Myanmar junta accused of systematically weaponizing humanitarian aid, new briefing warns

In a new briefing released on 9 December, Progressive Voice (PV) says the Myanmar junta is systematically obstructing, manipulating, and profiting from humanitarian aid while escalating violence against the civilian population and aid workers.

The Myanmar civil society research group describes a pattern of administrative control, physical blockades, and targeted violence that it says has transformed natural disasters and conflict-driven emergencies into unnecessary humanitarian catastrophes.

The 28 March 2025 7.7-magnitude earthquake in central Myanmar that killed at least 4,000 people is cited as the most recent and obvious example. While calling for international assistance, the junta simultaneously restricted access to quake-hit areas, denied travel authorizations, confiscated relief supplies, and imposed invasive registration requirements on humanitarian aid groups and survivors, the briefing relates.

An incident wherein aid bearing the logo of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was diverted to military warehouses in Naypyidaw is recounted. Another incident describes how Australian doctors reported the theft of lifesaving medicines en route to hard-hit areas in Mandalay and Sagaing Regions.

According to the report, these tactics part of the military’s decades-old “four cuts” strategy designed to sever civilian support – food, funds, intelligence, and recruits – to resistance forces.

Since the 2021 coup, the junta has tightened restrictions through laws such as the 2022 Organization Registration Law, which imposes criminal penalties on unregistered humanitarian actors and effectively bans independent operations.

PV documented at least 165 violent incidents targeting humanitarian groups since 2021. These include killings, arrests, intimidation at checkpoints, and the destruction of humanitarian property.

In the six weeks following the earthquake the junta launched roughly 200 airstrikes in the disaster zone, doubling civilian deaths in Sagaing Region and further endangering humanitarian workers.

The briefing warns that international aid routed through junta-controlled systems is vulnerable to diversion. This includes through exchange-rate manipulation in which the junta is able to capture “up to half” the value of incoming assistance. These funds, PV argues, help finance ongoing airstrikes and preparations for the junta’s planned December 2025 election.

PV urges donors to halt engagement with the junta and instead redirect humanitarian funding to local civil society and border-based networks with proven access and community trust. “Channelling aid through junta-linked entities guarantees manipulation, diversion, ineffectiveness, and harm to the people,” Progressive Voice warned.

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