Four Years Under Military Rule: Myanmar’s Ongoing Struggle for Democracy

on February 5, 2025

On February 1st, Myanmar entered the 4th year of being under the coup d’etat led by Min Aung Hlaing and has continued to suffer from the consequences of the military rule. The political situation is still an ongoing crisis and non-negotiable between the military government and people defence force (PDF) and ethnic groups. There are also high numbers of casualties and refugees almost daily due to the notorious actions of the military government (tatmadaw).

According to the data and statistics, during the 4 years of seizing the power illegally, the military had killed over 6,000 people who opposed the coup, randomly detained over 20,000 political prisoners, abducted young people on streets with the intention of using them as human shields and made ridiculous judicial executions and executed pro-democracy activists. More than 3.4 million people were displaced. The military launched over 7,186 airstrikes to villages where the innocent civilians reside. Various hospitals, schools and religious buildings were also bombed. Additionally, the military has been continuing to commit actions of genocide against ethnic minorities.

While the military remains in control, however, they have been losing ground in many areas to the opposition groups. Apart from the main cities of the country such as Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon, the military has struggled to control the regions in the whole country. Rakhine, Kachin and Shan states are mostly controlled by their respective ethnic armed groups and are no longer in control of the military.

Since February 2024, the military junta has announced the conscription law, including men and women for a minimum of two years. Since then, the junta emphasized to draft only men aged between 18 to 35. However, by the end of the year, they started drafting women as well by compiling lists of conscriptions age women, notifying them as well as having the ward administrators contact them. Despite denying in front of the media that they were preparing to draft women, they proceeded with the conscription. The regime has trained nine batches of the male conscripts, approximately 45,000 recruits.

People of Myanmar have been suffering from the humanitarian crisis under the regime. The junta has blocked humanitarian aid and food, shut down the internet and social media platforms, such as facebook and instagram and plunged the whole country into a blackout. According to the sources, they had also raped and assaulted vulunerable women and burnt down several houses.

Myanmar’s economic condition has declined to 9% of GDP from 2021 to 2024. Inflation and currency depreciation have vigorously occurred. Before the military coup in January 2021, one US dollar was equivalent to 1,330 myanmar kyats, but by 2024, it became 4,550 myanmar kyats per US dollar. Due to the high rate of inflation, prices of the goods increased significantly. As the market prices were higher than ever, the poverty index arose and people could not provide their basic needs. Following the military coup, a large number of businesses were shut down, leading to widespread unemployment.

Many countries, including the US and European Union, have sanctioned the regime , focused mainly on the military related business.The international community has continued to condemn the military coup in Myanmar, which marks its fourth anniversary. Various countries and organizations have expressed their concerns over the ongoing human rights violations and the lack of progress towards restoring democracy. The European Union and United Nations insisted on the regime to release Aung San Su Kyi and other political prisoners.

In addition, several countries have provided humanitarian aid to support the people of Myanmar, who have been severely affected by the political turmoil. The international community remains committed to finding a peaceful resolution and supporting the people of Myanmar in their struggle for democracy.