Human rights in Myanmar#Labour

International human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch,{{cite web |url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/01/burma9290.htm |title=Statement to the EU Development Committee |access-date=11 July 2006 |author=Brad Adams |publisher=Human Rights Watch |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620074005/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/01/burma9290.htm |archive-date=20 June 2006 |url-status=dead}} Amnesty International,{{cite web |url=http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/myanmar |title=Amnesty International 2009 Report on Human Rights in Myanmar |access-date=4 January 2010 |author=Brad Adams |publisher=Amnesty International |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912013419/http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/myanmar |archive-date=12 September 2009 }} and the American Association for the Advancement of Science{{cite web|url=http://sciencemode.com/2007/09/28/satellite-images-verify-myanmar-forced-relocations-mounting-military-presence/ |title=Satellite Images Verify Myanmar Forced Relocations, Mounting Military Presence |access-date=1 October 2007 |publisher=ScienceMode |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226124205/http://sciencemode.com/2007/09/28/satellite-images-verify-myanmar-forced-relocations-mounting-military-presence/ |archive-date=26 February 2008 }} have repeatedly documented and condemned widespread human rights violations in Myanmar. The Freedom in the World 2011 report by Freedom House notes that "The military junta has... suppressed nearly all basic rights; and committed human rights abuses with impunity." In 2011 the "country's more than 2,100 political prisoners included about 429 members of the NLD, the victors in the 1990 elections."{{cite web |url=http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2011&country=8007 |title=Burma (Myanmar) (2011) |publisher=Freedom House |access-date=29 August 2011}} As of July 2013, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, there were about 100 political prisoners in Burmese prisons.{{cite news |title=Myanmar set to release some 70 prisoners |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/7577-myanmar-set-to-release-some-70-prisoners.html |access-date=24 July 2013 |newspaper=The Myanmar Times |date=24 July 2013}}{{cite news |last=Weng |first=Lawi |title=Burma Govt Releases 73 Political Prisoners |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/40563 |access-date=24 July 2013 |date=24 July 2013}}{{cite news |title=Myanmar: Final push on political prisoners needed |publisher=Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) |url=http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/50659a382.html |access-date=19 March 2013 |date=27 September 2012}}{{cite news |title=Burma Frees 56 Political Prisoners |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/burma-frees-fifty-six-political-prisoners-day-after-sanctions-dropped/1647578.html |access-date=26 April 2013 |newspaper=Voice of America |date=22 April 2013}}

On 9 November 2012, Samantha Power, US President Barack Obama's Special Assistant to the President on Human Rights, wrote on the White House Blog in advance of the President's visit that "Serious human rights abuses against civilians in several regions continue, including against women and children."{{cite web |author=Samantha Power |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2012/11/09/supporting-human-rights-burma |work=whitehouse.gov |title=Supporting Human Rights in Burma |date=9 November 2012 |via=National Archives |access-date=20 November 2012}} The United Nations General Assembly has repeatedly{{cite web |title=List of UN General Assembly Resolutions on Burma |url=http://www.altsean.org/Research/UN%20Dossier/UNGA.htm |access-date=4 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104120635/http://www.altsean.org/Research/UN%20Dossier/UNGA.htm |archive-date=4 November 2016 |url-status=dead }} called on the former Burmese military governments to respect human rights and in November 2009 the General Assembly adopted a resolution "strongly condemning the ongoing systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms" and calling on the then-ruling Burmese military junta "to take urgent measures to put an end to violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."{{Cite press release |title=UN General Assembly Resolution: Time f or Concrete Action |publisher=International Federation for Human Rights |date=20 November 2009 |url=http://www.fidh.org/UN-General-Assembly-Resolution-time-for-concrete |access-date=4 January 2010}}

Forced labour, human trafficking and child labour are common.{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/020/1998/en/ |title=Myanmar: 10th anniversary of military repression |access-date=14 July 2006 |date=7 August 1998 |publisher=Amnesty International}} The Burmese military junta{{clarify|reason=which regime?|date=April 2013}} is also notorious for rampant use of sexual violence as an instrument of control, including allegations of systematic rapes and taking of sex slaves by the military,{{cite web |url=http://www.womenofburma.org/Statement&Release/state_of_terror_report.pdf |title=State of Terror report |access-date=21 May 2007 |date=1 February 2007 |publisher=Women's League of Burma |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070528044207/http://www.womenofburma.org/Statement%26Release/state_of_terror_report.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2007 |url-status=dead}} a practice which continued in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-burma |title=Human Rights Watch World Report 2012, Burma |website=Human Rights Watch |access-date=6 July 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630121229/http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2012/world-report-2012-burma |archive-date=30 June 2013}}

In March 2017, a three-member committee in the United Nations Human Rights Council ran a fact finding mission. This mission was aimed to "establish the facts and circumstances of the alleged recent human rights violations by military and security forces, and abuses, in Myanmar … with a view to ensuring full accountability for perpetrators and justice for victims".{{cite web|url=http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/MyanmarFFM/Pages/Members.aspx|title=Biographies of the members of the Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar|website=United Nations Human Rights Council}}

Unfortunately, the government of Myanmar did not work with the Fact Finding Mission (FFM). They neither allow the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar into the country.{{cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22553|title=Myanmar refuses access to UN Special Rapporteur |website=United Nations Human Rights Council}} What the Fact-Finding Mission found and announced was that security forces in Myanmar committed serious violations of international law "that warrant criminal investigation and prosecution", namely crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFM-Myanmar/A_HRC_39_64.pdf|title=Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar*}}

File:Mae La refugee camp2.jpg, Tak Province, Thailand, one of the largest of nine UNHCR camps in Thailand where over 700,000 Refugees, Asylum-seekers, and stateless persons have fled.{{Cite web|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|title=Thailand|url=https://www.unhcr.org/thailand.html|access-date=2021-01-04|website=UNHCR|language=en}}]]

In response to these claims, the Myanmar Government has taken the position that the work of the FFM has been irresponsible and unconstructive. In September 2019, for example, U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, provided comments during a Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. U Kyaw Moe Tun said that the "People of Myanmar, who used to stand with the UN in their long struggle for democracy and human rights, are increasingly disappointed with the less than objective stand taken by some elements of the UN with respect to Myanmar."'{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190920230917/https://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/myanmar-permanent-representative-makes-rebuttal-statements-to-special-rapporteur-and-ffm-at-interactive-dialogues/ Myanmar Permanent Representative makes rebuttal statements to Special Rapporteur and FFM at interactive dialogues']}}, The Global New Light of Myanmar, 20 September 2019.

