The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
HRC - Press conference: SR on Myanmar - 20 March 2024
Myanmar requires stronger international support as junta escalates civilian attacks
“Substantial” battlefield setbacks for Myanmar’s military junta and ongoing widespread popular resistance have prompted an increase in attacks on civilians, a top UN-appointed independent expert said on Wednesday.
In a call for a stronger and unified international stance on the emergency, three years since Myanmar generals seized power in a coup, Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, noted a fivefold increase in aerial attacks on civilians.
“The reason for this is, that for them it's dangerous with their troops to move around on the ground,” Mr. Andrews told journalists in Geneva. “So instead, they're taking the aircraft that they've been able to obtain from abroad and bomb villages, IDP (internally displaced people) centres and kill innocent civilians.”
Following the coup d’état, the military overthrew the elected government and arrested hundreds of officials, including State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, before forming a ruling State Adminstration Council (SAC).
The minority Muslim Rohingya community are among those worst affected by the ongoing violence which has seen them facing continuing attacks and persecution. Several hundred thousand Rohingya were forced to flee their homes in Rakhine state amid a widespread military operation in 2017 - likened to a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by former UN rights chief, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein – before seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh.
“The community that is impacted the most is the Rohingya community. The Rohingya are now being bombarded like other areas of the country,” said the UN Special Rapporteur, who reports to the Human Rights Council in an independent capacity and is not a UN staff member. “Their villages are being bombarded by heavy artillery and by airstrikes. But unlike other areas of the country, they are not allowed to move to safety.”
Recent reports indicate that within the past two days, a minimum of 23 Rohingya, including very young children, lost their lives during the bombardment of a village in Rakhine State.
Today, the junta is attempting to force young Rohingya to join the same military force that is responsible for committing genocide against their community, Mr. Andrews maintained.
“Imagine if you are a Rohingya family with … a young Rohingya man being forced to join the very military that is barraging your villages with these aerial attacks, the very military that committed genocide against your community, sending hundreds of thousands of Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh. I can't imagine anything as horrific is that kind of situation faced by the Rohingya,” he said.
Across the country, about 2.7 million people are displaced and 18.6 million – including six million children – require humanitarian aid.
“The problem that we have right now is that humanitarian aid is not going to the areas that need it most. I'm talking about the conflict areas, the areas outside of SAC-administered areas of the country,” Mr. Andrews noted. “This is the fastest-growing part of the country. That is where most of the people, growing numbers of people, in the country that need humanitarian aid are. There are 18.6 million people who are in need of humanitarian aid.”
Mr. Andrews called upon the international community to put pressure on the junta’s murderous campaign by denying it the weapons and the money it requires to carry on its campaign.
“We need to take away the money that the junta requires in order to continue its reign of terror. And that means sanctions, coordinated, focused, targeted sanctions, same with weapons,” he said.
The Special Rapporteur said that the actions of the junta impact not only the people of Myanmar but also the region and the wider world. International criminal networks have found safe haven in Myanmar, he alleged, including a global centre for cyberscam operations that has tens of thousands of victims.
“We're talking about tens of thousands of people, 120,000 victims, human trafficking victims, sent into these centres to operate these scams, these international scams. And they're reaching the entire world. Victims, giving up billions of dollars, billions of dollars that are being used to fuel these atrocities as a result of these scam centers,” Mr. Andrews said.
Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews was tasked in 2020 by the Human Rights Council to impartially assess, monitor and report on the human rights situation in Myanmar.
-ends-
STORY: Special Rapporteur on Myanmar
TRT: 3:26”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 20 March 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley
2. Wide shot: speakers at the podium in the press room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “There has been a fivefold increase in attacks, aerial attacks, on civilians. And the reason for this is, is that for them it's dangerous with their troops to move around on the ground. So instead, they're taking the aircraft that they've been able to obtain from abroad and bomb villages, IDP centers, and kill innocent civilians.”
4. Medium shot: speaker at the podium filmed from behind during the press conference
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “The community that is impacted the most is the Rohingya community. The Rohingya are now being bombarded like other areas of the country. Their villages are being bombarded by heavy artillery and by airstrikes. But unlike other areas of the country, they are not allowed to move to safety.”
6. Wide shot: Journalists in press room with speaker at the podium
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “Imagine if you are a Rohingya family with a young person or a young young Rohingya man being forced to join the very military that is barraging your villages with these aerial attacks, the very military that committed genocide against your community, sending hundreds of thousands of Rohingya over the border into Bangladesh. I can't imagine anything as horrific is that kind of situation faced by the Rohingya.”
8. Close up, photographer taking photos
9. SOUNDBITE (English) - Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “The problem that we have right now is that humanitarian aid is not going to the areas that need it most. And I'm talking about the conflict areas, the areas outside of SAK administered areas of the country. This is the fastest growing part of the country. That is where most of the people, growing numbers of people, in the country that need humanitarian aid are. There are 18.6 million people who are in need of humanitarian aid.”
10. Medium shot: Journalists in press room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) - Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “We need to take away the money that the junta requires in order to continue its reign of terror. And that means sanctions, coordinated, focused, targeted sanctions, same with weapons.”
12. Medium shot: Journalist typing
13. SOUNDBITE (English) - Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar: “It is unbelievable, we're talking about tens of thousands of people, 120,000 victims, human trafficking victims, sent into these centers to operate these scams, these international scams. And they're reaching the entire world. Victims, giving up billions of dollars, billions of dollars that are being used to fuel these atrocities as a result of these scam centers.”
