ILO report exposes Myanmar military junta's atrocities against democracy and trade union activists

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has published the conclusions of its Commission on Inquiry (COI) Report on Myanmar, showing the military junta and its linked institutions' gross abuses against the Myanmar resistance movement. The trade union movement, particularly the Confederation of Trade Unions of Myanmar (CTUM), is highlighted in the report. It claims that the military junta's activities are clearly in violation of Myanmar's commitments under ILO Conventions such as the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (Convention No. 87) and the Forced Labour Convention (Convention No. 29). 

The COI Report did not mince words in pointing out that Myanmar has failed to adhere to its commitments under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29). The military continues to perpetrate various forms of forced labour within the complex backdrop of armed conflict, thus blatantly disregarding international labour standards.

Furthermore, the Commission highlights a disturbing lack of adequate enforcement regarding the prohibition of forced or compulsory labour. These findings paint a grim picture of the labour rights and human rights situation in Myanmar, underlining the urgent need for more determined international action.

The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) supported the report’s findings and lauded the Commission for its brave and diligent work in narrating the deterioration of human and trade union rights in Myanmar. “We support the COI report’s position that while the United Nations General Assembly and the International Labour Conference have not recognised the military authorities as representive of the Government of Myanmar, the military, as an agent of the state, remains answerable for its actions that forced Myanmar’s violation of its obligations under ILO Conventions No. 87 and 29,” BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson said. 

BWI said that since the military junta has not recognised the COI and refused to cooperate to be provide information relevant to the inquiry of the Commission, the ILO Governing Body meeting in November must act on the report by invoking Article 33 of the ILO Constitution similar to what it did to Belarus. “ILO must call on its members to review its relations with Myanmar to ensure that such relations will not be used to perpetuate or extend the violations of workers’ rights, and to contribute to the implementation of its recommendations, including the creation of a climate promoting freedom of association. And despite the lack of guidance from the UN, we are confident that the ILO  Governing Body will respond positively to the report, and even accept the credentials of the National Unity Government (NUG) as a member state of the ILO, and the CTUM as the the legitimate representative of Myanmar workers,” Yuson asserted. 

BWI also called on the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Assurance Services International (ASI) to immediately terminate all its existing CoC and FSC certificate systems in Myanmar. It said that the report clearly stated that the conduct of an independent and transparent audit process for certification of companies is impossible given the massive  trade union rights violations being committed by the junta. 

Read the full report here.