On the political situation in Myanmar including the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya

B100508/2025

European Parliament resolution on the political situation in Myanmar including the humanitarian crisis of the Rohingya

(2025/2986(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolutions on Myanmar and on the situation of the Rohingya,

– having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 2669 (2022) of 21 December 2022,

– having regard to the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) on the situation in Myanmar, adopted at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders’ Meeting in Jakarta on 24 April 2021,

– having regard to the ‘ASEAN Leaders’ Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus’, adopted in Kuala Lumpur on 26 October 2025,

– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union,

– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Geneva Conventions,

– having regard to the UN Security Council statements on Myanmar, and UN General Assembly Resolution 75/287 on the situation in Myanmar adopted on 18 June 2021,

– having regard to Rule 136(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas the military of Myanmar, known as the Tatmadaw, overthrew the elected civilian government in February 2021 and continues to commit widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law and perpetrate widespread crimes that may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes; whereas these include killings, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, displacement, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence, torture and air strikes; whereas violence is indiscriminately directed against civilians, particularly anti-coup opponents and ethnic and religious minorities, including Rohingya people;

B. whereas Myanmar’s military has delegated nominal control to a civilian-led interim government; whereas junta leader Min Aung Hlaing remains acting President;

C. whereas the junta has intensified its repression, including arbitrary arrests, torture, enforced disappearances, sexual and gender-based violence, and the use of air strikes against civilian populations;

D. whereas Myanmar’s junta has stated that it will hold general elections in late 2025 and early 2026; whereas the latest census in late 2024 covered only 145 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, being areas controlled by the junta, leaving out millions of people in areas held by resistance groups; whereas elections are planned to take place only in these areas controlled by the junta;

E. whereas according to Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, 6 800 people have been killed in Myanmar since the military coup and 22 000 are detained as political prisoners;

F. whereas military abuses and the escalating conflict have internally displaced more than 3.5 million people and left around 20 million in need of humanitarian assistance;

G. whereas humanitarian access has been heavily restricted by the junta, severely worsening food insecurity, disease and the impact of recent natural disasters;

H. whereas on 29 July 2025 the junta enacted the Law on the Prevention of Obstruction, Disruption and Sabotage of Multiparty Democratic General Elections, which criminalises criticism of the elections by banning all speeches, organising or protests that disrupt any part of the electoral process; whereas violators of this law face up to 20 years in prison or the death penalty;

I. whereas the junta has adopted repressive cybersecurity, counterterrorism and media laws to criminalise dissent, restrict access to information and impose digital censorship;

J. whereas the EU has adopted multiple rounds of targeted restrictive measures against the Myanmar military and its economic interests, including asset freezes, travel bans, an arms embargo, bans on dual-use goods and surveillance equipment, and prohibitions on providing funds or economic resources to listed individuals and entities, with these measures regularly expanded and renewed in response to ongoing atrocities;

K. whereas some EU companies and financial institutions have maintained indirect links with military-owned conglomerates despite the sanctions regime;

L. whereas attacks by the Tatmadaw in 2017 on hundreds of Rohingya villages resulted in an estimated 25 000 deaths and forced at least 740 000 people to flee to Bangladesh;

M. whereas the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar established by the UN Human Rights Council concluded in September 2019 that ‘600 000 Rohingya remaining inside Myanmar face systematic persecution and live under the threat of genocide’;

N. whereas significant accountability measures are being introduced, with the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigating atrocity crimes committed in Myanmar and Bangladesh, and the International Court of Justice having issued provisional measures in the genocide case brought by The Gambia against Myanmar;

O. whereas in November 2024, the ICC Prosecutor requested an arrest warrant for Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, which remains pending before the ICC; whereas impunity for serious violations continues;

P. whereas over one million Rohingya people remain displaced, the majority in Bangladesh, and continue to face persecution, statelessness and severe restrictions on their movement;

1. Strongly condemns the ongoing illegal seizure of power by the military junta, its systematic attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the violation of UN Security Council resolutions and the 5PC;

2. Expresses its unwavering solidarity with the people of Myanmar in their struggle for democracy, dignity and fundamental rights; honours the courage of all those resisting oppression, including ethnic minorities, women, young people and workers; reaffirms its commitment to supporting their aspirations for a just, inclusive and democratic future free from military rule and from external pressure or interference; emphasises that Myanmar’s sovereignty and political trajectory should reflect the aspirations of its citizens;