14. Wide shot: speakers at the podium with journalists in the press room
15. Close up, journalist typing
16. Medium shot, zoom operator behind window
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , OHCHR , UNFPA , UNOG , UNHCR , WHO
Yemen’s humanitarian crisis growing by the hour amid spike in displacement
Yemenis displaced by renewed fighting have described fleeing for their lives amid shelling and gunfire, aid agencies reported on Friday, while highlighting the dramatic increase in humanitarian needs in the country and in Djibouti, where thousands have sought shelter.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office issued on Friday a report documenting a shocking pattern of sexual violence amid Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | IOM , OHCHR , UN WOMEN , UNFPA , UNHCR , UNOPS , WHO
UN Geneva briefing: Yemen crisis worsens, urgent aid needed across multiple sectors.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Press conference on the latest report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the UN Human Rights Council
1
1
1
Press Conferences | OHCHR
Victims Still Waiting: A Global Briefing on Transitional Justice Around the World
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
As world’s water reserves change, countries must prepare for a new reality: WMO
New data showing that rivers were at their lowest level for decades last year provides further evidence that the climate crisis is real and countries must act immediately to protect themselves from the increasing threat to communities and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
The key findings from WMO’s State of Global Water Resources 2025 report covering the hydrological cycle and extreme events in the five-year period to last year:
- 2025 was one of driest years for river discharge in 35 years
- Past seven years have seen abnorfmal river flows
- Water storage on Earth’s land surface has decreased in past decade
- Widespread glacier loss across all regions for fourth consecutive year
- Asia and Africa are regions most affected by water-related disasters
- Water data availability has improved, but gaps remain in hard-hit areas
Highlighting the long-term decline in the Earth’s freshwater storage and glacier melt, WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo explained that the planet’s water reserves used to act as a planetary “savings account” that absorbed the occasional dry season, avoiding a water crisis. “One of the central stories of the 2025 report is what is happening to that savings account? And the simple answer is that we are depleting it,” she told journalists in Geneva.
Groundwater reserves are equally stretched and have been in decline since 2014, WMO’s report states, with nearly two-thirds of monitored wells worldwide showing levels lower than the historical norm and indicating a shift “further toward deficit…not recovery”.
“At the same time, we are seeing more water-related disasters,” Ms. Saulo said, while also stressing that the currently strengthening El Niño “will increase the risk of drought in some areas, and flooding in others”.
Glaciers disappearing
In 2025, for the fourth consecutive year, every major glaciated region on Earth lost ice mass, leading to short-term hazards including floods and long-term water insecurity, according to WMO.
Responding to a question about whether the changing global water cycle might have contributed to the deadly Nepal-China flooding disaster, Ms. Saulo explained that melting ice and rock was just one factor in the chain of events that ultimately sent a massive and deadly wall of water and debris downstream on 26 August, killing at least 1,367 people.
“You asked if it could happen again? Absolutely; the problem in this region is that there’s 63,700 glaciers at the last count,” she told a Press Conference in Geneva. “Even if you’re looking with remote sensing with satellites at these glaciers, you might see some faults, you might see some slight shifting, that does not mean necessarily catastrophic collapse. So, in order to plan for this, it’s very, very difficult. But the international community is looking very hard at ways in which we can bring people together to solve some of these monitoring issues.”
Data indicates that glaciers shrank between 2023 and 2025 with cumulative losses of 1,400 gigatonnes of water – or about one third of annual fresh water needs.
Every major glacier region on Earth lost ice for the fourth consecutive year.
“All 19 glacier regions around the globe lost ice; in Central Asia, Iceland, the Russian Arctic and western Canada and the United States, it was among the three worst years on record,” said Wayne Jenkinson, WMO’s Director of Hydrology and Cryosphere.
Some regions with smaller glaciers such as Central Europe, the Caucasus, the western Canada and the United States may already have reached “peak water”, Mr. Jenkinson warned.
“After this point, the glacier gives less meltwater each year simply because there is less ice left to melt. That matters for every community downstream that relies on water during hot, dry summers,” he explained.
Narelle van der Wel, WMO’s Head of Cryosphere Monitoring, Predictions and Services, stressed that while some further glacier loss is unavoidable, the eventual scale of the decline is not predetermined.
“Some glacier loss is inevitable, but total loss of glaciers is not yet inevitable,” she said, pointing to emissions reductions as central to limiting future losses.
Preparing for moving baselines
The report does not attribute every observed change to climate change alone. WMO says pressure on water resources and natural variability also contribute.
Mr. Jenkinson said governments need to prepare for “moving baselines” as historical patterns become less reliable.
“The situation 30 years ago is not where we are today,” he said. Countries, he added, need to prepare “for those changes that have really already arrived”.
ends
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
The deadly Ebola virus outbreak in DR Congo continues to spread across the vast country despite some success in containing it, aid officials said on Tuesday, in a renewed call for international support to help responders on the ground.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | WMO , OCHA , WHO , UNICEF , UN WOMEN , OHCHR , IOM , UNHCR
Update on Ebola from WHO and OCHA, update on the situation of children with the beginning of school in Ukraine from UNICEF, UN Women on the impact of the settlers and restrictions on women and girls in West Bank, OHCHR on the recovery of extensive human remains in Gaza, IOM and UNHCR on the new wave of displacement in Yemen
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WFP
‘Super El Niño’ and converging crises worsen hunger in South Sudan and across the region - WFP
South Sudan’s hunger crisis is becoming increasingly catastrophic as violence, extreme weather and dwindling aid leave millions without enough food, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC
Update on the human rights situation in Belarus by the UN Group of Independent Experts on the Human Rights Situation in Belarus
1
1
1
Press Conferences | HRC , OHCHR
Update on the human rights situation in Syria by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.