Aung San Suu Kyi led the opposition National League for Democracy which was victorious in the 1990 general election. She was imprisoned or under house arrest for 15 out of the 21 years from 1990 to 2010.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2024558,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101012221344/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/completelist/0,29569,2024558,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 October 2010|title=Top 10 Political Prisoners|magazine=TIME|date=15 August 2010|access-date=1 January 2011|quote=Full List FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Andrei Sakharov, Vaclav Havel, Akbar Ganji, Benigno Aquino Jr., Ho Chi Minh}} In 2021, she was imprisoned by the Myanmar military in a coup d'état. As of August 2022, she is being held in solitary confinement serving a 17-year sentence following a series of secret trials.{{cite news |last1=Chen |first1=Heather |last2=Diamond |first2=Cape |title=Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 6 more years in prison |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/15/asia/myanmar-aung-san-suu-kyi-prison-junta-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=30 August 2022 |agency=CNN |date=16 August 2022}}

{{main|Freedom of religion in Myanmar|Internal conflict in Myanmar}}

Evidence has been gathered which suggests that the Burmese regime has marked certain ethnic minorities such as the Karen, Karenni and Shan for extermination or 'Burmisation'.{{cite news |last=Guardia |first=Anton La |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1492726/Burma%27s-%27slow-genocide%27-is-revealed-through-the-eyes-of-its-child-victims.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080531030405/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1492726/Burma%27s-%27slow-genocide%27-is-revealed-through-the-eyes-of-its-child-victims.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 May 2008 |title=Burma's 'slow genocide' is revealed through the eyes of its child victims |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=24 June 2005 |access-date=20 November 2012 |location=London}} This, however, has received little attention from the international community since it has been more subtle and indirect than the mass killings which occurred in places like Rwanda.{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Mike |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/burmamyanmar/1512149/New-evidence-backs-claims-of-genocide-in-Burma.html |title=New evidence backs claims of genocide in Burma |work=The Daily Telegraph|date=5 March 2006 |access-date=20 November 2012 |location=London}} According to Amnesty International, the Muslim Rohingya people have continued to suffer human rights violations under the rule of the junta which has ruled Burma since 1978, and many of them have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh as a result[https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/005/2004/en/ Burma – The Rohingya Minority: Fundamental Rights Denied], Amnesty International, 2004. Violence against Christian communities such as the Kachin has also flared since fighting restarted in June 2011 in the 2011–2012 Kachin Conflict.

On 21 March 2022, in the 49th session of United Nations Human Rights Council Michelle Bachelet stated that the systematic brutality by security forces known as the Tatmadaw has inflamed pre-existing armed conflicts in multiple ethnic states. Amidst a “profound crisis” facing access to basic human rights in Myanmar following the coup in February 2021, hundreds of localized armed resistance groups have now formed across the country, triggering “widespread violence in areas that were previously stable”.{{cite web|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114382|title=Human rights in Myanmar face 'profound crisis' – Bachelet|accessdate=21 March 2022|website=United Nation|date=21 March 2022 }}

In 2022, Freedom House rated Myanmar's religious freedom as 1 out of 4,[https://www.freedomhouse.org/country/myanmar/freedom-world/2020 Freedom House, Retrieved 2023-04-25] noting that the constitution provides for freedom of religion and recognises Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and animism. However, some anti-Muslim hate speech and discrimination has been amplified by social media, state institutions and mainstream news websites.

{{main|Persecution of Muslims in Myanmar}}

The Muslim Rohingya have consistently faced human rights abuses by the Burmese regime which has refused to acknowledge them as citizens (despite generations of habitation in the country) and attempted to forcibly expel Rohingya and bring in non-Rohingyas to replace them. This policy has resulted in the expulsion of approximately half of the Rohingya population from Burma. An estimated 90,000 people have been displaced in the recent sectarian violence between Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Burma's western Rakhine State.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18517412 |title=Burma unrest: UN body says 90,000 displaced by violence |publisher=BBC |date=20 June 2012}} As a result of this policy Rohingya people have been described as "among the world’s least wanted"{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8521280.stm |title=Bangladesh accused of "crackdown" on Rohingya refugees |work=BBC |date=18 February 2010 |access-date=29 July 2012 |author=Mark Dummett}} and "one of the world's most persecuted minorities".{{cite news |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j7a3oPcHSvWSpkXzzSruvNZfdPMA?docId=CNG.8d52d8a6dba835c4ac54aab3f3c8031b.571 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120718074439/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j7a3oPcHSvWSpkXzzSruvNZfdPMA?docId=CNG.8d52d8a6dba835c4ac54aab3f3c8031b.571 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |title=Myanmar, Bangladesh leaders "to discuss Rohingya" |work=AFP |date=25 June 2012 |access-date=29 July 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2012/10/09/the-rohingyas-place-in-a-democratic-burma/ |title=The Rohingya: Unwanted at Home, Unwelcome Abroad |work=The Diplomat |date=9 October 2012 |author=Lucas Bento and Guled Yusuf}}

Since a 1982 citizenship law Rohingya have been stripped of their Burmese citizenship. In 2012, a riot broke out between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, which left 78 people dead, 87 injured, and thousands of homes destroyed. It also displaced more than 52,000 people.{{cite news |title=UN refugee agency redeploys staff to address humanitarian needs in Myanmar |work=UN News |date=29 June 2012 |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=42356 |access-date=29 June 2012}} As of July 2012, the Myanmar Government did not include the Rohingya minority group–-classified as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh since 1982—on the government's list of more than 130 ethnic races and therefore the government says that they have no claim to Myanmar citizenship.{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3703383.ece |title=Rohingyas are not citizens: Myanmar minister |date=1 August 2012 |location=Chennai, India |work=The Hindu}}

{{main|2012 Rakhine State riots}}

The 2012 Rakhine State riots are a series of ongoing conflicts between Rohingya Muslims and ethnic Rakhine in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. The riots came after weeks of sectarian disputes and have been condemned by most people on both sides of the conflict.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-violence-idUSBRE85714E20120608 |title=Four killed as Rohingya Muslims riot in Myanmar: government |work=Reuters |date=8 June 2012 |access-date=9 June 2012}}

The immediate cause of the riots is unclear, with many commentators citing the killing of ten Burmese Muslims by ethnic Rakhine after the rape and murder of a 13 years old Rakhine girl by Burmese Muslims as the main cause.{{cite news |last=Lauras |first=Didier |title=Myanmar stung by global censure over unrest |url=http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/271174/myanmar-stung-by-global-censure-over-unrest |access-date=15 September 2012 |newspaper=Agence France-Presse in the Philippine Daily Inquirer |date=15 September 2012}} Whole villages have been "decimated". Over three hundred houses and a number of public buildings have been razed. According to Tun Khin, the President of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), as of 28 June 650 Rohingyas have been killed, 1,200 are missing, and more than 80,000 have been displaced. According to the Myanmar authorities, the violence, between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, left 78 people dead, 87 injured, and thousands of homes destroyed. It also displaced more than 52,000 people.

