Geneva, 14 March, 2026.- The UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, today urged the Human Rights Council members to mount a high profile public defense of human rights in Myanmar and throughout the world, warning that a decline in measures that weaken the Myanmar junta’s capacity to attack civilians, and a reduction in life-saving aid could have devastating impacts if not reversed.
“The current geopolitical climate is less than conducive to advancing human rights in Myanmar and beyond,” Andrews said in his final presentation to the Human Rights Council.
“The United Nations and the principles on which it was founded more than 80 years ago are under severe strain. Isolationism, transactional relationships and might-equals-right approaches to global affairs are undermining respect for international law and human rights.”
Andrews called on governments committed to human rights and democracy to step up, halt the current slide, and rebuild momentum in support of the people of Myanmar and all whose human rights are under attack.
“No one is better positioned to advance the case for human rights in these perilous times than the UN Human Rights Council. I urge them to do so,” the Special Rapporteur said.
“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. Alarmingly, however, there are signs that the resolve of governments is waning,” he warned.
Andrews said critical sanctions regimes against the junta and its enablers have not been kept up to date and global cuts to foreign aid are devastating humanitarian programmes.
In the five years that have passed since a military coup, more than 30,000 people have been arrested in Myanmar on political grounds including State Counsellor, Aung San Suu Kyi, and President Win Myint.
The junta’s attacks against the people of Myanmar have been devastating, Andrews warned. There were nine junta airstrikes on civilian targets in 2021 at the outset of the coup. There were 1,140 in 2025. More than 100,000 civilian homes have been burned down and the use of landmines by junta forces – and their devastating toll – has increased significantly.
The junta has unleashed a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Myanmar, using hunger and deprivation as weapons of war. Nearly a third of Myanmar’s population is now in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 12 million people face acute hunger.
The Rohingya ethnic minority continues to suffer both in Rakhine State and across the border in Bangladesh where 1.3 million Rohingya remain. Last year more than 6500 left Rakhine and Bangladesh while 900 perished at sea.
“States have taken many impactful measures that have saved lives and ignited hope in Myanmar,” the expert said. “Sanctions on military-controlled institutions and arms-dealing networks have disrupted the junta’s ability to acquire weapons and weapons materials. The junta has failed to gain the international legitimacy that it has sought. Humanitarian aid has been a lifeline untold numbers of Myanmar people.”
Citing the junta’s attempt to gain legitimacy through an election widely dismissed as illegitimate, Andrews noted that it demonstrates that international pressure is having an impact. He urged rejection of the junta’s attempt to seek recognition of a military regime cloaked in the trappings of a nominally civilian government.
“Myanmar is at a crossroads, with the junta hoping that its election will lead to legitimacy,” he said. “But, the international community is also at a crossroads: 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? Or will it retreat and abandon the people of Myanmar precisely when they need that support the most?”