UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews warned on Wednesday that Myanmar’s ruling military junta escalated violence against civilians in response to resistance victories by pro-democracy and ethnic armed groups. He wrote last week that the junta escalated aerial attacks on villages, obstructed humanitarian aid and announced plans to conscript youths into the military.

According to Andrews, the junta’s attacks impacted Myanmar’s minority Rohingya Muslim community to the largest extent. At least 23 Rohingya passed away in the bombing of a village in Rakhine, Myanmar, and the Rohingya community was not permitted to move to safety after its villages were bombed with heavy artillery and airstrikes. Andrews said that the junta is trying to force Rohingya youth to join its group.

In addition, Andrews expressed concern over the lack of humanitarian aid in Myanmar’s conflict areas. He said that 18.6 million individuals require humanitarian aid in the conflict areas, where humanitarian aid is least available.

Andrews also called on the international community to abstain from supplying weapons to the junta and supporting it financially. He said, “We need to take away the money that the junta requires … to continue its reign of terror … [including] coordinated, focused [and] targeted sanctions.”

Myanmar has been under military rule since the junta overthrew the previous democratically elected government in 2021. On June 30, 2023, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that the human rights situation in Myanmar had deteriorated to “alarming levels.” Furthermore, the UN office stated that urgent and concrete steps were necessary to ensure the essential needs of people in Myanmar were met. On June 21, 2023, Andrews called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)—which Myanmar is a member of—to address the dire human rights situation in Myanmar that ongoing violence led to.