The government has responded by imposing curfews and by deploying troops in the regions. On 10 June, state of emergency was declared in Rakhine, allowing military to participate in administration of the region.{{cite magazine |url=http://burma.irrawaddy.org/archives/11901 |title=အ႘ရး႘ပၚအ႘ျခအ႘န ႘ၾကညာခ်က႙ ႏုိင႙ငံ႘ရးသမားမ်ား ႘ထာက႙ခံ |magazine=The Irrawaddy |date=11 June 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012 |author=Linn Htet |archive-date=13 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613191556/http://burma.irrawaddy.org/archives/11901 |url-status=dead}}{{cite news |first=Fergal |last=Keane |author-link=Fergal Keane |title=Old tensions bubble in Burma |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18402678 |work=BBC News Online |date=11 June 2012 |access-date=11 June 2012}} The Burmese army and police have been accused of targeting Rohingya Muslims through mass arrests and arbitrary violence.{{cite news |last=Hindstorm |first=Hanna |title=Burmese authorities targeting Rohingyas, UK parliament told |url=http://www.dvb.no/news/burmese-authorities-targeting-rohingyas-uk-parliament-told/22676 |access-date=9 July 2012 |date=28 June 2012 |agency=Democratic Voice of Burma |archive-date=6 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120706025935/http://www.dvb.no/news/burmese-authorities-targeting-rohingyas-uk-parliament-told/22676 |url-status=dead }} A number of monks' organisations that played vital role in Burma's struggle for democracy have taken measures to block any humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya community.{{cite news |last=Hindstorm |first=Hanna |title=Burma's monks call for Muslim community to be shunned |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-monks-call-for-muslim-community-to-be-shunned-7973317.html|access-date=25 July 2012|date=25 July 2012 |agency=The Independent|location=London}}

In May 2019, Amnesty International accused the Burmese army of committing war crimes and other atrocities in Rakhine State. The army has "killed and injured civilians in indiscriminate attacks since January 2019", Amnesty said.{{cite web|url=https://www.countypress.co.uk/news/national/17670063.amnesty-accuses-burmese-military-of-new-abuses/|title=Amnesty accuses Burmese military of new abuses|date=29 May 2019 |access-date=29 May 2019}} "The new operations in Rakhine State show an unrepentant, unreformed and unaccountable military terrorising civilians and committing widespread violations as a deliberate tactic", Amnesty's Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia said.{{cite news|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/28/burmese-army-inflicting-fresh-atrocities-rohingya-says-amnesty/|title=Burmese army committing fresh atrocities in Rakhine state, says Amnesty|work=The Telegraph|date=29 May 2019 |access-date=29 May 2019|last1=Smith |first1=Nicola }}

On 30 June 2013, rioters in the west coast town of Thandwe burned two homes. The riot had started because of rumours that a Muslim man had raped an underage girl, or territory dispute between Rakhine and Muslim trishaw riders.{{cite news |title=Rohingya houses set ablaze in Thandwe |url=http://www.mizzima.com/news/rohingya-issues/9608-rohingya-houses-set-ablaze-in-thandwe |access-date=1 July 2013 |newspaper=Mizzima |date=1 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130704044411/http://www.mizzima.com/news/rohingya-issues/9608-rohingya-houses-set-ablaze-in-thandwe |archive-date=4 July 2013 |url-status=dead }} Three Muslims were injured in the fire. Roads in and out of the town were blocked and a government spokesperson said the Myanmar police were working to find the offenders.[http://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2013/07/01/Rioters-renew-violence-in-Myanmars-Rakhine-State.aspx "Rioters renew violence in Myanmar's Rakhine State"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824204031/https://www.thestar.com.my/News/World/2013/07/01/Rioters-renew-violence-in-Myanmars-Rakhine-State.aspx |date=24 August 2019 }}, Jared Ferrie and Aung Hla Tun, The Star Online (Reuters), 1 July 2013

On 21 March 2022, the Biden administration declared that Myanmar's military has committed genocide against the Rohingya minority. The Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the US has seen evidence pointing to a clear intent to destroy the Rohingya, with reports of killings, mass rape, and arson.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60820215|title=Myanmar Rohingya violence is genocide, US says|work=BBC News |date=21 March 2022 |accessdate=21 March 2022}}

On 4 July 2022, a United Nations investigator has documented apparent war crimes by the Myanmar military and released shocking footage of brutal killings allegedly in Sagaing region. On 10 May, 30 men were captured after a Myanmar military raid in Mon Taing Pin village, in Ayadaw. At least five of them later appear dead, their hands bound, shot from behind. Few images obtained by Radio Free Asia (RFA) gives damning evidence of the brutal operation which reinforce a pattern of killings that bear the hallmarks of the military’s atrocities.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/04/myanmar-military-atrocities-laid-bare-gruesome-footage|title=Myanmar Military Atrocities Laid Bare in Gruesome Footage|accessdate=4 July 2022|website=Human Rights Watch|date=4 July 2022 }}

Government of Myanmar has been accused by the UN of ethnic cleansing{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/03/gruesome-new-details-on-the-ethnic-cleansing-in-myanmar-no-one-is-talking-about/|title=Gruesome New Details on The Ethnic Cleansing in Myanmar No One Is Talking About|website=Foreignpolicy.com|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/may/08/buddhist-extremists-anti-muslim-mandalay-ma-ba-tha|title='We must protect our country': extremist Buddhists target Mandalay's Muslims|first=Poppy|last=McPherson|date=8 May 2017|website=the Guardian|access-date=16 January 2018}} of the Rohingya population and committing state-sanctioned crimes such as extrajudicial executions, mass murder, genocide, torture, gang rapes and forced displacement against them but Myanmar denies it.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-09/myanmar-may-have-killed-thousands-of-rohingya-muslims/8256344|title=Myanmar may have killed 'thousands' of Rohingya Muslims|date=9 February 2017|website=Abc.net.au|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/12/21/burma-rohingya-recount-killings-rape-and-arson|title=Burma: Rohingya Recount Killings, Rape, and Arson|date=21 December 2016|website=Hrw.org|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/01/12/burma-government-forces-implicated-killings-and-rape|title=Burma: Government Forces Implicated in Killings and Rape|date=12 January 2017|website=Hrw.org|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39507350|title=Suu Kyi denies Rohingya ethnic cleansing|date=6 April 2017|website=Bbc.com|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-19/myanmar-rohingya-muslims-share-stories-violence-rakhine-state/8721978|title=In Myanmar's hidden region, media tour takes harrowing turn when soldiers aren't watching|date=19 July 2017|website=Abc.net.au|access-date=16 January 2018}}

