Feb. 1 marks the first anniversary of the military takeover in Myanmar. While the armed forces continue to crack down on rebels and protesters, civilian and ethnic armed groups keep up their resistance with guerrilla attacks. Whole villages have been burned to the ground and erased. We analyzed data to show the devastation suffered by Myanmar’s people, landscape and economy over the past year.

topic1

From peaceful protests to armed resistance

In February 2021, citizens took to the streets to protest the military seizure of power, only to see the demonstrations brutally crushed by security forces. Refusing to live in fear, ordinary young people took up arms and began to fight back. Battles between the two sides have continued longer than the military regime likely anticipated.

Protests and armed clashes in chronological order

• Protests
• Armed clashes and explosions

First Phase: February to April 2021
Nationwide protests brutally quelled

The military's power grab prompted protests that quickly spread across the nation. In late February, security forces began cracking down on the demonstrations. Citizens, including government and bank employees, went on strike and set up barricades to resist the soldiers, who responded with violence, causing heavy civilian casualties.

First phase mainly involves peaceful protests, with scattered clashes and explosions

• Protests
• Armed clashes and explosions

Second Phase: May to August 2021
Peaceful protests become hard to organize, COVID-19 also casts shadow

In April, pro-democracy lawmakers and officials who escaped being detained launched a parallel National Unity Government (NUG). But organizing peaceful demonstrations became more challenging under the military’s tight grip. Meanwhile, army collaborators were winding up dead and bombing attacks were rising. Compounding the crisis was the COVID-19 pandemic, which overwhelmed the nation’s health care system, with many dying due to a shortage of oxygen.

Second phase brings a more even mix of protests and armed clashes or explosions

• Protests
• Armed clashes and explosions

Third Phase: September to December 2021
Pro-democracy camp declares armed struggle

On Sept. 7, NUG declared an armed struggle for self-defense. Guerrilla warfare by “People’s Defense Force” units, formed by citizens around the nation, intensified. Armed groups of ethnic minorities in the mountains joined the fray, while the military countered with artillery attacks and air raids. Many houses in villages were set on fire.

Armed clashes or explosions far outstrip protests in third phase

• Protests
• Armed clashes and explosions

topic2

Villages wiped out

Satellite images of Thantlang, a town in Chin State in western Myanmar

The history of civil war in Myanmar is littered with examples of military forces burning down hostile villages. Such attacks are designed to strike fear and prevent counterattacks. With their homes reduced to ashes, residents are forced to take refuge in nearby communities or jungles.
In January 2022, images of houses burning in the western Chin State town of Thantlang circulated on social media. Many of the images were from the local media outlet The Chinland Post.
According to local media reports, more than 100 houses in the town were burned down in three to five days due to an attack by the military.
In October 2021, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF), a group of pro-democracy residents, reportedly attacked military units in Thantlang. It is said that the military shelled the town and later set fire to the houses, by which time many residents had already fled. The CDF is allied with the Chin National Front (CNF), an armed ethnic group.
Arson also occurred in Thantlang in November, when about 50 houses were burned down. Using the latest satellite images provided by U.S. service Planet Labs PBC, Nikkei Asia has confirmed that a total of more than 300 houses in the town were razed.

Satellite photos of Kinma Village

In June, Kinma, a village in the Magway Region, was nearly entirely burned as well. Villagers told local media that, after clashes between military and an armed citizens’ group, soldiers set deserted villages on fire.
But the military claimed that, when their forces arrived in the village to catch terrorists selling explosives and guns, they were attacked. They blamed local “terrorists” for torching homes belonging to members of a political party that supports the military.

topic3

Economy shrinks, distribution networks shrivel

1. Population
Flow of people through Thilawa SEZ down 70%

The Thilawa Special Economic Zone, a 40-minute drive from Yangon, is an industrial park that opened in 2015 with investment from the Japanese government and private sectors. The flow of people in the zone in January 2022 was 70% below that seen in December 2020, before the military takeover. Sources say over 90% of the companies in the industrial park are still operating. It seems, however, that many of the factories have reduced production and the number of people working at these facilities has fallen.

2. Distribution
Flow of people emanating from Thilawa also down

The dots indicate the locations people visited within two weeks after leaving Thilawa in December 2020 and in December 2021. The darker the red, the more people visited the location.
In 2020, many people after leaving Thilawa traveled to Mandalay, the second largest city after Yangon, indicating a large volume of products transported from the industrial park to the city. The traffic in December 2021, however, shows a sharply reduced flow of people. This may be explained by weaker demand in markets as well as higher gasoline prices due to the weakening of Myanmar’s currency, the kyat.

topic4

Shipments into Yangon port down by 63% in spring 2021

Number of commercial ships entering Yangon port

The number of international commercial ships entering Yangon port over the March-May period fell by 63% from a year earlier.
Due to the civil disobedience movement, many officials and port workers were on strike, causing backlogs in customs clearing and cargo handling. The number of commercial vessels entering the port has since recovered, but remains below previous-year levels. In 2021, a total of 111 ships entered the port, down 25% from the year before.

Ports visited by ships before and after entering Yangon port

• Ports where ships made calls before and after visiting Yangon port
• （The darker the red, the more port calls made）

Red dots indicate ports visited by commercial ships before and after entering Yangon. The darker the red, the more ships visited the port. Marine traffic between Yangon and countries like China and India showed no significant change. However, marine traffic between the city and destinations in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan fell.

topic5

Yangon rumbles back to life

People flow heat map for three different dates

Superimposing people flow data for the entire Yangon area, obtained from Orbital Insight’s database, on aerial photos shows dramatic shifts in activity in Myanmar’s largest city. The population is less dense in red areas, and more so in white areas.
The map for January 2021, before the military takeover, shows many areas of high population density, especially along main streets. The map for the end of March, after the military stepped up its crackdown on protests, shows no areas of high population density, indicating that many streets were deserted.
But the map for January 2022 shows a recovery in people flows, with the exception of areas around Myanmar Plaza, a large shopping mall that became the target of a consumer boycott after security guards acted violently against young people who staged a protest on the premises.