The Billion Dollar Death Trade: The International Arms Networks That Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar - Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar (May 2023)

One billion USD in international arms used against the people of Myanmar

The 11 April 2023 attack on Pazigyi Village in Sagaing Region that killed ~170 people (including 40 children) demonstrates the impact of unfettered arms trade to the Myanmar military.

Russia supplied the Yak-130 aircraft that dropped the bombs and has supplied Mi-35 type helicopters that were used to gun down civilians. The bombs, machine guns and ammunition likely relied on raw materials supplied by private entities operating from Singapore, China, and Thailand.

Since the coup, the Myanmar military has imported at least $1 billion USD worth of arms, dual use goods, and—to support the military’s domestic arms manufacturing—raw materials and manufacturing equipment.

Nearly all trade to the Myanmar military in arms and associated goods comes from entities operating in the Russian Federation, Singapore, China, India, and Thailand.