Myanmar
Monthly Event Reports
January 2024 | Partial ceasefire agreed
Myanmar’s military junta and the Brotherhood Alliance, an alliance of armed groups operating in the north of the country agreed to a ceasefire after two days of China-mediated talks on 10-11 January. The International Crisis Group described the ceasefire, which was joined by all armed groups, as “tenuous” after a previous China-brokered ceasefire in December collapsed after one week. The junta reportedly continued to lose ground in Rakhine, Kachin and Kayah states to armed groups not party to the ceasefire. On 31 January, the junta extended the state of emergency that has been in place since its 2021 coup for another six months.
November 2023 | Fighting worsens as military junta loses ground
The president of Myanmar’s military junta Myint Swe said the country was at risk of breaking up as the military government struggled against a major offensive from various armed ethnic insurgent groups and pro-democracy forces. Over 500,000 people were displaced as of 5 December from the fighting that began in late October, and at least several hundred civilians have been killed. The junta had reportedly lost control of several towns along the Chinese border, and the International Crisis Group reported the military junta was at risk of being overextended and could “double down on brutal efforts” such as scorched-earth tactics and indiscriminate bombing campaigns.
October 2023 | Major anti-junta military offensive underway
A coalition of ethnic rebel groups and anti-coup forces launched a coordinated armed offensive against Myanmar’s military junta in the country’s northern Shan state on 27 October. The attack is the most serious military challenge to the junta since it overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government in a coup in 2021. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced by the fighting, which comes in the wake of two years of violence from the military junta, and a 300 percent increase in junta airstrikes in some regions in recent months, according to Human Rights Watch.
May 2023 | Military junta frees 2,153 prisoners ahead of Buddhist holiday
The military junta released 2,153 prisoners convicted under section 505A of the penal code, which it uses to suppress peaceful dissent in the country. The junta traditionally amnesties prisoners in line with national holidays, but data suggests that political prisoners make up only a small fraction of the total number of prisoners released. Post-release, amnestied prisoners are typically kept under surveillance and are at high risk of re-arrest.
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