Reporters hold banners as they attend a demonstration march for press freedom. Yangon, Myanmar. 7 January 2014.  Editorial credit: Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images

Myanmar

Myanmar’s already-stalled democratic transition was derailed in February 2021, when the military seized control of the government, arresting dozens of senior civilian officials and preventing the newly elected parliament from convening. The National League for Democracy (NLD), which won a sweeping victory in the November 2020 elections, has led a broad-based opposition to the takeover, organizing a country-wide Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) as well as an armed resistance, and serving as the backbone of a self-declared National Unity Government (NUG), which exercises partial or effective control over a growing swathe of territory outside major population centers. Protesters, journalists, activists, and ordinary people risk criminal charges, detention, and lethal violence for voicing dissent against the military. Millions of people remain displaced or have been newly displaced by violence, including hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, a mostly Muslim ethnic minority

Freedom on the Net 2023

Freedom on the Net — Myanmar Country Report

Myanmar is rated Not Free in Freedom on the Net, Freedom House's comprehensive study of internet freedom around the globe. 

Iranian people in Izmir protest the death of Mahsa Amini by the morality police in Iran.

Freedom in the World — Myanmar Country Report

Myanmar is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2023, Freedom House's annual study of political rights and civil liberties worldwide.

Our Work in Myanmar

Myanmar Rohingya refugee woman shout slogans protest against the repatriation programme at the Unchiprang Rohingya refugee camp in Teknaf, Bangladesh. Photo by K M Asad/LightRocket via Getty Images.

Freedom House has been supporting civil society organizations in Myanmar since 2013.  

To learn more about Freedom House programs in Asia, visit our Asia-Pacific program page. 

FIW Junior Fellow 2021-22 Alessandra Restifo

Alessandra Restifo

2021-2022 Freedom in the World Junior Fellow for the Americas

FIW Junior Fellow 2021-22 Matthew Barak

Matthew Barak

Research Associate

FIW Junior Fellow 2021-22 Alex Dent

Alex Dent

2021-2022 Freedom in the World Junior Fellow for Africa