World Refugee Day: Worsening Crisis in Burma Demands Urgent Action

For Immediate Release
June 20, 2026

Media contact: Karen Ames, Signal +12193815279

(Washington, D.C., June 20, 2026) On World Refugee Day, the international community must confront the worsening crisis in Burma that demands immediate action. More than 3.7 million people are displaced, and about 20 million are in desperate need of humanitarian aid.

Since the military’s attempted coup, the junta has carried out systematic attacks against civilians, forcing them to flee their homes. Families escaping airstrikes, village burnings, and targeted violence are now struggling to survive in displacement camps throughout the country and along Burma’s borders, where access to food, healthcare, and protection remains dangerously limited.

Humanitarian assistance has not kept pace with the scale of need—and efforts that channel aid through the Burmese military enable the very perpetrators of these atrocities. The junta continues to block, manipulate, and weaponize aid, preventing it from reaching the most vulnerable.

The international community must respond urgently by increasing humanitarian funding, expanding cross-border aid, and ensuring assistance is delivered through trusted local actors and CSOs—not the military junta. These groups are best positioned to reach displaced communities and save lives.

“We must confront an uncomfortable truth: aid channeled through the Burmese military is not humanitarian—it is complicity. Since the attempted coup, the junta has weaponized aid, blocking life-saving support from those fleeing airstrikes and arson. The international community must stop funding the perpetrators and immediately shift support to trusted local actors who are actually saving lives. The people of Burma cannot wait; their survival depends on our courage to act now.”—Myra Dahgaypaw, USCB Board Member

Today, as we stand with Burma’s vulnerable population, we call on the international community and its leaders to act decisively to support those fleeing violence and ensure aid reaches those who need it most.

Download the press release (English)