Myanmar refugee in Denmark demands justice over junta war crimes

A Myanmar citizen living in Denmark on Monday filed a complaint with Danish authorities against the country’s ruling military junta for alleged war crimes committed against minorities.

The complainant, Ngun Siang Dim, who is from the Chin minority, claims she saw 40 houses burn down in her village in Chin State, in western Myanmar, and that several members of her family and friends were killed or left permanently disabled by landmines laid by the junta.

The military junta “has done so many things”, the 39-year-old said. She said that children can no longer go to school, “and also because of the jet fighters, they keep [dropping] bombs, so they destroy our houses. So they have tortured a lot emotionally too”.

Like thousands of others, she fled Myanmar, first to India and then Thailand, and has lived in Denmark since 2023. The dates when the alleged events took place could not be confirmed.

Other Myanmar citizens living in Denmark could join the complaint, which allows Danish police “to start up an investigation on potential international crimes and human rights violations committed against our clients and also communities in Myanmar”, said Eddie Khawaja, a lawyer representing the complainant and other refugees from Myanmar.

“This is truly a very important step in being able to tell this story, not only for her, but also in order to denounce the crimes that the military regime is committing against its own population,” said Tracy Bawi Hlei, president of Myanmar Action Group Denmark.

Since 2025, Denmark has adopted the principle of universal jurisdiction, allowing for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The principle permits judgment of such alleged crimes regardless of where they were committed, as long as the complainant or the alleged perpetrator is in Denmark.

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing ousted the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, plunging the country into a civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people, according to monitor ACLED.

In early February, the Chin Human Rights Organisation announced that East Timor had appointed a prosecutor tasked with investigating a war crimes case allegedly committed by the Myanmar junta.