Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) claims the State Administration Council (SAC) had murdered over a thousand youth since the February 2021 coup.

In a recent report, the NUG’s Ministry of Women, Youth and Children’s Affairs announced that as a result of the massacres committed by the SAC between the coup of the 1st of February, 2021 and the 31st of December, 2022, there have been a total of 2,707 victims.

Of these victims, at least 1,059 are youths, representing some 39% of all victims, the report said.

The Sagaing region has seen the heaviest youth losses with 379 victims, followed by 169 in Mandalay and 160 in Yangon. Furthermore, among the youth victims, 106 are female, and one has yet to be identified.

Youth have been in the forefront of the Spring Revolution that took off in the wake of the coup, initially in the form of peaceful protest but then developed into a violent confrontation with the setting up of People’s Defence Forces or PDFs.