Resisting the Myanmar junta’s aid weaponization: new report

Progressive Voice, together with eight civil society organizations, have launched a follow-up briefing paper titled “Blocked Aid, Unbroken People: Resisting Junta’s Aid Weaponization” on 22 July 2026. This new publication follows the August 2022 Briefing Paper, Setting the Tinderbox Alight: The Humanitarian Crisis in Myanmar’s Dry Zone (Sagaing, Magwe, and Mandalay Regions). The new report paints a stark picture of the worsening humanitarian crisis across Myanmar’s Dry Zone, encompassing Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions. The report argues that the military junta is not only escalating attacks against civilians but is also systematically using humanitarian deprivation as a weapon of war. Based on interviews with 32 humanitarian workers, human rights defenders and internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as extensive secondary research, the report concludes that the crisis has deteriorated significantly since their similar assessment was published in 2022. According to the report, the junta has intensified its long-standing “Four Cuts” strategy, designed to sever resistance movements from food, funding, intelligence and recruits. However, the strategy has evolved beyond counter-insurgency into a campaign of collective punishment targeting entire civilian populations.The report identifies airstrikes, arson attacks and widespread landmine use as the defining features of this campaign. Between February 2021 and December 2025, more than 6,500 airstrikes reportedly killed nearly 4,000 civilians and injured over 7,000 others. Air attacks have increasingly targeted villages, schools, religious sites, markets, health facilities and displacement camps, creating constant fear among civilians. The destruction extends far beyond military operations. The report states that more than 121,000 civilian homes have been destroyed since the coup, with the crucible of Sagaing suffering the greatest devastation. Landmines have become another major obstacle to civilian survival, contaminating villages, farmland, schools and transport routes while preventing displaced families from safely returning home. The report also notes that civilians have reportedly been used as human shields and human minesweepers during military operations. Forced military conscription has emerged as another major concern. Since introducing compulsory military service in February 2024, the junta is estimated to have forcibly recruited more than 100,000 people. Young men and women reportedly face arbitrary arrest, abduction and deployment to front-line combat, prompting many to flee their homes or leave the country altogether. Families often live in fear of detention or extortion if relatives are suspected of supporting resistance forces. The humanitarian consequences are severe. Millions remain displaced, many for several years, unable to return because of continuing military occupation, shelling, landmine contamination and destroyed homes. The report estimates that Sagaing alone now hosts more than 1.3 million internally displaced people. Many survive in makeshift shelters on farmland, in monasteries or abandoned buildings with limited access to food, healthcare, clean water or education. Livelihoods have collapsed as villages, crops, livestock and farming equipment have been systematically destroyed. Compounding these hardships is the obstruction of humanitarian aid. The report argues that the junta deliberately blocks aid deliveries through checkpoints, administrative restrictions and violence against aid providers while international funding for Myanmar has declined sharply. Essential goods, including food, medicine, fuel, batteries and water equipment, are frequently restricted, leaving communities increasingly dependent on local civil society organizations. Despite these immense challenges, the report highlights the resilience of local humanitarian networks. Community organizations continue to provide emergency food, cash assistance, healthcare, education and livelihood support through trusted local channels, often reaching communities inaccessible to international agencies. The authors conclude that donors should prioritize direct, flexible funding for these locally led initiatives rather than working through junta-controlled structures, arguing that local organizations remain the most effective means of reaching Myanmar’s most vulnerable populations. The post Resisting the Myanmar junta’s aid weaponization: new report appeared first on ENG.MIZZIMA.COM.