The military junta’s sixty-day campaign period for its illegitimate election began on 28 October, ushering in a new period of uncertainty and restrictions of speech. On 31 October, the junta announced it had arrested 88 people for criticizing the election under a law passed in July 2025 granting it wide-reaching authority to punish ‘disruption’ of the electoral process. The specific grounds for most of the arrests were unclear but included in the junta’s count were two directors of a junta propaganda film who reportedly ‘liked’ a local media outlet’s social media post. Junta-aligned media also reported that at least one election candidate had been detained by an unnamed resistance organization.

Sources: The Irrawaddy, Article 19, Al Jazeera, International IDEA

A report based in satellite data has documented a surge of unregulated rare earth, gold, silver and other mines, predominantly in Myanmar. Unregulated mining has increased significantly since the 2021 military coup, which both decimated the country’s formal economy and fractured effective control and oversight of natural resources between the military junta, the legitimate democratic government and ethnic armed organizations. The mines appear to be leaching hazardous minerals and chemicals into rivers that provide water to much of Southeast Asia, and unsafe levels of arsenic have been found in rivers in Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The work in unlicensed and unregulated mining operations is also hazardous for workers, who suffer from respiratory issues, the risk of collapse and flooding, and a lack of recourse when accidents or labour rights violations occur.

Sources: Stimson Center, Yale Environment 360

Myanmar’s military junta announced it would hold a national election on 28 December 2025, the first since it seized power in a coup in February 2021. The move is part of the junta’s effort to legitimize its claim on power through what the United Nations, the National Unity Government, and other domestic and international observers agree is a sham election. Given the lack of international legitimacy and the limited control the junta exercises over the country, the impact on the country’s politics and security are highly unpredictable and potentially volatile. While the junta announced an end to the national state of emergency, which it had used to rule by emergency decree since the coup, it also announced 63 local states of emergency, and there are no public indications of a meaningful return to constitutional rule. An additional law passed on 30 July punishes any ‘disruption’ of the electoral process, broadly defined to include speech or distributing critical texts, with three to ten years imprisonment.

Sources: France24, The Diplomat (1), The Irrawaddy, British Broadcasting Corporation, The Diplomat (2), Associated Press, International IDEA 

A 7.9 magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar on 28 March, with an epicentre in the northern Sagaing region. At least 3,700 people died across the country and thousands more were injured. The total number of casualties remains uncertain, as the military junta has obstructed aid workers and humanitarian assistance from reaching areas not under its control and restricts the entry of international journalists to the country. The National Unity Government and some ethnic armed organizations announced humanitarian ceasefires on 29 March to ensure aid and relief efforts could reach those affected. The junta initially reciprocated on 2 April but began carrying out airstrikes and artillery attacks within 24 hours, killing dozens in the week following the earthquake.

Sources: British Broadcasting Corporation, The Guardian, The Irrawaddy, The Diplomat, International IDEA

 Myanmar’s military junta enacted a new cybersecurity law on 1 January, which ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights described as “draconian legislation [that] is a calculated attempt by the junta to suppress dissent, stifle free expression, and violate the privacy of Myanmar’s citizens.” The law includes a wide range of penalties for digital platforms and users who circulate “disinformation” or “rumours” and requires the former to keep the names and personal details of users on file for authorities. It allows the junta to shut down any internet services on the grounds of state security, mandates up to six months in prison for distributing “inappropriate” information or for installing or using an “unauthorized” virtual private network (VPN), and specifies that it applies to Myanmar citizens abroad.

Sources : The Diplomat, ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, The Irrawaddy