PMYA)
  196. Progressive Voice (PV)
  197. Pyi Gyi Tagon Strike Force
  198. Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
  199. Queers of Burma Alternative (QBA)
  200. Rainbows Talk
  201. Representative Committee of University Teacher Associations (RC of UTAs)
  202. Rohingya Community in Norway
  203. Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN)
  204. Rvwang Community Association New Zealand
  205. Samgha Sammaga-Mandalay
  206. Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
  207. Save the Natural Resource (SaNaR)
  208. Seinpann Strike
  209. Shan Community (New Zealand)
  210. Shan MATA
  211. Shwe Pan Kone People`s Strike Steering Committee
  212. Sisters 2 Sisters
  213. Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
  214. Solidarity for People’s Education and Lifelong Learning
  215. Southern Initiative
  216. Southern Youth Development Organization
  217. Stop the War Coalition Philippines
  218. Sujata Sisters Group (NZ)
  219. Support Group for Democracy in Myanmar (NL)
  220. Swedish Burma Committee
  221. Ta’ang Women’s Organization (TWO)
  222. Taze Strike Committee
  223. Taze Women Strike
  224. Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)
  225. Thakhin Kodaw Mhine Peace Network (Monywa)
  226. Thayat Chaung Women Strike
  227. The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (Monywa)
  228. The Ladies Organization
  229. The Mekong Butterfly
  230. Think Centre, Singapore
  231. Twitter Team for Revolution (TTFR)
  232. S. Campaign for Burma
  233. Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA
  234. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
  235. University Students’ Unions Alumni Force
  236. Volunteers in Myanmar
  237. Wetlet Revolution Leading Committee
  238. Wetlet Township Women Strike
  239. White Coat Society Yangon (WCSY)
  240. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar (WAC-M)
  241. Women Alliance Burma (WAB)
  242. Women for Justice
  243. Women Lead Resource Center (WLRC)
  244. Women Peace Network (WPN)
  245. Women’s Organization Of Political Prisoners (WOPP)
  246. Women’s Peace Network (WPN)
  247. Yadanabon University Students’ Union (YDNBUSU)
  248. Yangon Deaf Group
  249. Yangon Women Strike
  250. Yasakyo Township People`s Strike Steering Committee
  251. Yinmarpin and Salingyi All Villages Strike Committee
  252. Youth Empowerment
  253. Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)
  254. Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway
  255. Zomi Community Norway
  256. စစ်ကိုင်းတိုင်းဒေသ သပိတ်အင်အားစု
  257. ယိမ်းနွဲ့ပါး
  258. သမိုင်းသယ်ဆောင်သူများ

Download the press statement.

AAPP Launches its New Report on Justice, the Judiciary and the Weaponization of Law to Repress Civilians in Burma

Today, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners launches its new report, highlighting the inherently repressive colonial legislation that has been amended, enacted and weaponized by the junta to systematically commit a campaign of terror and ongoing human rights violations against the people of Burma.

“The military junta is weaponizing its unjust law, using its interrogation camps, and prisons as the epicenter of its campaign of fear.  This brutal strategy seeks to crush any resistance, while systematically employing torture to silence those who dare oppose them.  We must strive to ensure that such atrocities never happen again within Burma’s territory. We believe that the NUG and ethnic groups who govern in their areas of control will not use existing laws, law enforcement agencies, and penal institutions to oppress the people.” (Ko Bo Kyi – Joint Secretary of AAPP)

The success of the Spring Revolution has been undeniable. As resistance groups take control of large swathes of territory across the country, it is imperative that the laws used in these areas take on a people-centred and human rights based approach, crucial to ensuring that these laws protect the fundamental freedoms of the people.

AAPP encourages all resistance groups, including Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs), to use this report as a foundation to review laws currently in use in their areas of control. It draws comparison between Burma’s domestic laws and the conditions within international human rights standards and other comparative domestic laws, to make suggestions for future legal and judicial reform.

Meanwhile, the situation on the ground makes it increasingly clear that junta rule can no longer continue. United Nations, ASEAN, and global leaders must place increased pressure on the junta to release all political prisoners who were detained under these repressive laws, including President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. Only then will the country be on a path to a federal democratic state, where human rights are fostered and enjoyed by all.

Assistance Association for Political Prisoners

AAPP: info@aappb.org

File Download: law report.eng.ebook

Junta offensives leave 4 dead, thousands displaced in northwest Myanmar

Displaced residents are in critical need of clean water and medicine, aid workers said.

Read RFA coverage of these topics in Burmese. 

Junta attacks on Thursday claimed four lives in northwest Myanmar, where tens of thousands displaced residents remain in desperate need of emergency aid, volunteers and locals told Radio Free Asia. 

The offensives in the embattled Sagaing region have intensified since insurgent militias rose up against Myanmar’s military, which seized power in a 2021 coup, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and claiming thousands of lives through shootings, village burnings and bombings.

In the latest offence on Thursday, junta soldiers killed four residents in Sagaing’s Myaung town, leaving one injured. 

“Today at 10 a.m., they were firing wildly with heavy weapons and circling the area with parachutes, looking for targets to drop bombs on,” said one resident on Thursday, declining to be named for security reasons. 