In August 2017 new massacres and burning down of Rohingya villages by Myanmar Army were reported.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-01/reports-of-women-and-children-among-dead-in-myanmar-massacre/8862164|title=Women, children feared among scores dead in Myanmar village 'massacre'|date=1 September 2017|website=Abc.net.au|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-burma-myanmar-children-beheaded-burned-alive-refugees-bangladesh-a7926521.html|title=Rohingya children 'beheaded and burned alive' in Burma|date=2 September 2017|website=Independent.co.uk|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/02/rohingya-minority-beheaded-burned-alive-burma-army/|title=Fears of mass atrocities against Rohingya civilians in Burma|first=Fiona|last=MacGregor|date=2 September 2017|access-date=16 January 2018|website=Telegraph.co.uk}}{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/rohingya-muslims-burma-army-burn-villages-persecute-minority-rakhine-state-a7917926.html|title=Rohingya villages 'burned by Burmese army' in crackdown on Muslim minority|date=29 August 2017|website=Independent.co.uk|access-date=16 January 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://unvis.it/edition.cnn.com/2017/09/04/asia/rohingya-refugees-myanmar-military/index.html|title=UV: At least 30,000 Rohingya trapped in Myanmar mountains without food|last=edition.cnn.com|website=unv.is/|access-date=16 January 2018|archive-date=4 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170904204839/https://unvis.it/edition.cnn.com/2017/09/04/asia/rohingya-refugees-myanmar-military/index.html|url-status=dead}} In 2020 Yanghee Lee, the UN special rapporteur to Myanmar, stated the Tatmadaw had been emboldened by extra powers granted to them during the coronavirus pandemic.{{cite news |title=Coronavirus is 'emboldening' Myanmar military to carry out 'war crimes' says UN human rights expert |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/30/asia/myanmar-war-crimes-coronavirus-hnk-intl/index.html |access-date=1 May 2020 |work=CNN |date=30 April 2020}}

In 2022, the US Secretary of State determined that members of the Burmese military had committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya people.[https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/burma US State Dept 2022 report] An estimated 1.6 million Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh, Thailand and India; by the end of 2022, the UNHCR reported that approximately 148,000 Rohingya were being held in displacement camps in the country.

Investigations led by Amnesty International concluded that the airstrikes taken place in March/April 2020 by the Myanmar military, killed civilians including children. According to witness testimonies, Myanmar soldiers arbitrarily detained the civilians over alleged link to Arakan Army. The detainees were brutally tortured and beaten by the army. Internet has been cut-off for more than a year in the conflicted territory. The civilians are deprived of the humanitarian assistance over COVID-19 pandemic. Amnesty also reported the destruction and burning of villages in Rakhine and Chin State.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/myanmar-indiscriminate-airstrikes-kill-civilians-rakhine/|title=Myanmar: Indiscriminate airstrikes kill civilians as Rakhine conflict worsens|access-date=8 July 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|date=8 July 2020 }}

File:Displaced Rohingya people in Rakhine State (8280610831).jpg of Myanmar{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/dec/20/Myanmar-rohingya-muslim-refugee-camps | title=Trapped inside Myanmar's refugee camps, the Rohingya people call for recognition | work=The Guardian | date=20 December 2012 | access-date=10 February 2015}}{{dead link|date=September 2016}}{{cite news|title=US Holocaust Museum highlights plight of Myanmar's downtrodden Rohingya Muslims|url=https://www.foxnews.com/us/us-holocaust-museum-highlights-plight-of-myanmars-downtrodden-rohingya-muslims|date=6 November 2013|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Fox News Channel|access-date=6 June 2015|archive-date=19 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019125757/http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/06/us-holocaust-museum-highlights-plight-myanmar-downtrodden-rohingya-muslims/|url-status=live}} |alt=]]

{{See also|Rohingya conflict|2013 Myanmar anti-Muslim riots|Rohingya genocide}}

The Rohingya people have consistently faced human rights abuses by the Burmese regime that has refused to acknowledge them as Burmese citizens (despite some of them having lived in Burma for over three generations)—the Rohingya have been denied Burmese citizenship since the enactment of a 1982 citizenship law.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7872635.stm |title=What drive the Rohingya to sea? |publisher=BBC |date=5 February 2009 |access-date=29 July 2012 |author=Head, Jonathan |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001062936/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7872635.stm |url-status=live}} The Burmese regime has attempted to forcibly expel Rohingya and bring in non-Rohingyas to replace them{{cite book |title=A Handbook of Terrorism and Insurgency in South East Asia| editor=Tan, Andrew T. H.| chapter=Chapter 16, State Terrorism in Arakan|author1=Islam, Syed |author2=Islam, Serajul |publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing |isbn=978-1-84542-543-2 |page=342 |year=2007}}—this policy has resulted in the expulsion of approximately half of the 800,000{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-monks-call-for-muslim-community-to-be-shunned-7973317.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220618/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/burmas-monks-call-for-muslim-community-to-be-shunned-7973317.html |archive-date=18 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Burma's monks call for Muslim community to be shunned |work=The Independent |access-date=15 September 2014 |author=Hindstrom, Hanna |date=25 July 2012}} Rohingya from Burma, while the Rohingya people have been described as "among the world's least wanted"{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8521280.stm |title=Bangladesh accused of 'crackdown' on Rohingya refugees |publisher=BBC |date=18 February 2010 |access-date=29 July 2012 |author=Dummett, Mark |archive-date=27 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027120525/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8521280.stm |url-status=live}} and "one of the world's most persecuted minorities."{{cite news |url=http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=463ef21123&id=4fe952205 |title=Myanmar, Bangladesh leaders 'to discuss Rohingya' |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=25 June 2012 |access-date=15 September 2014 |archive-date=15 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140915184608/http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refdaily?pass=463ef21123&id=4fe952205 |url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=https://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2012/10/09/the-rohingyas-place-in-a-democratic-burma/ |title=The Rohingya: Unwanted at Home, Unwelcome Abroad |work=The Diplomat |date=9 October 2012 |author1=Bento, Lucas |author2=Yusuf, Guled |name-list-style=amp |access-date=12 February 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204931/http://thediplomat.com/asean-beat/2012/10/09/the-rohingyas-place-in-a-democratic-burma/ |url-status=live}}

