Internally displaced amputees—victims of government bombings and landmines—were forced to take shelter as the government airstrikes targeted a nearby clinic. Photo courtesy of Antonio Graceffo.
Frontline medics transport the body of an eight-year-old girl in the back of a pickup truck after she was killed by a government drone strike near Mandalay, Myanmar (Burma). Her mother rushes out, tears streaming down her face, as she hugs her lifeless daughter.
The drone strike, which targeted a Buddhist monastery sheltering internally displaced people (IDP), also claimed the life of an adult man and wounded eight civilians. The injured were evacuated and treated by medics from the Free Burma Rangers (FBR), a faith-driven frontline aid organization that documents and reports on war crimes and humanitarian violations committed by the junta, its aligned ethnic militias, and border guard forces (BGF).
In nearby Shan State, the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), one of the ethnic armed groups aligned with Myanmar’s military junta, ordered all residents in its controlled areas to join its military forces. When the PNO arrived in his village, 47-year-old Khun La Maung, faced a grim ultimatum: enlist in their army or risk losing his assets, arrest, torture, or even death.
“I really didn’t want to leave my village and move to another country. It took me a week to make up my mind about that impossible choice,” he said.
Joining the PNO armed forces would mean being sent to Karenni State to fight against the People’s Defense Force (PDF) and other pro-democracy armed resistance groups. Adding to this existential dilemma were the practical concerns for his family. “If I die in battle, no one will take responsibility for my family,” he explained.
Ultimately, he sold his house, field, and car for about $1,000 USD, all of which he paid to human smugglers to help his family cross the border into Thailand. Now they live in Wiang Haeng refugee camp in northern Chiang Mai Province, near the Thai-Myanmar border.
Life in the camp offers safety from violence but little else. The family has no legal status and no right to work, though they occasionally find farm labor jobs, earning 300–350 baht per day. They are not on a path to citizenship in Thailand, nor are they on a waiting list for resettlement in a third country. For millions of Burmese refugees like Khun La Maung, survival itself is the only solace—they are alive, and no one is shooting at them. For many, this is the best they can hope for.
The war in Myanmar (Burma), ongoing since 1948, escalated dramatically after the 2021 military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy. Nearly four years of intensified fighting, military conscription, airstrikes, inflation, and food shortages have driven record numbers of Burmese people from their homes. An estimated 3.3 million are sheltering in the jungle in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, which lack UN protection and receive little or no economic support for food and healthcare.
Millions more have crossed into Thailand, where about 120,000 have received UN cards and limited protection. A small percentage have qualified for Thai ID cards or work permits, but the vast majority, like Khun La Maung, remain without legal status or support, facing daily struggles for survival and the constant threat of deportation.
The scale of the government attacks and their impact on the civilian population is unprecedented.
Between June and September, Myanmar’s military junta conducted over 1,300 airstrikes and 98 drone strikes, killing 581 civilians, including 168 women and children, and injuring 897 others, according to the Blood Money Campaign. The strikes caused extensive destruction, damaging 665 homes, 13 medical facilities, 84 religious sites, 27 schools, 434 commercial buildings, two prisons, two IDP camps, and a UN office. September marked the most intense period, with 386 airstrikes resulting in 242 deaths and 386 injuries. Shan State was the hardest-hit region, suffering 429 airstrikes and 122 fatalities, followed by Rakhine State with 209 airstrikes and 173 deaths.
War-damaged homes remain empty, rigged with landmines planted by Burma government forces. As a result, most of the population is forced to live in temporary shelters. Photo courtesy of Antonio Graceffo.
A U.N. report warns that nearly 2 million people in Myanmar are at risk of starvation. Many families have been forced to reduce their food intake to one meal a day, with some resorting to eating rice bran, a byproduct typically used as animal feed.
Meanwhile, the junta is preparing for widely criticized elections aimed at legitimizing its rule. Pro-democracy parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the National Unity Government (NUG) in exile, have been barred from participating. Additionally, territories controlled by pro-democracy forces—now encompassing an estimated 60–80% of the country—were excluded from the pre-election census, which has been called a “tool of repression”. International organizations have already called the elections a sham, with global observers prepared to reject the results.
Despite receiving weapons from Russia and China, along with financial support from Beijing, the junta’s military, the Tatmadaw, has suffered significant losses. Resistance forces, composed of numerous ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) fighting alongside the People’s Defense Forces (PDF), have captured key border towns along the Thai and Chinese borders, effectively confining the Tatmadaw to central Myanmar.
According to resistance troops on the ground, the Burmese army is essentially trapped on fortified bases in urban areas, unable to move freely. Rebels now control not only the jungles but also many of the roads leading to these bases, forcing the Tatmadaw to rely solely on resupply by air.
In a desperate attempt to bolster its dwindling troop numbers, the junta has introduced conscription, drafting men aged 18–35 and women aged 18–27. At the same time, the Burmese military has ordered its Border Guard Forces (BGFs) to increase their ranks in preparation for combat.
This has left many civilians, particularly those in ethnic areas, vulnerable to forced recruitment by the Tatmadaw, junta-aligned militias, or BGFs. As a result, countless young people are fleeing the country, contributing to the growing refugee crisis in Thailand, where unaccompanied minors and young adults now make up one of the largest demographics among recent arrivals.
Despite significant territorial gains and the defeat of numerous Burmese military outposts, the resistance forces have not yet won the war. The Tatmadaw has managed to hold on largely due to its airpower, including attack helicopters and jet fighters, which the resistance has no means of countering.
Immediately after the coup, when educated Bamar fled the cities to join the resistance for the first time, the rebels briefly enjoyed an advantage in drone warfare as former engineering and IT students began manufacturing makeshift weapons. However, the junta has since received advanced drone technology and support from Iran and North Korea, as well as drone jammers, tipping the balance in their favor. This leaves the resistance at a disadvantage not only in airpower but also in drone capabilities.
Without external intervention and stringent sanctions that halt the export of jet fuel and weapons from China and Russia, the war could drag on for years. As a result, the humanitarian crisis will continue to escalate.
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