Residents added they could not confirm the identities of the dead, but it was junta’s retaliatory move as junta forces clashed with a local militia a day before.

Sagaing region’s junta spokesperson Nyant Win Aung refused to comment.

According to data compiled by RFA, 3,531 people have been killed by heavy weapons since the coup, and another 5,007 have been injured. 

As conflict between militias and junta troops escalates, tens of thousands have fled to safer areas, but they are desperately in need of supplies to survive and cope with water-borne illnesses.

More than 30,000 internally displaced people have been sheltering in Sagaing region’s Kale township, roughly 210 kilometers [130 miles] northwest of Myaung Township, since early February, and according to aid workers, they are facing “new challenges” with the hot season approaching.

“It’s the time when the weather gets really hot, so we’re helping as much as we can with shelter, access to water and food,” said one aid worker, who declined to be named for security reasons. “Mainly, people need medicine, shelter and drinking water.”

A lack of water sources has forced displaced people from nearly 30 villages to make due with unclean water, leading to skin diseases and diarrhea, he added. 

Junta forces are frequently bombing villages around the township, preventing them from returning home. 

On Jan. 31, for instance, junta forces bombed the Koke Ko Su Camp, a shelter for displaced people in Kale township, killing 11 people, including pregnant women, and injuring 15, according to residents. 

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.

RFA News

Open letter: Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest signal urgent need for investigation and complete end of mandate

To:

United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations General Assembly

Open letter: Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest signal urgent need for investigation and complete end of mandate

17 March 2025

We—the undersigned 290 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations—call on United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to urgently open an investigation into conflicts of interest over the business activities of UN Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Myanmar Julie Bishop and make the findings public. We also call on the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to immediately end the mandate of the Special Envoy, and on the Secretary-General to assume a leadership role in addressing the crisis in Myanmar directly.

We are alarmed by the Special Envoy’s business activities and connections to the mining industry and Chinese state-owned companies with possible or confirmed commercial interests in Myanmar, including Shenghe Resources and China Communications Construction Company. Her involvement with Chinese state-owned companies raises serious concerns about the impartiality and independence required to engage with China as the Special Envoy on Myanmar. Such conflicts of interest actively endanger the human rights of the Myanmar people as China remains a top source of military support and false legitimacy for the illegal military junta. The Chinese government is evidently aiding and abetting the junta’s ongoing crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Myanmar people.

The UN’s response thus far is wholly unacceptable. As the appointing authority, the UN Secretary-General bears a significant responsibility to the people of Myanmar to ensure the integrity and impartiality of the Special Envoy. That the UN would allow the Special Envoy tasked with addressing the Myanmar crisis to continue given such blatant commercial interests that jeopardize the lives of the people of Myanmar, is unconscionable.

The Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest are the latest reminder that the UN’s decades of peace-brokering attempts through special envoys and “dialogues” have produced absolutely no meaningful, positive change for the people of Myanmar. Instead, this ongoing approach continues to embolden the junta to commit atrocity crimes with complete impunity and harm the people of Myanmar. Given the outdated and ineffectual mandate, civil society organizations have previously called for the UN to abolish the position. The UN must transform its destructive approach into principled, ethical, and concerted efforts that fully respect the human rights of the Myanmar people and support their collective will to dismantle military tyranny.

This moment must finally mark the end of the UN’s relegation of responsibility on the crisis in Myanmar. We urge the UNGA to immediately revoke the mandate of the Special Envoy, particularly given the current Special Envoy’s conflicts of interest that jeopardize the lives of the Myanmar people.

We call on the Secretary-General to immediately open an investigation regarding these conflicts of interest and publish the findings. The Secretary-General must urgently take the lead to end the military junta’s terror campaign, ensure accountability for the perpetrators under international law, and robustly support the Myanmar people’s revolution to build sustainable peace and an inclusive federal democracy.

For more information, please contact:

Signed by 290 civil society organizations, including 41 organizations that have chosen not to disclose their names:

