Huge and secretive prison expansion in Myanmar revealed by satellite images

Insein prison pictured last January. The country’s most notorious prison was built by the British colonial authorities in 1887. Photograph: google earth

Myanmar has undertaken a vast and secretive prison-building programme, according to new satellite analysis, prompting fears it has been carried out to jail thousands of pro-democracy protesters.

Analysis of the images taken before the February 2021 military coup – which ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi – through to January 2024, indicate that 27 of 59 prisons identified in the south-east Asian country showed signs of large-scale expansion or the construction of new wings or buildings.