Rohingya are not allowed to travel without official permission, are banned from owning land, and are required to sign a commitment to have no more than two children. As of July 2012, the Myanmar government does not include the Rohingya minority group—classified as stateless Bengali Muslims from Bangladesh since 1982—on the government's list of more than 130 ethnic races and, therefore, the government states that they have no claim to Myanmar citizenship.{{cite news| url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3703383.ece| title=Rohingyas are not citizens: Myanmar minister| date=30 July 2012| location=Chennai, India| work=The Hindu| access-date=1 November 2012| archive-date=7 January 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107231250/http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3703383.ece| url-status=live}}

Since the democratic transition began in 2011, there has been continuous violence as 280 people have been killed and 140,000 forced to flee from their homes in the Rakhine state in 2014.{{cite news|title=Exodus grows as Muslim Rohingya flee persecution in Myanmar homeland|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/18/asia-pacific/crime-legal-asia-pacific/exodus-grows-muslim-rohigya-flee-persecution-myanmar-homeland/|access-date=14 December 2014|newspaper=Japan Times|date=18 November 2014|archive-date=17 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217232601/http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/18/asia-pacific/crime-legal-asia-pacific/exodus-grows-muslim-rohigya-flee-persecution-myanmar-homeland/|url-status=live}} A UN envoy reported in March 2013 that unrest had re-emerged between Myanmar's Buddhist and Muslim communities, with violence spreading to towns that are located closer to Yangon.{{cite news|title='Brutal efficiency' in Myanmar attacks: UN|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/brutal-efficiency-in-myanmar-attacks-un/story-fn3dxix6-1226607261777|access-date=27 March 2013|newspaper=The Australian|date=27 March 2013|agency=Australian Associated Press|archive-date=27 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327001952/http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/brutal-efficiency-in-myanmar-attacks-un/story-fn3dxix6-1226607261777|url-status=live}}

{{see also|Freedom of the press in Myanmar}}

A 2004 Amnesty International report stated that, between 1989 and 2004, more than 1,300 political prisoners have been imprisoned after unfair trials. The prisoners, including National League for Democracy (NLD) leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and U Tin Oo, have "been wrongfully denied their liberty for peaceful acts that would not be considered crimes under international law", Amnesty International claims.[https://www.amnesty.org/es/documents/asa16/011/2004/es/ "Amnesty International calls on authorities in Myanmar to release all prisoners of conscience"], Amnesty International (ASA 16/011/2004), 7 December 2004, accessed 14 August 2012

The Freedom House report notes that the authorities arbitrarily search citizens' homes, intercept mail, and monitor telephone conversations, and that the possession and use of telephones, fax machines, computers, modems, and software are criminalised.

According to Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (Burma), there were 1,547{{cite web |title=List of Political Prisoners in Burma in 2008 |url=http://aappb.org/prisoners1.html |access-date=12 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902223936/http://www.aappb.org/prisoners1.html |archive-date=2 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} political prisoners in Burma – the number had doubled from 1,100 in 2006 to 2,123 in 2008. As of April 2013, there were 176 political prisoners in Burmese prisons.

Political prisoners may be detained on charges seemingly unrelated to politics, complicating the case for their release. For example, National Democratic Force member and land rights activist Daw Bauk Ja was detained by police for medical negligence in 2013, though the detainment was linked to a 2008 death, the case for which had been withdrawn by family of the deceased in 2010. She had run for election in 2010 and also actively campaigned against the Myitsone Dam and took Yuzana Company to court for its land confiscations in Kachin State's Hukawng Valley region.{{cite news |title=Kachin activist Daw Bauk Ja arrested over 2008 death |url=http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/national-news/7573-kachin-activist-daw-bauk-ja-arrested-over-2008-death.html |access-date=7 November 2013 |newspaper=Myanmar Times |date=22 July 2013}}{{cite web |title=Actions: No Political Prisoner Left Behind. Free Buak Ja |url=http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/campaigns/actions/free-political-prisoners/no-political-prisoner-left-behind |access-date=7 November 2013 |publisher=Burma Campaign UK |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112112459/http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/index.php/campaigns/actions/free-political-prisoners/no-political-prisoner-left-behind |archive-date=12 November 2013 |url-status=dead }}

{{Main|Censorship in Burma}}

The Burmese media is tightly controlled by the government. Newspapers, journals and other publications are run under the Ministry of Information and undergo heavy censorship before publication. Reporters face severe consequences for criticising government officials, policy, or even reporting on criticism. Restrictions on media censorship were significantly eased in August 2012 following demonstrations by hundreds of protesters who wore shirts demanding that the government "Stop Killing the Press".{{cite web |last=Roughneen |first=Simon |url=https://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/08/in-burma-a-delicate-balance-for-new-freedoms-of-speech228.html |title=MediaShift. In Burma, a Delicate Balance for New Freedoms of Speech |publisher=PBS |date=15 August 2012 |access-date=20 November 2012 |archive-date=26 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121126224043/http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2012/08/in-burma-a-delicate-balance-for-new-freedoms-of-speech228.html |url-status=dead}}

The most significant change has come in the form that media organisations will no longer have to submit their content to a censorship board prior to publication, however, as explained by one editorial in the exiled press Irrawaddy, this new "freedom" has caused some Burmese journalists to simply see the new law as an attempt to create an environment of self-censorship as journalists "are required to follow 16 guidelines towards protecting the three national causes – non-disintegration of the Union, non-disintegration of national solidarity, perpetuation of sovereignty – and "journalistic ethics" to ensure their stories are accurate and do not jeopardise national security."