3. Condemns the junta’s actions since the 2021 coup, including the banning of dozens of political parties and the arbitrary detention of an estimated 30 000 people, who are being held as political prisoners, among them elected representatives, activists, journalists and human rights defenders; denounces the junta’s systematic dismantling of democratic institutions, its suppression of dissent, and the escalating campaign of intimidation and violence aimed at entrenching its illegitimate rule;

4. Expresses deep alarm at the pre-election repression, including attacks on civilians and the detention of around 100 political opponents under a repressive new election law prohibiting all speeches, organising or protests that disrupt any part of the electoral process, with penalties including up to 20 years in prison and the death penalty; calls for the law to be repealed and for the immediate release of all those arbitrarily imprisoned;

5. Calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, journalists, human rights defenders and peaceful protesters arbitrarily detained, including President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi;

6. Reiterates that any future elections must be free and fair and held in accordance with international standards; notes that the current political situation and ongoing conflict and repression are unlikely to ensure these conditions;

7. Takes note of ASEAN’s 2021 5PC regarding the situation in Myanmar, which includes a call for the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar, constructive dialogue among all parties concerned to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people, the appointment of a special envoy of the ASEAN Chair to facilitate mediation of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the ASEAN Secretary-General, for the special envoy’s delegation to visit Myanmar to meet all parties concerned and for ASEAN to be allowed to provide humanitarian assistance;

8. Takes note of the ASEAN Leaders’ Review and Decision on the Implementation of the 5PC, which expresses ‘deep concern over the conflicts and dire humanitarian situation in the country as well as the lack of substantive progress in the implementation of the 5PC’, denounces ‘the continued acts of violence in Myanmar against civilians, public facilities, and civilian infrastructure’, and urges ‘all parties involved to take concrete action to immediately halt indiscriminate violence, denounce any escalation, exercise utmost restraint, ensure the protection and safety of all civilians’ in order to create a ‘conducive environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and inclusive national political dialogue’ and to ensure ‘progress on the implementation of the 5PC in its entirety, with the sole objective of restoring peace, stability, democracy, through a Myanmar-owned and -led comprehensive political resolution’;

9. Emphasises the statement by Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, that the junta has violated the 5PC and that ‘elections cannot be free, fair or credible when held amid military violence and repression, with political leaders detained and fundamental freedoms crushed’, and in which he calls for the ASEAN leaders to ‘refrain from doing anything to legitimise the junta’s charade, including sending observers to monitor the polls’;

10. Deplores the grave conditions faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar, Bangladesh and across the region, noting that over one million refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps endure worsening conditions, including abductions, sexual violence, and the detrimental effects of reduced aid on health care, education, and food security;

11. Condemns the junta’s lethal obstruction of humanitarian aid; takes note of the Commission’s allocation of EUR 76 million in EU humanitarian aid to address the needs of people affected by the main crises in South and South-East Asia; calls on the Commission to scale up funding, particularly for the Rohingya refugee response and the Myanmar humanitarian plan, and to expand resettlement pathways or alternative visa options; calls for greater engagement with local partners who can operate effectively in restrictive conditions, including by directing assistance through community-based and cross-border networks and supporting unregistered groups;

12. Urges Bangladesh to lift restrictions on access to livelihoods, movement, education and protection for the Rohingya ; calls on Bangladesh, India and all governments in the region to refrain from returning any Rohingya refugees to Myanmar under the current conditions, where their safety and fundamental rights remain at severe risk; insists that any returns of Rohingya refugees must be voluntary, safe, dignified, and conducted under UN supervision, and not through bilateral arrangements with the junta;

13. Calls for the EU and its Member States to maintain the embargo on selling any military, security and surveillance equipment to Myanmar; calls for the EU and its Member States to ensure that any engagement with Myanmar, including by private companies, is subject to strengthened human rights due diligence processes to protect workers’ rights and to avoid any support for the military;

14. Asks the UN Security Council to urgently impose a global arms embargo on Myanmar;

15. Reaffirms its support for credible accountability mechanisms and international investigations into the 2017 genocide and subsequent atrocities;

16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the UN Secretary-General, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (, the National Unity Government of Myanmar, ethnic organisations, and relevant international bodies.