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European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
Myanmar
© Kaung Hter / IRC
Myanmar/Burma

Introduction

The already dire humanitarian situation in Myanmar has spiralled since the military takeover in 2021. The coup d’état against the democratically elected government has plunged the country into political, social, and economic turmoil.

Fighting between opposition forces and the military has reached unprecedented levels across the country.

Amidst aerial attacks, ground attacks, and widespread violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, the civilian population of Myanmar is living in fear for their lives and their coping capacities are stretched to the limit.

Mass displacement continues at an alarming rate, with 2.6 million people displaced across the country at the end of 2023.

What are the needs?

According to the United Nations, 18.6 million people, or 1/3 of the population, need humanitarian assistance in Myanmar – compared to 1 million people before the military takeover in 2021.

This includes 6 million children who have limited or no access to healthcare and education, suffer from food insecurity and malnutrition, and face protection risks including forced recruitment, landmines, and mental distress.

The armed conflict continues to trigger displacement at an alarming rate. At the end of 2023, 2.6 million people across the country had fled their homes. Among these, approximately 600,000 were displaced in just a few months at the end of the year. The outlook is grim, with high intensity conflict continuing across the country at the beginning of January 2024.

Basic social services are increasingly disrupted and the country is suffering shortages of medical supplies and equipment. The healthcare system has collapsed and a quarter of the population is facing hunger. Markets struggle to supply basic items with roads blocked by fighting or purposefully closed by the military.

In 2017, Myanmar security forces launched armed attacks and targeted violence on a massive scale against the Rohingya population of Rakhine State, forcing more than 745,000 people to flee across the border into neighbouring Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, some 600,000 Rohingya remain in Rakhine, of whom 144,000 have been confined to camps since 2012. Others remain in villages, where they face similar constraints.

The Rohingya continue to be deprived of basic rights, including citizenship, freedom of movement, and access to resources and essential services.

Map Myanmar

How are we helping?

The EU has been providing humanitarian aid in Myanmar since 1994, with total funding reaching over €393 million.

In 2024, the EU has so far allocated €19.2 million in humanitarian aid funding to address the immediate needs of the most vulnerable people in Myanmar, including displaced and conflict-affected communities.

The funding helps to provide foodnutrition, clean water and sanitation, shelter and emergency preparedness/responsehealthcareeducation, as well as protection services, including mine risk education.

Humanitarian organisations in Myanmar continue to face major access constraints, bureaucratic impediments, and a repressive environment for aid workers, which hampers and slows down the effective delivery of humanitarian aid to people in need.

The EU does not channel any humanitarian funding via the military authorities. EU humanitarian aid is provided directly through thoroughly vetted humanitarian organisations across the country, wherever the needs are greatest, in line with the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.

Most aid in Myanmar is currently delivered via local, community-based and grassroots organisations, who put their lives on the line to provide life-saving assistance. The EU’s humanitarian partners work with hundreds of these local organisations to ensure EU-funded aid reaches people in need across the country.

Myanmar is also one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, exposed to multiple hazards, including floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. The EU has responded to several emergencies in Myanmar, including Cyclone Mocha in 2023, and is funding disaster preparedness activities, which aim to increase the local populations’ capacity to withstand emergencies.

Last updated: 31/01/2024

Facts & figures

18.6 million people require humanitarian assistance (Humanitarian Response Plan 2024)

2.6 million internally displaced people

Nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

EU humanitarian funding:
€19.2 million in 2024
€393.7 million since 1994