According to the United Nations, the number of displaced people has increased by 50 percent in the last six months as fighting intensified.
The number of people in Myanmar forced from their homes due to conflict now exceeds three million, in what the United Nations is calling a “grim milestone” for the country.
According to the UN, the number of displaced people has risen by 50 percent in the past six months as fighting escalated between the military and armed groups trying to overthrow the generals who seized power in a coup in February 2021.
“Myanmar reached a grim milestone this week, as more than 3 million civilians have now been displaced nationwide due to the worsening conflict,” the office of the U.N. resident and humanitarian coordinator for Myanmar said in a statement on Monday.
“In 2024, Myanmar stands on the precipice of a deepening humanitarian crisis, which has worsened since the military takeover in February 2021 and the resulting conflicts in many parts of the country, leaving record numbers of people searching for their homes left for safety.”
Of the three million internally displaced people, more than 90 percent fled the conflict sparked by the coup, the United Nations added.
About half of the displaced people live in the northwestern regions of Chin, Magway and Sagaing, while more than 900,000 live in the southeast. About 356,000 people live in western Rakhine state, where a brutal military crackdown in 2017 caused more than 750,000 mostly Muslim Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh.
Myanmar was plunged into crisis when Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking mass protests that turned into an armed uprising as the military responded with brutal force.
Fighting has intensified since late October last year, when ethnic armed groups allied with anti-coup fighters launched a major offensive in northern Shan and western Rakhine states, overrunning dozens of military outposts and seizing control of several took over important cities near the border with China.
In recent weeks, the military has also battled with ethnic Karen groups for control of Myawaddy, a key trading hub on the border with Thailand.
The United Nations said the worsening conflict has left about 18.6 million people in Myanmar now in need of humanitarian assistance, up 1 million from 2023.
But it says efforts to reach those in need are hampered by “gross underfunding.” It said it had so far received less than 5 percent of the funding needed for humanitarian operations.
“With cyclone season fast approaching, additional resources are needed now to protect the most vulnerable and save lives,” the statement said.
Last year, UN human rights chief Volker Turk accused the military of preventing life-saving humanitarian aid from reaching people in need by creating a web of legal, bureaucratic and financial hurdles.
The generals, who are accused of launching airstrikes on civilians and burning villages, have ignored a five-point peace plan they agreed with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April 2021 that was intended to end the violence.
Nearly 5,000 people have been killed by the military since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, which is monitoring the situation. More than 20,000 people are in custody as Aung San Suu Kyi serves a total of 27 years in prison after a secret military court trial.