Between August and September 2026, the Myanmar military junta, operating through the General Administration Department (GAD), systematically restricted religious freedoms by shutting down and demolishing Muslim places of worship following targeted pressure from ultra-nationalist factions. On 15 August in Thanlyin Township (Yangon Region), approximately 30 ultra-nationalist Buddhist monks affiliated with the Patriotic Myanmar Monks Union (PMMU) entered the Sein Kone Mosque to protest ongoing expansion activities. Consequently, on 28 August, the junta’s GAD executed the demolition of the mosque’s expansion work. On 11 September,in Aungmyaythazan Township (Mandalay Region), a group of PMMU monks led by U Thusitta forcefully entered the Mibar Bazaar mosque compound to protest renovation operations. Two days later, on 13 September, the Township GAD invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to formally close two buildings within the compound. This administrative action strictly banned all prayer, assembly, entry, and repair work on the premises.
On 26 September, the Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) published a report detailing how junta authorities consistently ordered constructions to be torn down or formally sealed immediately following these organized, monk-led protests. The BHRN issued an urgent appeal calling on the military junta to immediately reopen prayer spaces at these historic mosques and to cease all discriminatory restrictions targeting Muslim worship across the country.