The February 2021 coup in Myanmar triggered a severe humanitarian catastrophe. According to a report from January 2026 published by the Jesuit Refugee Service, 3.6 million internally displaced persons have been registered as a result of the conflict. In the first half of 2026 alone, the military carried out 477 airstrikes against civilians, according to the United Nations.
The junta has waged severe persecution against artists, musicians and filmmakers who support democracy, with detentions, executions and revocation of citizenship. In response to opposition, the military government used the 1982 citizenship law to arbitrarily revoke identity documents from opposition leaders, activists and exiled artists, rendering them de facto stateless.
Yadanar Win, a Myanmar artist living in Marseille, France, was forced to flee in 2021, three months after the coup. "I no longer have my Myanmar documents. I have not been able to see my family since the war began. It would be too risky to return," she explained. As a young artist, she had joined the underground artistic collective New Zero, founded by former political prisoners in Rangoon.
In Europe, Yadanar faced additional obstacles upon arriving in France without a command of the language and navigating complex bureaucratic procedures. "In France, administrative procedures for foreigners are handled by the Prefecture. It is very exhausting, with much uncertainty and confusion about document requirements and a long waiting period," she said. She noted that officials at the Prefecture in southern France were unsure whether Myanmar was actually a country.
Yadanar stated that the community of creative artists from Myanmar in exile remains isolated and overlooked. "There are not many Myanmar artists. There is very little support for Myanmar artists in exile, unlike what happens with those from Palestine or Ukraine, countries with much better coverage in the international media," she told Global Voices.
