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Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar is on

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the brink of becoming a failed state.

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For three years, the nation of 54 million

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people has been embroiled in an

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escalating civil war between the military

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junta and hundreds of pro-democracy militias,

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ethnic armies and local defense forces.

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Civilians are suffering. The United Nations estimates that

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more than 18.5 million people desperately

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need humanitarian assistance. Thousands are

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fleeing the country. A

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2021 military coup brought to

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an abrupt end Myanmar's move

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toward democracy. The widespread

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peaceful protests that followed were put

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down by the junta with a

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brutal crackdown. Scores of opposition protesters

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fled the cities for the mountainous

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jungles that make up much of

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the country. Pro-democracy

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militias and armed ethnic groups united

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with the common goal of overthrowing

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the junta. Last month, rebel

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forces took control of a key

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economic hub that was responsible for

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$1 billion in trade last year.

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It's among the latest in a long

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line of junta defeats over the last

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six months that has left resistance groups

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in control of a significant part of

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the country. Earlier, I spoke with Burmese-American

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journalist, A. Minh Taunt, about the current

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situation in Myanmar. Five E.K.

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has really escalated in Myanmar since October of 2023,

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where Myanmar saw large resistance

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forces really coalesce and form

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an ally ship and launch

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a coordinated attack against the

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military on multiple fronts. And

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since then, major gains were made, especially

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along the border regions, along major trade

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routes, and in several cases, trade

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towns and trade routes were able to be shut

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down. Although the military

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has regained control of some of these

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areas, they have been dramatically

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weakened. Who are these groups that

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are fighting the junta military? Who

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are they and what do they want? So,

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there's various groups that are fighting the military. There are

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what are called ethnic armed organizations,

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which are are made of ethnic

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groups that were essentially thrown into the

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country of Myanmar together for the first

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time through British colonization, but

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really have a long history

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of being individual, political entities.

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And they've been fighting for independence

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in some cases, or more legal

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rights in other cases, and

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in some cases, this complete separation from

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the country of Myanmar proper. And

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in addition to that, there are also multiple

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groups that have come

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to being since the coup, mostly

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made out of farmers and students

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and other young people from the

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ethnic majority group who, since the

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coup, have turned towards violent revolution

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as a way to negate

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the effects of the coup and try to

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turn the country back towards democracy. Is

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there enough common ground among these groups

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beyond just defeating the

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military junta, that if

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they were to prevail, would they be able to establish

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a government? Right now, there

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is a common enemy in the military, but it's

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unclear that this, the military,

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were to fall tomorrow, that these groups

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would be able to coalesce into a

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form of government or even some sort

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of interim government in order to lead

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the country back into a unified whole.

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On one hand, there is a civilian

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shadow government that has formed since the coup,

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but they don't necessarily have the buy-in of

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a number of ethnic groups and

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ethnic organizations that felt that

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their parties, even when the civilian

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government was in control, that

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they really respected and saw various

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ethnic groups as their equals. So

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this fight has been going on for about

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three years. What's been the effect

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on the civilian population? The

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UN Refugee Agency estimates that over 2.5

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million people have now been displaced internally

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in the country since the beginning of

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the coup and over 100,000 people have

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been displaced into

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neighboring countries. And that's, of

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course, not counting nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees

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who were displaced in previous waves of war.

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military by the way. How much

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support are the displaced people, not

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only within Myanmar, but who fled

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Myanmar? How much support are they

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getting? So various humanitarian organizations are

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trying to still function in Myanmar

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and distribute aid. Unfortunately, in order

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for them to operate, they are

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forced to essentially collaborate with the

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military. And in many cases, the

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military prevents these organizations from being

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able to go to certain areas,

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citing security concerns to distribute aid.

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The surrounding countries, Thailand, India, Laos,

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and China don't provide very much aid

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to refugees, if any at all. Thailand

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does not recognize refugees as a class.

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The same holds true largely in India as well,

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where the Modi administration is not happy with

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the amount of refugees that are coming into

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the country. Bangladesh has

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really closed its borders as much as it

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can to additional refugees from Myanmar. And

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the border along Laos and China has also

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been really on guard since COVID and has

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largely not been trying to accept refugees as

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well. The United Nations has

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described the human rights situation in

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Myanmar as a never-ending nightmare. Who's

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committing these? Are these one side or the

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other that's committing these human rights violations? So

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according to monitoring organizations, the vast,

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vast majority of human rights abuses

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are being committed by the military.

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The military is engaging

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in extrajudicial killings. Over 50,000

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people have been killed since

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the coup, either

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through torture, extrajudicial

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killings, airstrikes, war,

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arson. The military also

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engages in airstrikes on largely protective

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places like schools, hospitals, and religious

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sites. There's a weaponization

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of arson, burning down of

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entire villages, rape as a weapon

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of war. And lately, we're also

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seeing a lot of forced recruitment by

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the military. On the other hand, we

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are also seeing human rights abuses from

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the resistance side. There have

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been reports of extrajudicial killings,

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especially of people who have been

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accused of being informants. for the military

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or people who are seen as

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collaborators who are not necessarily armed

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combatants. What's the road ahead

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look like? Is it possible that one side

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or another could prevail or is this just

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going to be a deadlock? So

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the fighting has been going on for three years, but

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we've really seen a lot of big moves

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in the last six months, despite the fact

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that the conscription law has existed for many

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years at this point. This is the first

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time in history that it's been used. And

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analysts have taken this as a sign that this

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means that the military is quite desperate to try

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to fill up strength, especially as they're starting to

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lose more and more battles. So

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what started off as largely

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young, untrained people, many of whom grew

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up in cities and have never touched

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the weapon, people who were largely farmers

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using homemade weapons and commercial

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drones, have now turned into

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pretty battle-hardened troops who have

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gotten their hands onto military

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weapons. A. Mintant, thank you

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very much. Thank you for having me.