After the sudden military coup in 2021 dismantled and overthrew Myanmar’s new democratic government, the country has been controlled by a military junta led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The armed forces, colloquially known as Tatmadaw in Burmese, have been enforcing Hlaing’s rule and spreading an overall agenda of fear; this group is known to be particularly ruthless with industrial street killings, massive village raids ending in massacres and scorched-earth tactics, and has carried out a series of attacks involving the torture and mass murder of any political dissent or opponents to military rule. In particular, the Tatmadaw has persecuted the ethnic minority of Rohingya Muslims that reside in the Rakhine state, with many scholars referring to the targeted killings and attacks as constituting genocidal behavior.
After two press statements released in February and July of 2022, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on December 21st (2022) addressing the crisis and listed actions—it’s important to note that this resolution was non-binding and had passed with 12 countries’ approval, with China, Russia, and India abstaining. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) created a Five-Point Consensus in April 2021 to resolve the ongoing violence in Myanmar, which was agreed upon by Senior General Hlaing. The consensus called for an immediate end to the violence in the country, constructive dialogue between all stakeholders within Myanmar, the appointment of a special envoy on the situation in Myanmar, humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, and that the special envoy be allowed to visit Myanmar to negotiate with all impacted parties.
Unfortunately, the FPC had been unsuccessful in addressing the ongoing violence, prompting the UNSCR to renegotiate its actions in December 2022. The specific demands of UNSCR 2669 (2022) had demanded an immediate end to all violence in Myanmar, urged the immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained prisoners—calling President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s detentions out by name—and called for an immediate and effective implementation of ASEAN’s Five Point Consensus.
Since 2022, there hasn’t been another UN Security Council Resolution addressing the escalation of violence across the country. In November 2025, the United Nations
The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published its latest humanitarian review on the situation in Myanmar; there are an estimated 19.9 million people in need, 5.5 million people targeted in 2025, with an estimated 3.6 million people displaced across Myanmar—with 1.7 million located in the Northwest, Rakhine, and Southeast states.
Myanmar has notably ranked second globally for conflict intensity, with over half of the population being exposed to conflict perpetrated by the military. Adding to this, Myanmar is one of six hunger hotspots globally, which was determined by the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Programme; after a devastating earthquake in the region during the military conflict, an estimated 11.8 million people, or 22% of the population, faced high levels of food insecurity, with an estimated 1 million having emergency levels of food insecurity.
Unfortunately, the military continues to target all aspects of civil society, often with heavy weaponry or air strikes or the use of landmines—this effectively has prevented humanitarian aid from reaching those in need, with reports of deliberate attacks on medical facilities and health workers. The Tatmadaw has also blocked and confiscated food and medical supplies, imposed travel restrictions on humanitarian personnel, and directly attacked aid workers.
Although the most effective solution in this particular situation would be to issue a binding resolution to impose an arms embargo, order disarmament, and then authorize the creation of peacekeeping operations to ensure a de-escalation of violence, a similar legal strategy to UNSC Resolution 940 (1994) had authorized measures under Chapter VII to create a multinational force to restore the democratically elected president and restore peace within the nation. Russia and China have repeatedly blocked all substantive action to prevent further bloodshed by Myanmar’s military, notably due to Russia’s and China’s personal stake in the conflict. Currently, both Russia and China have lucrative multi-million-dollar arms deals with Myanmar’s military, making any substantial resolution implausible for the Security Council to pass.
The numbers alone demand action: 19.9 million people in need, 3.6 million displaced, and a population where more than half has been exposed to active military violence. These are not abstractions—they are the direct and foreseeable consequence of a Security Council that has allowed geopolitical self-interest to override its foundational mandate. Since UNSCR 2669 in December 2022, the Council has gone largely silent on one of the world’s most acute humanitarian emergencies, and in that silence, the Tatmadaw has been given implicit permission to continue. Aid workers have been killed, medical facilities deliberately targeted, and food supplies confiscated from a population already identified as one of six global hunger hotspots.
The question is no longer whether the Security Council can act—it is whether it will choose to.
Renewed engagement is not merely overdue—it is a legal and moral obligation. The Council must return to Myanmar with urgency and the political will to move beyond non-binding language, pressure member states toward compliance with the Five-Point Consensus, and issue an updated resolution that fully reflects the catastrophic deterioration since 2022. Silence, at this scale of suffering, is itself a policy choice—and a devastating one. The Tatmadaw’s systematic obstruction of humanitarian aid, its massacres of civilians, and its targeted persecution of the Rohingya people have gone unanswered for too long. Every month of inaction is another month that millions of civilians are left without protection, without food, and without recourse. The international community made a promise when it created the Security Council — and that promise is being broken in real time.