On 3 September 2018 Myanmar court sentenced two Burmese reporters working for Reuters to seven years in prison allegedly for protecting state secrets.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/09/06/crushing-free-press-myanmar|title=The Crushing of the Free Press in Myanmar|date=6 September 2018}} In August 2019, a Myanmar court sentenced a filmmaker to one year in prison with hard labor for criticizing the military on Facebook.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-filmmaker-idUSKCN1VJ0Q5|title=Myanmar jails filmmaker for Facebook posts critical of military|date=29 August 2019|work=Reuters|access-date=29 August 2019|language=en}}

A Burmese filmmaker, Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, was arrested on 12 April 2019 and formally charged under section 505(a) of the Myanmar Penal Code on 1 August 2019, for one-year prison on charges of criticizing the Myanmar military in his Facebook post. Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi is also a founder of the Human Dignity Film Institute (HDFI) and the Human Rights, Human Dignity International Film Festival. Nicholas Bequelin Director for East and South East Asia at Amnesty, condemned the punishment and called it 'cruel' considering serious health ailments that Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi is suffering from, one of which is liver cancer that demands specialist treatment.{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/08/myanmar-filmmaker-jailed-facebook-post/|title= Myanmar: Filmmaker sentenced to one year in prison for Facebook post|date= 29 August 2019|access-date=29 August 2019|publisher=Amnesty International}}

On June 19, 2020, HRW urged the Myanmar government to immediately end a year-long government-enforced internet shutdown, which has affected more than a million people living in a conflict zone. HRW cited humanitarian workers stating that some villages are unaware of the coronavirus pandemic, due both to the internet shutdown as well as due to humanitarian workers being barred access to the villages.{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/19/myanmar-end-worlds-longest-internet-shutdown|title= Myanmar: End World's Longest Internet Shutdown |access-date=19 June 2020|website=Human Rights Watch|date= 19 June 2020 }}

According to Human Rights Watch,[http://hrw.org/reports/2002/burma/ "MY GUN WAS AS TALL AS ME"] ''"My Gun Was as Tall as Me" : Child Soldiers in Burma], Human Rights Watch, October 2002, {{ISBN|1-56432-279-3}} recruiting and kidnapping of children into the military is commonplace. An estimated 70,000 of the country's 350,000–400,000 soldiers are children. There are also multiple reports of widespread child labour.

Child soldiers have and continued to play a major part in the Burmese Army as well as Burmese rebel movements. The Independent reported in June 2012 that "Children are being sold as conscripts into the Burmese military for as little as $40 and a bag of rice or a can of petrol."[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/two-burmese-children-a-week-conscripted-into-military-7858858.html "Two Burmese children a week conscripted into military, UN-verified accounts of child soldiers undermine junta's assurances on democratic reforms"], Jerome Taylor, The Independent, 19 June 2012 The UN's Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, who stepped down from her position a week later, met representatives of the Government of Myanmar on 5 July 2012 and stated that she hoped the government's signing of an action plan would "signal a transformation".[https://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2012/120705_Guest.doc.htm "Press Conference on Action Plan to End Recruitment of Child Soldiers in Myanmar"], United Nations (New York), 5 July 2012

In September 2012 the Burmese Army released 42 child soldiers and the International Labour Organization met with representatives of the government as well as the Kachin Independence Army to secure the release of more child soldiers.[http://www.irrawaddy.org/archives/13354 "ILO in Talks with Kachins over Child Soldiers"], Lawi Weng, The Irrawaddy, 5 September 2012 According to Samantha Power, a US delegation raised the issue of child soldiers with the government in October 2012. However, she did not comment on the government's progress towards reform in this area.

A 2002 report by The Shan Human Rights Foundation and The Shan Women's Action Network, License to Rape, details 173 incidents of rape and other forms of sexual violence, involving 625 girls and women, committed by Tatmadaw (Burmese Army) troops in Shan State, mostly between 1996 and 2001. The authors note that the figures are likely to be far lower than the reality. According to the report, "the Burmese military regime is allowing its troops systematically and on a widespread scale to commit rape with impunity in order to terrorize and subjugate the ethnic peoples of Shan State." Furthermore, the report states that "25% of the rapes resulted in death, in some incidences with bodies being deliberately displayed to local communities. 61% were gang-rapes; women were raped within military bases, and in some cases women were detained and raped repeatedly for periods of up to 4 months."[http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/reports/License_to_rape.pdf License to Rape : The Burmese military regime's use of sexual violence in the ongoing war in Shan State] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730075555/http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/reports/License_to_rape.pdf |date=30 July 2013 }}, Shan Human Rights Foundation (SHRF) and Shan Women's Action Network (SWAN), May 2002 The Burmese government denied the report's findings, stating that insurgents are responsible for violence in the region.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-nov-13-na-refugees13-story.html |title=Personal Tales of Struggle Resonate With President |author=Warren Vieth |date=13 November 2005 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=2 May 2011}}

A 2003 report "No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women" by Refugees International further documents the widespread use of rape by Burma's soldiers to brutalise women from five different ethnic nationalities.[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/47a6eb9a0.html No Safe Place: Burma's Army and the Rape of Ethnic Women], Betsy Apple and Veronika Martin, Refugees International, April 2003

Human rights organisations such as Amnesty International also report frequent torture of prisoners, including political prisoners.

{{Further|Sex trafficking in Myanmar}}

Forced labour and human trafficking are common in Myanmar.{{Cite news |last=Kieran Guilbert |date=26 June 2018 |title=Exclusive: Women most at risk from traffickers in India, Libya, Myanmar - poll |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-women-dangerous-poll-trafficking-excl-idUSKBN1JM02M |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601031101/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-women-dangerous-poll-trafficking-excl-idUSKBN1JM02M |url-status=live }} Human trafficking happens mostly to women who are unemployed and have low incomes. They are deceived by brokers that better opportunities and wages exist for them abroad.{{cite web |title=Myanmar UN ACT |url=http://un-act.org/myanmar/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190506104746/http://un-act.org/myanmar/ |archive-date=6 May 2019 |access-date=6 May 2019 |website=UN ACT}} In 2017, the government reported 185 trafficking cases. The government of Burma makes little effort to eliminate human trafficking. The U.S. State Department reported that both the government and Tatmadaw were complicit in sex and labour trafficking.{{cite web|url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282623.htm|title=Burma|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180725003051/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282623.htm|archive-date=25 July 2018|url-status=dead}} Women and girls from all ethnic groups and foreigners have been victims of sex trafficking in Myanmar.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} They are forced into prostitution, marriages or pregnancies.{{cite web |date=2009 |title=Nowhere else to go: An examination of sexual trafficking and related human rights abuses in Southern Burma |url=https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/es/bibliography/2009/nowhere_else_to_go_an_examination_of_sexual_trafficking_and_related_human_rights_abuses_in_southern_burma.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601030016/https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/es/bibliography/2009/nowhere_else_to_go_an_examination_of_sexual_trafficking_and_related_human_rights_abuses_in_southern_burma.html |archive-date=1 June 2022 |website=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime}}{{cite journal|url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/03/21/give-us-baby-and-well-let-you-go/trafficking-kachin-brides-myanmar-china|title=Give Us a Baby and We'll Let You Go: Trafficking of Kachin Brides from Myanmar to China|date=21 March 2019|website=Human Rights Watch|access-date=28 March 2020|archive-date=31 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731213631/https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/03/21/give-us-baby-and-well-let-you-go/trafficking-kachin-brides-myanmar-china|url-status=live}} Sex trafficking in Myanmar has been fuelled by factors like internal conflict, political instability, land confiscation,{{cite web |date=12 July 2018 |title=Thousands of Myanmar women forced into marriages in China |url=https://www.dw.com/en/thousands-of-myanmar-women-forced-into-marriages-in-china/a-46625465 |website=DW News |access-date=16 August 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325143450/https://www.dw.com/en/thousands-of-myanmar-women-forced-into-marriages-in-china/a-46625465 |url-status=live }} poor border management,{{cite web |date=20 December 2019 |title=NGO Report: Malaysia Now a Destination for Sex-Trafficking of Rohingya Girls |url=https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/malaysia-rohingya-12202019174632.html |website=Benar News |access-date=16 August 2023 |archive-date=21 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021215842/https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/malaysian/malaysia-rohingya-12202019174632.html |url-status=live}}{{cite web |date=23 August 2017 |title=Trafficked to China to marry, a Myanmar woman hopes to save others from same fate |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-trafficking-marriage/trafficked-to-china-to-marry-a-myanmarwoman-hopes-to-save-others-from-same-fate-idUSKCN1B402K |website=Reuters |access-date=16 August 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230816073900/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-trafficking-marriage/trafficked-to-china-to-marry-a-myanmarwoman-hopes-to-save-others-from-same-fate-idUSKCN1B402K |url-status=live}} and government restrictions on providing travel documents.

