Refugee Crises in 2026: Ukraine and Rohingya

The Russia-Ukraine war remains an active, high-casualty armed conflict, with recent reporting showing continued civilian harm from long-range missile and drone strikes. ACLED reported that Russian strikes killed at least 43 civilians across multiple Ukrainian regions during 21–27 February 2026, and the Institute for the Study of War reported that Russia launched 115 drones against Ukraine on 24–25 February 2026. Civilian protection, energy, transport, and housing infrastructure remain major concerns, and the UN continues to verify civilian casualties while noting that confirmed figures likely understate the true toll because some incidents cannot be immediately verified or occur in occupied areas. Humanitarian and displacement needs remain large, with millions of Ukrainians still displaced inside the country and abroad, and fighting and strikes continue to affect regions including Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Sumy, Vinnytsia, and Zaporizhzhia.

Myanmar’s post-coup conflict remains a severe, multi-front civil war, with the junta still under pressure from the People’s Defence Force, the National Unity Government, and multiple ethnic armed organizations. Recent reporting cited by the Council on Foreign Relations says the military government controls about 21% of territory while rebel forces and ethnic armies hold about 42%, and the United Nations and Human Rights Watch report more than 3 million people displaced, with the 2026 Human Rights Watch estimate at least 3.6 million internally displaced. The humanitarian situation remains extremely acute. Human Rights Watch says more than 15 million people face acute food insecurity, and AP reported in early 2025 that nearly 20 million people needed humanitarian aid and about 3.5 million were internally displaced; Amnesty reported in January 2025 that the junta had killed more than 6,000 people and that more than 20,000 had been arbitrarily detained since the coup. The Rohingya crisis remains unresolved, with Amnesty noting 2024 was the worst year of violence against the Rohingya since 2017 and the conflict in Rakhine continuing to block safe repatriation. The conflict is concentrated in Rakhine, Shan, Kachin, Sagaing, Magway, Mandalay, Karen, and Chin, with continued fighting and airstrikes against civilian infrastructure. UNHCR reported in May 2026 that around 299,000 people had fled Myanmar to neighboring countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Thailand, while Rohingya refugees remain largely in Bangladesh with no safe return in sight.