UN rapporteur says international community failed Myanmar amid worsening crisis

HAMILTON, Canada

The UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar said Wednesday that the international community has failed to respond to an "invisible crisis" in the country.

Tom Andrews, speaking at a news conference following the presentation of his report to the UN General Assembly's Third Committee, said the situation in Myanmar has become "exponentially worse over the course of this four plus years since the coup" in February 2021.

"The humanitarian conditions in Myanmar are significantly worse this year than when I reported them to the United Nations last year," he said, noting that nearly 22 million people now require humanitarian aid and 16.7 million face acute food insecurity.

Noting that the second quarter of 2025 saw "more airstrikes on civilian targets than any previous quarter since the coup," Andrews cited World Food Program data showing that "57% of families in central Rakhine state cannot meet their basic food needs," a sharp increase from 33% in December of last year.

"I am here to implore the members of the United Nations to step up and take action that it has simply failed to do," Andrews said, adding that "the humanitarian conditions are getting worse, and the availability of support from the international community is getting worse, and that is just a complete disaster."

He said the number of people targeted to receive humanitarian aid has been reduced from 6.7 million to 4.8 million, "less than a quarter of the 22 million who are in need right now."

As the military junta in Myanmar prepares to hold general elections on Dec. 28 this year, for the first time since the coup, Andrews described the upcoming polls as a "sham" and a "fraud."

"You cannot have a free and fair election when you arrest, detain, imprison and torture the leaders of the political opposition," he said.

He further urged the international community to address ongoing violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority, saying "accountability has to be insisted upon."

Myanmar, ruled by a military junta since February 2021, is currently facing a case over the genocide of the Rohingya at the International Court of Justice.