Myanmar Spring Chronicle – August 22 Highlights
(MoeMaKa, August 23, 2025)
A period overwhelmed by war, death, starvation, and physical/psychological trauma
Each morning at dawn and evening after work, people scroll through social media only to be met with devastating news:
– Civilians killed by airstrikes
– Mass displacements due to fighting and advancing military columns
– Arrests of anti-junta activists
– Defections or captures of junta troops during clashes
– Restrictions on trade and transport routes driving up costs
– Rising commodity prices in towns and cities
– Reports of heinous crimes, including murders and looting
This has become the daily reality in Myanmar. The country’s situation goes far beyond what the word “crisis” can convey.
While cities like Yangon, Mandalay, Naypyidaw, Taunggyi, Mawlamyine, and Pathein may not directly experience deaths or destruction from the fighting, residents still face skyrocketing prices and increased crime.
In remote and conflict-affected areas under blockade—cut off from trade, medicine, and fuel—life has become a daily struggle. In recent months, reports have emerged of families committing collective suicide, feeling trapped and hopeless.
Among those living in these areas, some with financial means or family networks in safer cities have managed to relocate. But for the poor and socially isolated, especially daily wage workers, there is no escape—they’re trapped in worsening conditions.
The number of civilians killed by airstrikes and armed clashes now regularly hits double digits daily, and some days even reach triple digits. A recent report from a research organization stated that over 15,000 people have died across Myanmar due to conflict since the military coup on February 1, 2021. While the exact accuracy of this figure is uncertain, other data suggests Myanmar ranks fourth in the world in terms of conflict-related deaths.
Clear perpetrators are responsible for these atrocities:
– The military junta is behind the airstrikes.
– Some smaller-scale killings are committed by other armed groups.
According to UN records, over 3.6 million people have been displaced by war. The losses include not only lives and property but also mental health, education, healthcare, and livelihoods. These impacts go beyond what a single individual or group can bear; they demand a broader sense of responsibility.
Due to soaring prices, many can no longer afford nutritious food or basic medicines. As a result, people are dying prematurely—not from war wounds but from malnutrition and preventable illness. These outcomes stem from junta trade restrictions, economic blockades, and extortion by armed groups along transport routes.
During this civil war, poverty has deepened. The population living in hardship is growing, while an elite class is exploiting the chaos for profit. In cities like Yangon and Mandalay, IDP populations are growing. Complaints rise about inflated food prices—while at the same time, wealthy patrons spend tens of thousands of kyats nightly in clubs and bars.
As people suffer from war, a small class of war profiteers has emerged:
– Arms smugglers and dealers
– Brokers exploiting military conscription for bribes
– Corrupt officials and local authorities enriching themselves through extortion and illegal detentions
These individuals have turned war into a business, trading power for money.
There is no robust system in place to fully measure the losses from this war—no way to collect data comprehensively across Myanmar’s vast regions and populations. The conflict is indiscriminate; there is no “neutral” status. If someone doesn’t support you, they’re labeled the enemy or an accomplice of the enemy.
Now entering its fifth year, the coup and civil war have inflicted widespread suffering—irreparable physical and psychological wounds, starvation, deepening poverty, and systematic violations of human dignity. It’s deeply troubling that much of this will remain unrecorded—out of reach for media or historians to fully document.