A cyber-scam industry in Myanmar's borderlands has involved human trafficking, forced labour and other abuses.{{Cite web |date=5 October 2023 |title=Myanmar's cyber-scam industry limps on amid regional crackdown |url=https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/myanmars-cyber-scam-industry-limps-on-amid-regional-crackdown/ |access-date=29 November 2023 |website=Frontier Myanmar |language=en-US |archive-date=5 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205145610/https://www.frontiermyanmar.net/en/myanmars-cyber-scam-industry-limps-on-amid-regional-crackdown/ |url-status=live}} Many of the scam centres are in territories controlled by junta allies like the Border Guard Force. In August 2023, a report from the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that at least 120,000 people in Myanmar were trapped in such centres by criminal gangs.{{Cite web |date=10 October 2023 |title=#trending: Chinese netizens afraid of Southeast Asia travel after hit movie No More Bets shows human trafficking scams |url=https://www.todayonline.com/world/no-more-bets-movie-chinese-tourists-2271816 |access-date=29 November 2023 |website=Today (Singapore newspaper) |language=en |archive-date=5 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205145607/https://www.todayonline.com/world/no-more-bets-movie-chinese-tourists-2271816 |url-status=live}}

The military forces took over Myanmar in 2021. A yearlong investigation conducted by CNN reveals that half of Myanmar's 54 million population lives below poverty line. This drives many of them to the extreme measures such as online organ trade. This illegal action of selling their personal organs can earn them a payment equal to a two-year salary. Many advertise the organ they wish to donate on social media, this is an endless cycle as families time and again find themselves online to trade their organs as money runs out.{{Cite web |last=Rebane |first=Teele |date=30 August 2024 |title=Myanmar's poorest are so desperate they're turning to social media to sell their kidneys |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/30/asia/myanmar-organ-selling-coup-poverty-intl-hnk/index.html |access-date=1 September 2024 |website=CNN |language=en}}  

According to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions several hundred thousand men, women, children and elderly people are forced to work against their will by the administration. Individuals refusing to work may be victims of torture, rape or murder. The International Labour Organization has continuously called on Burma to end the practice of forced labour since the 1960s. In June 2000, the ILO Conference adopted a resolution calling on governments to cease any relations with the country that might aid the junta to continue the use of forced labour.[http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc88/resolutions.htm#I "Resolution concerning the measures recommended by the Governing Body under article 33 of the ILO Constitution on the subject of Myanmar"], General Conference of the International Labour Organization (ILO), 14 June 2000

Trade unions were banned when General Ne Win came to power in 1962. In 2010, amid growing calls for reform to labour laws, unofficial industrial action was taken at a number of garment factories in Rangoon, causing concern at government level.{{cite web |title=Burma Rejects Labor Union Application |url=http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18796 |work=The Irrawaddy website |access-date=17 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064409/http://www2.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=18796 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead }} In October 2011, it was announced that trade unions had been legalised by a new law.{{cite news |title=Burma law to allow labour unions and strikes |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15303968 |access-date=17 October 2011 |newspaper=BBC News |date=14 October 2011}}

An initiative was launched in 2014 by the Myanmar government and the International Labour Organization, in conjunction with the US, Japan and Denmark, to promote the development of fundamental labour rights and practice in Myanmar.ILO, [https://www.ilo.org/yangon/speeches/WCMS_319811/lang--en/index.htm New initiative to improve labour rights in Myanmar], published 14 November 2014, accessed 23 February 2021

In a landmark legal case, some human rights groups sued the Unocal corporation, previously known as Union Oil of California and now part of the Chevron Corporation. They charged that since the early 1990s, Unocal has joined hands with dictators in Burma to turn thousands of its citizens into virtual slaves. Unocal, before being purchased, stated that they had no knowledge or connection to these alleged actions although it continued working in Burma. This was believed to be the first time an American corporation has been sued in a US court on the grounds that the company violated human rights in another country.[http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/burma/ "Blood and Oil in Burma"], Daniel Zwerdling, American Radio Works – NPR, March 2000[http://www.burmalibrary.org/reg.burma/archives/199606/msg00327.html "Announcement: Burma oil campaign, No Petro-dollars for SLORC"], Pamela Wellner, Free Burma, 26 June 1996

The Freedom in the World 2004 report by Freedom House notes that "The junta rules by decree, controls the judiciary, suppresses all basic rights, and commits human rights abuses with impunity. Military officers hold all cabinet positions, and active or retired officers hold all top posts in all ministries. Official corruption is reportedly rampant both at the higher and local levels."[http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2004/burma "Burma country report"], Freedom in the World 2004, Freedom House, accessed 14 August 2012

Brad Adams, director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, in a 2004 address described the human rights situation in the country as appalling: "Burma is the textbook example of a police state. Government informants and spies are omnipresent. Average Burmese people are afraid to speak to foreigners except in most superficial of manners for fear of being hauled in later for questioning or worse. There is no freedom of speech, assembly or association."{{cite web|url=http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/01/burma9290.htm|title=Statement to the EU Development Committee (Human Rights Watch, 30-8-2004)|website=hrw.org|access-date=16 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620074005/http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/09/01/burma9290.htm|archive-date=20 June 2006|url-status=dead}}

