On the fifth anniversary of the military coup in Myanmar on February 1st

Osnabrück/Berlin, January 30, 2026 – On February 1, 2021, the military staged a coup against the democratically elected government of Myanmar. The junta established a reign of terror and has since been violently cracking down on opposition members and ethnic minorities. Largely unnoticed by the German and international public, a bloody civil war has been raging in Myanmar for five years. 

At least 50,000 people have been killed, the number of political prisoners has risen to 30,000, and 3.5 million people are internally displaced. Although the military government is estimated to control only up to 40 percent of the country, the weaker its position becomes, the more brutally it strikes back: last year alone, the army carried out more than 2,100 airstrikes, bombing villages, schools, clinics, and refugee camps without warning, indiscriminately killing children, women, and the elderly.  

Partner organizations of the children's rights organization Terre des Hommes are supporting children and their families in this situation, especially in the refugee camps along the border between Myanmar and Thailand. "Our partners are helping people there with the essentials: food parcels, medicine, clean water, and emergency hygiene kits. And they are ensuring that children traumatized and desperate from the bombings receive psychosocial support and makeshift schooling," says Joshua Hofert, spokesperson for the board of Terre des Hommes . 

“Children always suffer the most in war. It is particularly appalling that, according to the United Nations, around 1,500 children have been recruited as soldiers and sent to the front lines since 2023. We must not accept this perfidious violation of children's rights. It is crucial now to increase international pressure on the junta, to enforce the arms embargo already adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2021, and to achieve even greater impact with stricter economic sanctions such as a boycott of aviation fuel deliveries. Furthermore, the German government should provide additional funds for humanitarian aid so as not to abandon the people of Myanmar now,” said Joshua Hofert.