Local and international organizations conducting humanitarian work in Myanmar need to register at the relevant government departments, according to reports in the state-owned media.

Home Affairs Minister Lt-Gen Yar Pyae said during a workshop in Naypyidaw on 14 September that proper registration of NGOs-INGOs is required for their operations to be in legal compliance.

“There are potential misuse of humanitarian organizations for illegal activities, and that INGOs and NGOs need to operate within the bounds of the law during their aid activities,” said the junta minister, referring to the Mutual Evaluations Report published by the Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG), an inter-governmental organization, comprised of 42 members of jurisdictions.

The report of UN human rights office (OHCHR) in June said that Myanmar’s military is killing civilians, destroying food and homes, and keeping the most vulnerable from receiving lifesaving aid.

James Rodehaver, the chief of OHCHR’s Myanmar team explained in the report that since the February 2021 coup, the regime have been instilling a “climate of fear” to oppress the civilian population, restricting aid access and using “all means” at their disposal to clamp down on civil society.

Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR Spokesperson, offered a briefing in Geneva on the comprehensive human rights update for Myanmar claiming that intentional obstruction or denial of humanitarian assistance may amount to serious violations of international law.

“The military has operated as if those providing aid are helping those opposed to their rule, rather than respecting their need for protection and facilitating their access and assistance to the civilian population in a time of crisis,” she said.

Shamdasani added that an estimated 1.5 million people have been internally displaced, and approximately 60,000 civilian structures have reportedly been burnt or destroyed, with civilian causalities of at least 3,452 at the hands of the military and its affiliates.