Casualty recording in Myanmar/Burma
Efforts to record information on casualties in Myanmar/Burma have been limited by the impact of successive repressive military governments, opposed to transparency and hostile to human rights activism. Journalists have also faced persecution by the Myanmar/Burma authorities over many decades for attempting to provide independent documentation of the armed conflicts and government actions. In this context, it has been both difficult and dangerous to try to obtain or share information on casualties. The political isolation of Myanmar/Burma’s government and lack of engagement with international entities has also severely limited the ability of independent external observers, such as UN human rights monitors, to access or verify information on casualties.
There have been no state-led initiatives to document fatalities of armed conflict or human rights violations and abuses. Different parties to the armed conflicts in Myanmar/Burma have sometimes issued public statements or reports on casualties. This information is not generally considered reliable as the methodology is not transparent, so cannot be verified.
Civil society casualty records in Myanmar/Burma
Various civil society organisations based inside Myanmar/Burma and internationally have attempted to document victims of human rights violations and conflict. These have been aided in recent years by the rapid development of technology enabling remote and open-source investigation techniques, including use of satellite imagery. New technologies also allow casualty recorders to store sensitive information securely, outside of national borders.
However, many challenges to investigation remain. In areas of high intensity conflict local populations may have been displaced, making it difficult or impossible to trace survivors and witnesses to interview. When traced, witnesses may be reluctant to speak to investigators due to fear of reprisals; investigators and activists also face threats which may inhibit their ability to work effectively. On-site investigations may be further hampered by access restrictions, either imposed by the party controlling the territory or de facto restrictions due to the security conditions.
Furthermore, many human rights organisations focus on documenting specific ‘emblematic’ or particularly egregious cases in detail, for advocacy and accountability purposes, rather than attempting to document all casualties comprehensively. This means that only a limited number of cases are fully documented, and the details are not always made publicly available for security reasons.
Documenting deaths following 2021 coup
In June 2023, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) published a research paper which extensively collated and analysed information on civilian casualties following the 2021 coup. The report relied mosty on data from the Township-based Conflict Monitoring System (TCMS), the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, and the pro-military source USDP. The report highlighted that:
ample multimedia evidence is available to systematically track the number of civilian killings in Myanmar. Much evidence may be found in the social media, where perpetrators often post images, videos, and accounts of their actions. Additionally, traditional media and local news sources have reported a great number of killings, often with a high degree of accuracy. These reports, compiled by local journalists, are available on Facebook, Telegram, and other social media platforms.
Actors from all sides of the conflict have recorded and shared audiovisual materials which evidence unlawful killings and other human rights violations. Some of these are intentionally uploaded and circulated online for propaganda purposes.
United Nations efforts
Various United Nations-mandated entities have been tasked with investigating and documenting human rights violations, including killings, in Myanmar. These include the Special Rapporteur on Myanmar (created by the UN Commission on Human Rights, subsequently the UN Human Rights Council), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, and the Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar. Like many of the civil society programmes mentioned above, these monitoring initiatives typically focus on detailed investigations of limited cases rather than comprehensive coverage. They also keep most information confidential, limiting their potential to contribute to public casualty records. In addition to the obstacles faced by civil society actors, international monitors are frequently denied access or faced with other political obstructions by national authorities in Myanmar, limiting their ability to conduct effective investigations.
Rohingya Crisis documentation
Efforts to document casualties of the Rohingya Crisis faced specific additional challenges. The rapid and large-scale nature of the 2016 – 2017 violence made timely, systematic documentation extremely difficult. Sudden, massive displacement of population led to a loss of vital identity documents and hampered tracing of witnesses. Many families were separated in the process, leading to confusion over the fate of missing persons. Tracing missing relatives was further aggravated by low literacy levels and cultural naming conventions. Destruction of human remains through cremation or burial in mass graves made identification difficult, especially in the absence of sophisticated forensic capacities. Access to the affected region for independent investigators, including journalists, was severely restricted by the national authorities, preventing on-site investigations.
Information on individual casualties
Sources of information about people killed in the armed conflict in Myanmar / Burma:
CHRO is a non-profit organisation registered in the USA but based in the region of Myanmar/Burma. It has been documenting human rights violations resulting from armed conflict, including casualties, since 1995. Its monitoring work focuses on western Myanmar, particularly Chin State, Sagaing Region and Magway Region.
Assistance Association for Political Prisoners Burma (AAPPB)
AAPP was established in 2000 by Burmese exiles in Thailand to work for a free and federal democratic society in Myanmar/Burma. It monitors and documents human rights violations, including conflict-related killings by all parties and other deaths resulting from human rights violations (for example, extrajudicial killings in detention). AAPP regularly publishes statistical reports on deaths as well as detailed information on individual victims.
Since the 2021 coup, AAPP has collected and published detailed information on fatalities in an online database. They use media monitoring and survivor interviews to verify information. As of 30 April 2025, the database contained information on 6,589 individual fatalities.
Myanmar Institute Peace and Security (MIPS)
MIPS is a Myanmar/Burma-based non-governmental organisation which conducts conflict monitoring. It established the Township-based Conflict Monitoring System (TCMS) which collects data on conflict dynamics. A team of trained coders, specializing in specific states and regions, gathers information from open sources, including 66 national and local news outlets and a small number of reliable social media accounts. The TCMS also employs field monitors in several regions to collect and verify further information.
