"Context: The State Administration Council (SAC) announced a six-month extension to the State of Emergency (for the third time) on 1st February 2023 which implicitly acknowledges that they do not have sufficient control of the nation to administer the Generals’ proposed sham elections. Martial law was also expanded in 37 additional townships where armed resistance is strengthening across Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Tanintharyi Regions as well as Kayah, Karen, Mon and Chin States. Since the February 2021 coup, the SAC has killed over 3,800 civilians, detained, and imprisoned over 24,000 human rights defenders and displaced at least 1.5 million people. Economic conditions stabilised slightly during the first half of 2023 compared to deep contraction in 2021 and volatility in 2022. However, electricity outages became even more pronounced and logistical constraints associated with conflict continue to raise costs and investment remains negligible. The shift away from a rules- and market-based system continues to enable privileged access to import licences, foreign exchange, and state contracts for SAC affiliated businesses. Inequalities in welfare have been exacerbated with 48% of farming households reporting acute food security concerns and conditions are particularly severe in conflict-affected areas. Tropical Cyclone Mocha wreaked a path of destruction through Rakhine State and Sagaing Region in May, which displaced or otherwise affected over a million people. However, restrictions imposed by the SAC on the delivery of life-saving aid highlighted an even greater challenge. Given humanitarian access to communities affected by a natural disaster was obstructed, the prospects appear dim that negotiations with the junta will lead to a meaningful response to the complex emergency elsewhere. As the Myanmar Armed Forces (MAF’s) operational control of rural areas reduces, its capacity to sustain light artillery units in contested areas has decreased. However, MAF airstrikes were launched in 40 townships across Myanmar during the first quarter of 2023, which reflects the widespread and systematic scale of indiscriminate military attacks in violation of humanitarian law. Such violations of international humanitarian law have been widespread and gained prominence since June 2023 as over 9,000 civilians have fled from air strikes in Me Se and Shadaw Townships into Thailand. At the end of June 2023, UNHCR estimated there were 472,600 internally displaced persons in southeastern Myanmar, which represents an increase of 133,600 people since the end of 2022.3 These are generally considered conservative figures with civil society estimates approximately double the UN’s assessment. UNOCHA reports that USD 292 million was raised for UN Myanmar’s Humanitarian Response Plan in 2022. A total of 4.4 million people were assisted through these formal mechanisms but 60% of beneficiaries were in Yangon or Rakhine State and only 748,000 were internally displaced persons (IDPs). Overall, informal border-based mechanisms are estimated to have reached double that number of IDPs with only 10% of the HRP funding in 2022. The lack of proportionality in funds allocated for border-based agencies remains the primary obstacle to reinforcing the resilience of the most vulnerable communities suffering from the SAC’s commission of atrocities in ethnic administered areas. More than 20,000 people crossed into Thailand during this period. New arrivals, in accordance with Thai Policy, were disallowed official access to the existing nine refugee camps, with many instead kept in tightly controlled “temporary safety areas” (TSA). Numerous concerns have been raised regarding the adequacy of these TSAs as suitable living spaces for individuals. The restricted access to these areas has posed significant challenges in ensuring adequate protection and the provision of humanitarian aid. Many of the newly arrived individuals have been pressured into returning, fully aware that they will not be granted long-term refuge in Thailand. Thailand held a general election on May 14th. The Move Forward Party received the majority share of the vote at 38%, yet ended up excluded from the eventual ruling coalition, led by Pheu Thai, which received 29% of the vote. After a long series of political negotiations, Pheu Thai’s candidate for PM, Srettha Thavisin was elected Prime Minister on 22nd August. 87,114 refugees remain in nine camps in Thailand, representing a 7.5% increase for the sixmonth period. In these camps the COVID-19 vaccination programme continued and by the end of June 57% of refugees over 18 years of age had received at least one dose, with 50% of refugees being fully vaccinated. By end June there were 7,434 cumulative cases of COVID19 among encamped refugees, with 43 deaths from Coronavirus-related illness..."