Myanmar Junta Using Starvation as Weapon: UN Envoy

Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun accuses military of engineering a food crisis by blocking aid and destroying farmland to force public submission, warning 15.2 million will face food insecurity

Staff Reporter

Oct 19, 2025, 05:15 AM2 min read

Myanmar Junta Using Starvation as Weapon: UN Envoy

Intervention by Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar to the United Nations/ Collected

Myanmar's military junta is systematically using starvation as a weapon to force the public into submission, and the international community must not stand idly by, warned Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations.

The ambassador delivered the stark warning during an interactive dialogue on the right to food at the UN's Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, held at the UN Headquarters in New York on October 17.

According to Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, the military junta is deliberately engineering a food crisis by blocking domestic and international aid, restricting humanitarian access, and destroying farmland and agricultural equipment through airstrikes and heavy artillery. "The right to food is being systematically denied in Myanmar," he stated. He urged the international community to stop the junta from "using starvation as a method to force the people of Myanmar to surrender", reported by Khit Khit Media.

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The ambassador highlighted the devastating consequences of the illegal military coup in February 2021, which has weaponized the economy and plunged the nation into hunger and poverty. He pointed to dire projections that an estimated 15.2 million people will face emergency food insecurity by 2025, while 3.5 million have already been internally displaced.

While its people suffer, the junta operates like a corporate entity, diverting state revenues to purchase weapons and ammunition. Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun accused the regime of allowing its cronies to control the flow of essential goods, enabling them to profit from manufactured scarcity.

This "perfect storm" of crises has left the most vulnerable including women, children, internally displaced families, the Rohingya, and urban populations facing a combination of food insecurity, malnutrition, health emergencies, and insufficient income.

"The exploitation, impunity, and brutality of the military must end," the ambassador declared. He issued an urgent call for immediate, coordinated, and effective action from the United Nations and the international community to save lives and restore democracy in Myanmar.

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