  1. 5/ of Zaya State Strike
  2. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
  3. A-Yar-Taw People Strike
  4. Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD)
  5. Action Committee of Basic Education Students (ACBES)
  6. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
  7. All Arakan Students’ & Youths’ Congress – AASYC
  8. All Aung Myay Thar San Schools Strike Force
  9. All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
  10. All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Monywa District)
  11. Alliance of Students’ Union – Yangon (ASU-Yangon)
  12. Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon – AJAY
  13. Anti-junta Forces Coordination Committee (Mandalay)
  14. Arakan Youth Peace Network – AYPN
  15. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  16. Asian Health Institute (AHI)
  17. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
  18. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP)
  19. Association Suisse-Birmanie
  20. Athan—Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
  21. Auckland Kachin Community NZ
  22. Auckland Zomi Community
  23. Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway
  24. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Nagphe
  25. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Magway
  26. Ayeyawady Youth Network (AYN)
  27. Basic Education General Strike Committee (BEGSC)
  28. Basic Education Worker Unions – Steering Committee (BEWU-SC)
  29. Blood Money Campaign (BMC)
  30. Boat People SOS (BPSOS)
  31. Burma Action Ireland
  32. Burma Campaign UK (BCUK)
  33. Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN)
  34. Burma Task Force
  35. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
  36. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
  37. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation New Zealand
  38. Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
  39. Campaign for a New Myanmar
  40. CDM Medical Network (CDMMN)
  41. Chanmyatharzi Township People’s Strike
  42. Chaung Oo Township Youth Strike Committee
  43. Chin Community in Norway
  44. Chin Community of Auckland
  45. Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO)
  46. Chindwin (West) Villages Women Strike
  47. Civil Information Network (CIN)
  48. Civil Rights Defenders (CRD)
  49. Civil Society Organizations Coordination Committee (Monywa)
  50. Co-operative University Mandalay Students’ Strike
  51. Coalition Strike Committee – Dawei
  52. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
  53. CRPH Funding Ireland
  54. CRPH, NUG Support Team Germany
  55. Daung Sitthe Strike
  56. Dawei (Ashaetaw) Women Strike
  57. Dawei Youths Revolutionary Movement Strike Committee
  58. Defend Myanmar Democracy (DMD)
  59. Democracy Youths Myanmar
  60. Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization
  61. Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
  62. Depayin Township Revolution Steering Committee
  63. Depayin Women Strike
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Myanmar children, monks among dozens killed in heavy airstrikes

Attacks in Shan state and Mandalay region aimed at civilians, rebels say.

Myanmar’s military killed 40 civilians, including Buddhist monks and children, in airstrikes in northern Myanmar as it tries to pound its enemies into submission, insurgents told Radio Free Asia on Monday.

Myanmar’s rising toll of civilian casualties comes as a humanitarian crisis is looming and a major food aid agency announced it will have to cut support because of a funding shortfall. 

Myanmar has been engulfed by conflict since the military overthrew an elected government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, with thousands of civilians killed, villages razed and some 3.5 million people displaced by war and natural disasters.

Forced onto the defensive by unprecedented opposition from young people from the majority Barmar community teaming up with ethnic minority insurgents, the military has increasingly turned to its air force to unleash devastation, often on civilian areas, rights groups and insurgents say.

“We can say they are purposefully attacking civilians,” said Lway Yay Oo, spokesperson for the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, or TNLA, an ethnic minority insurgent force in Shan state, which is on the border with China.

Junta airstrikes on the Sein Yadanar monastery in Shan state’s Nawnghkio town on Sunday, killed 13 civilians, including six monks, four of them young novices, said Lway Yay Oo.

Seventeen people were wounded in the air attack, 13 of them monks, she said, adding that the military was trying to force the TNLA back into peace talks that China, with extensive economic interests in Myanmar, is trying to broker.

The Myanmar army has a long record of trying to overcome insurgencies by undermining their civilian support, often by attacking villagers, rights investigators say.

Lway Yay Oo said there was no question the military was targeting civilians.

“They’re deliberately attacking religious buildings in Nawnghkio and they also bombed the hospital …. We’ve also seen that they’re burning and destroying homes.”

The spokesperson did not say anything about prospects for talks with the military, which is keen to roll back insurgent gains over the past year as it prepares for an election, due by January, which it hopes will bolster its legitimacy at home and abroad.

Myanmar’s military rarely releases information about the fighting, which has erupted in almost all corners of the country, and attempts by RFA to reach the junta spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, by telephone were not successful.

Blood on road to Mandalay

On Friday, a junta air attack on Let Pan Hla village, on a main road 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Mandalay city, killed up to 27 people, according to a spokesperson for a pro-democracy insurgent force operating in the area.

“They attacked for no reason and deliberately targeted the public. They were targeting customers and vendors in a busy street near the village market,” said Mandalay People’s Defense Force spokesperson, who goes by the one name Osman.

Attacks in Shan state and Mandalay region aimed at civilians, rebels say.
Residents of Let Pan Hla village, north of Mandalay city, survey damage after a Myanmar military airstrike on March 14, 2025. (Mandalay People’s Defense Force) 

The People’s Defense Force, or PDF, captured the area in July and junta forces have been on the attack ever since, he said.

The PDF commander, Soe Thu Yazaw, said in a social media post that six children were among the dead and many people were wounded.

“The bombing targeted people going about their daily activities at the market, so the number of injured is also high,” he said. “Long distance buses often stop in Let Pan Hla for food and a break, so it’s busy.”

The death and destruction from the fighting is compounding a dire humanitarian outlook in a country where the U.N. says a “staggering” 15.2 million people are unable to meet their minimum daily food needs and some 2.3 million people are facing emergency levels of hunger. 

The U.N. food agency has warned that more than one million people will be cut off from its food assistance from April due to critical funding shortfalls.

“The impending cuts will have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable communities across the country, many of whom depend entirely on WFP’s support to survive,” Michael Dunford, representative and country director of the World Food Programme, said in a statement.

Internally displaced people in Rakhine state, where fighting has been particularly heavy, would be hard hit, the WFP said.

Aid agencies helping in Myanmar have been under pressure since a January order by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to freeze all global aid until a review was completed.

RFA News