The Hidden Crisis: Disability Rights in Post-Coup Myanmar
13 November 2025
Summary
The military coup in Myanmar made living with a disability not just a challenge but, for many, a fight for survival. Important, albeit slow, progress made by the previous civilian government to establish and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities ground to a halt. The junta has attacked, tortured and executed persons with disabilities, imprisoned disability rights advocates, and impeded access to medical supplies and assistive devices. Persons with disabilities have become even more isolated and impoverished. The greatest disabler of persons with disabilities in Myanmar remains the social, cultural, political and physical barriers that are pervasive throughout the country. Stigma and discrimination have become a source of isolation, dependence and distress. Among the leading drivers of stigma are harmful interpretations of the concept of karma, by which physical or mental impairments are believed to be linked to transgressions committed in a past life. Depression and attempts at suicide are not uncommon among persons with disabilities who internalize these beliefs. As a distracted world fixes its attention on other crises and conflicts, the situation of persons with disabilities in Myanmar has become a hidden crisis within a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe. Guaranteeing the rights of persons with disabilities in Myanmar will require a broad, robust and sustained campaign to overturn entrenched stigmas, end discriminatory practices, reform inadequate legal frameworks, and establish the rule of law. Ultimately, ensuring human rights for all in Myanmar, including persons with disabilities, will require bringing the military junta’s oppression to an end. It is imperative that the international community mount a stronger, more coordinated and principled campaign to isolate the junta and support the leaders and institutions building the foundation for a democratic and rights-respecting nation.
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