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’s embattled population.

“The current geopolitical climate is less than conducive to advancing human rights in Myanmar and beyond,” he said. “The United Nations and the principles on which it was founded more than 80 years ago are under severe strain.”

Mr. Andrews – who is mandated by the Council to serve as an independent expert and is not a UN staff member – warned that waning international pressure and shrinking humanitarian funding could have devastating consequences for people already enduring widespread violence and deprivation.

“Actions by the international community to weaken the military junta’s ability to sustain itself and its attacks on the people of Myanmar have shown promise,” he said. “Alarmingly, however, there are signs that the resolve of governments is waning.”

Coup’s human toll

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.

Violence against civilians has also intensified dramatically. There were nine airstrikes on civilian targets in 2021, compared with 1,140 in last year.

More 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.

Deepening humanitarian crisis

The conflict has fuelled a spiralling humanitarian emergency.

According to the UN relief coordination office, OCHA, nearly one-third of Myanmar’s population now requires humanitarian assistance and more than 12 million people face acute hunger.

More 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.

Civilian casualties are also rising.

The UN human rights office, OHCHR, reports that airstrikes attributed to Myanmar’s armed forces killed at least 982 civilians in 2025 – a 53 per cent increase compared with the previous year – including 287 children.

In Rakhine State alone, more than 190 people were killed in aerial attacks that also destroyed homes, medical facilities and camps for internally displaced people.

Calls for stronger action

Despite the worsening conditions, Mr. Andrews said international measures aimed at isolating the military leadership have shown results.

Sanctions targeting military-controlled businesses and arms supply networks have disrupted the junta’s ability to acquire weapons, he noted, while the regime has struggled to gain international legitimacy.

The international community also faces a critical choice, he added.

“Will 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?” Mr. Andrews asked.  

“Or will it retreat and abandon the people of Myanmar precisely when they need that support the most?”

“There’s 11,600 pregnant women who are affected, 4,000 are anticipated to give birth over the next three months,” said Anandita Philipose, Lebanon Representative for the UN population fund, UNFPA. 

“Many of these women have been forced from their homes, cut off from essential health services and forced to give birth in dangerous conditions, some even by the side of the road.”

The situation across Lebanon has escalated dramatically – and notably in the south, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley – since war erupted across the Middle East, sparked by Israeli-U.S. strikes in Iran on 28 February, Iranian counterstrikes in many Gulf States, Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel and Israeli airstrikes in response.

Health care hit

According to UNFPA, 55 hospitals and clinics have been forced to close, either because they are in zones impacted by Israeli mass evacuation orders, “or because there’s been direct damage to them”, Ms. Philipose added.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, has recorded daily rocket, missile and drone attacks on Israel and the occupied Golan from Lebanon and artillery fire, air and drone strikes by Israeli soldiers, who have made “ground incursions up to seven kilometres (4.3 miles) into Lebanon”, said Kandice Ardiel, UNIFIL spokesperson.

Speaking via video from the force’s headquarters in Naqoura close to the Blue Line separating Lebanon from Israel, Ms. Ardiel highlighted a significant escalation on Wednesday evening. That involved more than 100 projectiles “fired from Lebanese territory and over 100 projectiles fired right back from Israel, as well as seven airstrikes within our area of operations”.

Nonetheless, “things have been more quiet yesterday. We haven’t seen so much activity, and I haven’t seen any numbers from today, but I’ll say here in Naqoura, it’s been fairly quiet…nonetheless, it’s a very volatile situation and anything can change at any moment.”

Migrant vulnerability

As the violence continues, the UN migration agency, IOM, warned that more than 822,000 people have been displaced so far inside Lebanon alone, with migrants “particularly vulnerable” and with “nowhere to go”, said Mathieu Luciano, IOM Chief of Mission in Lebanon.  

“Lebanon hosts 200,000 migrants. They come here for work and they’re particularly vulnerable,” he said from Beirut. “They come from Ethiopia, from Sri Lanka, from Kenya, Sudan, Bangladesh and other countries and most of them were working in agriculture, construction, also domestic workers, and the crisis has hit them hard. It left many with nowhere to go and relying on community organizations, churches, their embassies and NGOs for safety.”

According to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, more than 4.1 million people have been internally displaced in Afghanistan, Iran, Lebanon and Pakistan since the beginning of the escalation.

Help to leave Iran 

Inside Iran, IOM said that it has already assisted migrants to return home from Iran. “We have requests to assist others. Right now, the barrier is resources to be able to do so,” said David John, Director of Movement, Resettlement and Labour Pathways at the agency.

“So far, the numbers that are being mentioned are that some 11,400 Iranians have crossed into Türkiye, while over 24,600 Afghans have returned from Iran back into Afghanistan. Both figures are remaining currently within the daily average crossings,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch told journalists in Geneva.

The UN agency has found work-arounds to counter supply chain disruption caused by the war. “Despite ongoing airspace closures and many time disruptions, UNHCR has been able to respond quickly,” Mr. Baloch explained. “Essential relief items are pre-positioned across the region, including Termiz in Uzbekistan, strategically close to Iran and several country-level warehouses.”