Attachments
IOM Vision
IOM, in coordination with humanitarian and development partners, seeks to support the people of Myanmar through the provision of essential and life-saving multi-sectoral assistance to crisis-affected populations, while building local capacities for response and recovery. Recognizing the complex mobility dynamics and cross-border implications of the crisis, IOM aims to provide data and analysis on mobility and needs to the wider humanitarian community and will continue to coordinate to ensure that preparedness actions and targeted response capacities are in place and strengthened.
Context analysis
Over the last three years, the people of Myanmar have continued to face significant economic, political, and social crises.
Conflict-related displacement continues to increase, with approximately 2.6 million people having to flee their homes as of mid-December 2023, including 306,200 people in situations of protracted displacement from before 2021 (OCHA, 2023).
The recent escalation of conflict in Shan, Rakhine, Northwest and Southeast has led to the displacement of an estimated 628,000 individuals between October and December 2023 alone (OCHA, 2023). The movement of people and transportation of goods are being heavily curtailed, while interruptions to phone and internet services are impacting humanitarian operations. Humanitarian access and space are increasingly impeded due to several factors - including operational impediment, hard-to-reach rural, mountainous, or jungle areas people are displaced to, and conflict-related insecurity leading to roadblocks, checkpoints and travel restrictions.
Protection risks are grave, with increasing risks of injuries due to explosive remnants of war (ERW), and greater risks of discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and gender-based violence (GBV), compounded by a breakdown of social structures and support systems as well as limited access to the legal system. With ongoing insecurity, disruptions to key services and difficulties in transporting goods, households are struggling to meet their basic needs and to access food, essential medical care, adequate shelter, and key household supplies. Health service provision in Myanmar continues to deteriorate resulting in significant gaps in the delivery and coverage of essential health services. According to the Myanmar Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2024, healthcare access is impeded for 70 per cent of non-displaced stateless households, 40 per cent of IDPs, 34 per cent of IDP returnees and 25 per cent of other crisis-affected people, especially in Rakhine, Kayah, and Kachin. This situation will inevitably lead to increases in levels of preventable disease and higher morbidity and mortality due to the lack of availability of services. Development gains across the country have been lost through the combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict and have been compounded by the impact of natural hazards.
According to the INFORM RISK Index 2024, Myanmar is ranked 11 globally in terms of exposure to natural hazards and capacity to prepare for and respond to hazard events and disasters. Myanmar is a climate change hotspot with a tropical climate, long coastlines, varied topology and a large population in climate-sensitive areas. Cyclones frequently affect the delta region, encompassing main population centres in Yangon and Ayeyarwady, while droughts, intense rainfall and flooding threaten states in the central dry zone, particularly Mandalay. Agriculture, primarily smallholder farming, is Myanmar's largest sector and is highly sensitive to shifts in climatic regimes. The United Nations' Myanmar Information Management Unit estimated that in 2021, 21 million people in Myanmar --- 40 per cent of the population --- were vulnerable to climate change, environmental degradation and disaster risk (MIMU, 2022).
Approximately one in four Myanmar nationals are migrants -- internally or internationally -- and migration flows have increased rapidly since the end of pandemic-related restrictions in mid-2022, with an estimated 40,000 people migrating internationally, both regularly and irregularly, per month for a variety of reasons as of mid-2023. Migration patterns are gendered, with men representing the majority of international migrants (60-70%) although women typically represent at least 50 per cent of internal migrants. While factors driving migration are more mixed and complex than before the COVID-19 pandemic, migration to primarily neighboring countries, and those in the region, continues to represent a key pathway to socioeconomic resilience and poverty reduction for large proportions of the population, through enabling access to decent work and livelihood diversification, and facilitating flows of financial and human capital -- including large-scale remittances, to areas of origin.