On the morning of February 1, 2021, Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi (Nobel Peace Prize in 1991), President Win Myint and other leaders of the ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were arrested and detained by the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s army.

In fact, the Tatmadaw contested the 2020 legislative elections, won like the previous ones by the National League for Democracy, requesting the intervention of the army to resolve the ongoing political crisis. After the election commission denied the allegations, the armed forces declared a year-long state of emergency, handing over power to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces Min Aung Hlaing.

The coup has sparked peaceful protests across Myanmar, where democracy is perceived as a hard-won value after decades of dictatorship. The army is repressing the demonstrations with the use of violence. According to the United Nations, in the first two months of protests alone (February and March 2021) more than 500 people were killed by the Burmese armed forces. Civilians and vulnerable groups such as women and children are among the victims. The UN Human Rights Council is currently investigating the serious violation of human rights by the army during the clashes.

KMSS International (already a local partner of Doctors for Peace in the Myanmar-Covid-19 Emergency project) is sending documentation material on the emergency situation of the population of the Hpa-Pun area, in the State of Karen, on the border with Thailand. Aerial bombardments by the Burmese army directly on villages have pushed more than 20,000 people to flee, including families with elderly people and children.

About 3,500 people are attempting to flee across the border into Thailand; the others are seeking refuge in the thick of the forest that covers the area.

In the jungle, displaced people are facing deprivation and severe suffering caused by lack of food, drinking water, medicines.