MyanmarMyanmar’s ruling junta has been actively suppressing information about a severe food crisis in the country by pressuring researchers not to collect hunger-related data and warning aid organizations against publishing findings, a media investigation has revealed. Over the past two years, junta officials have cautioned senior aid workers against releasing evidence that millions of people are experiencing acute hunger, sources familiar with the situation said.
Highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), the world’s top hunger monitoring organization, recently removed Myanmar’s hunger assessment from its global map. The decision was driven by concerns for the safety of researchers. Additionally, three detailed IPC analyses highlighting Myanmar’s worsening food crisis were never made public to protect those collecting and analyzing data.
Media spoke to over 30 aid workers, researchers, diplomats, and U.N. officials, most of whom declined to speak on record or share information, citing fear of retaliation. Since the military coup in 2021, Myanmar has been engulfed in widespread turmoil, with protests escalating into armed conflicts. According to an IPC report reviewed by media, around 14.4 million people – a quarter of the population – faced acute food insecurity between September and October 2023. The report estimates this figure could rise to 15 million by mid-2024.
The secrecy around hunger data has significantly hindered fundraising efforts for humanitarian aid, as organizations cannot publish findings to demonstrate the severity of the crisis. Myanmar’s U.N. humanitarian information remains critically underfunded, with only 34% of its nearly $1 billion target met this year.
The junta has also obstructed aid distribution and seized food supplies, exacerbating the crisis. In Rakhine state, where violence has surged following a ceasefire breakdown between the military and the Arakan Army, the junta blocked food and medical supplies to severely malnourished children during a cholera outbreak. This dire situation has fueled an exodus of 70,000 refugees to Bangladesh this year, almost 50% higher than previously reported. The U.N. Development Program has warned that Rakhine is teetering on the edge of “acute famine,” placing over two million people at risk of starvation.
Tom Andrews, the U.N.’s special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, accused the junta of systematically restricting aid access, contributing to the spread of diseases and putting hundreds of thousands of people “on the brink of starvation.” The British embassy in Yangon echoed this, stating the junta’s rule has devastated agriculture and food supply, leaving millions hungry and children malnourished.
Globally, the hunger crisis is worsening, with 282 million people in 59 countries facing acute food insecurity last year. Media found that governments in countries like Ethiopia, Yemen, and Sudan have similarly blocked or manipulated hunger data, stalling relief efforts. Myanmar’s junta has privately criticized hunger reports, asserting they do not want to be compared to conflict zones like Ukraine or Gaza, and publicly denies blocking humanitarian aid.
On the ground, stories of desperation continue. Juhara Begum, a heavily-pregnant woman who fled Rakhine, recounted her family’s struggle to survive on leaves and vegetation, resorting to giving her toddler banana stems to suck on to ease his hunger. Similarly, Kasmida Begum, who fled with her husband and children, shared that her own hunger left her unable to breastfeed her baby, asking, “Where will milk be produced from if I am hungry all the time?”