From 2005 to 2007 NGOs found that violations of human rights included the absence of an independent judiciary, restrictions on Internet access through software-based censorship,{{cite news |url=http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/burma/ |title=Internet Filtering in Burma in 2005: A Country Study |publisher=OpenNet Initiative |access-date=31 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119090055/http://www.opennetinitiative.net/studies/burma/ |archive-date=19 November 2008 |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |url=http://www.burmanet.org/news/2006/06/27/mizzima-news-burma-bans-google-and-gmail-mungpi/#more-4642 |title=Burma bans Google and gmail |publisher=BurmaNet News |date=27 June 2006 |access-date=28 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060706152209/http://www.burmanet.org/news/2006/06/27/mizzima-news-burma-bans-google-and-gmail-mungpi/#more-4642 |archive-date=6 July 2006 |url-status=usurped }} that forced labour, human trafficking, and child labour were common,{{cite web |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/020/1998/en/ |title=Myanmar: 10th anniversary of military repression |access-date=14 July 2006 |date=7 August 1998 |publisher=Amnesty International }} and that sexual violence was abundantly used as an instrument of control, including systematic rapes and taking of sex slaves as porters for the military. A strong women's pro-democracy movement has formed in exile, largely along the Thai border and in Chiang Mai. There was also said to be a growing international movement to defend women's human rights issues.

In a press release on 16 December 2005 the US State Department said UN involvement in Burma was essential[http://preprod.iipdigital.getusinfo.com/st/english/texttrans/2005/12/20051217114043retnuhategdirb0.2457697.html#axzz2NzjqE1ei "U.N. Involvement in Burma 'Essential', State Department Says"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221110842/http://preprod.iipdigital.getusinfo.com/st/english/texttrans/2005/12/20051217114043retnuhategdirb0.2457697.html#axzz2NzjqE1ei |date=21 February 2014}}, U.S. Department of State, 17 December 2005 and listed illicit narcotics, human rights abuses and political repression as serious problems that the UN needed to address.

According to Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP), on 18 April 2007, several of its members (Myint Aye, Maung Maung Lay, Tin Maung Oo and Yin Kyi) were met by approximately a hundred people led by a local official, U Nyunt Oo, and beaten up. Due to the attack, Myint Hlaing and Maung Maung Lay were badly injured and subsequently hospitalised. The HRDP alleged that this attack was condoned by the authorities and vowed to take legal action. Human Rights Defenders and Promoters was formed in 2002 to raise awareness among the people of Burma about their human rights.

In April 2019, the UN appointed an American prosecutor as head of an independent team that will probe human rights violations in Myanmar's volatile Rakhine state, focusing on atrocities committed against Rohingya Muslims. However, Myanmar's ruling political party National League for Democracy disapproved of the new UN investigative mechanism.{{cite web|url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/myanmar/myanmar-signals-it-will-give-cold-shoulder-04032019172944.html|publisher=Radio Free Asia|title=Myanmar Signals It Will Give Cold Shoulder to New UN Rights Investigator on Rohingya|date=3 April 2019 |access-date=3 April 2019}}

On 14 August 2022, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet began a four-day official visit to Bangladesh. This is the first official visit by a UN Human Rights Chief to the country. Ms. Bachelet will go to Cox’s Bazar where she will be able to visit camps housing Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and meet with refugees.{{Cite web |title=UN rights chief in Bangladesh, to visit Rohingya camps |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2022/aug/14/un-rights-chief-in-bangladesh-to-visit-rohingya-camps-2487515.html |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=The New Indian Express|date=14 August 2022 }}{{Cite web |title=UN Human Rights Chief to visit Bangladesh, including Cox's Bazar, 14–17 August |url=https://www.ohchr.org/en/media-advisories/2022/08/un-human-rights-chief-visit-bangladesh-including-coxs-bazar-14-17-august |access-date=2022-08-14 |website=OHCHR |language=en |via=Press Release}}

{{Portal|Current events}}

• Myanmar National Human Rights Commission
• Internet censorship in Myanmar
• Women's rights in Myanmar
• Freedom of religion in Myanmar
• LGBT rights in Myanmar
• War crimes during the Myanmar civil war (2021–present)
• Burma VJ
• Burma Center Prague

{{Reflist}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20111205111044/http://www.mnnonline.org/article/16416 Burmese soldiers target Christians in recent attacks – 2 November, 2011]}}
• [https://www.hrw.org/asia/burma Human Rights Watch: Burma]
• [http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk Burma Campaign UK]
• [http://www.burma-center.org/en/publications/reports/ Collection of reports on issues in Burma, maintained by Burma Center Prague]
• [https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa16/007/2004/en/ Amnesty International report on prisoners of conscience]
• [http://www.icftu.org/focus.asp?Issue=Burma&Language=EN International Confederation of Free Trade Unions' Burma Campaign]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110428002324/http://www.freedomhouse.org/inc/content/pubs/fiw/inc_country_detail.cfm?country=2901&year=2004&page=0&view=mof&pf Freedom House's Burma ratings]}}
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090729173430/http://www.minorityrights.org/3546/briefing-papers/minorities-in-burma.html Minorities in Burma]}} and [http://www.minorityrights.org/1022/reports/burma-myanmar-time-for-change.html Burma: Time for Change] by Minority Rights Group International
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928095226/http://www.shanland.org/resources/bookspub/humanrights/LtoR/index.html/view?searchterm=rape Licence to rape]}}, a report on the Burmese military regime's use of sexual violence in Shan State, by The Shan Human Rights Foundation and The Shan Women's Action Network
• [http://www.khrg.org Karen Human Rights Group], Documenting the voices of villagers in rural Burma
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060223173234/http://www.refintl.org/content/country/detail/2922/ Refugees International on Burmese refugees]}}
• [http://www.burmaproject.org/ Burma Project] (Open Society Institute)
• [http://www.freeburmacoalition.org/ The Free Burma Coalition]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050307051309/http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/145/ Censorship in Burma]}}: IFEX
• [http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/16/opinion/edburma.php# Focus on Myanmar] The Boston Globe. 16 November 2005
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060813092842/http://www.burmasolidarity.org/ Burma Labour Solidarity Organisation]}}
• [http://burma.ahrchk.net Asian Human Rights Commission – Burma homepage]
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190517224137/http://ratchasima.net/ Rule of Lords]}} Weekly column on human rights & the rule of law in Burma & Thailand
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20050707084213/http://www.chro.org/ Chin Human Rights Organization]}}
• [http://www.justiceinburma.com Human Rights abuse in Burma reported on by Guy Horton]
• [https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=204190 Burma 2012 Human Rights Report] United States Department of State

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Category:Political prisoners held by Myanmar