Striking garment workers demonstrated outside the offices of the International Labor Organization in Yangon, Myanmar, earlier this week demanding that global apparel brands ensure workers are not punished for participating in pro-democracy protests. Photo: Andrew Tillett-Saks, Twitter.
Update: Late Friday evening, February 26 (local time), the Myanmar military declared most of the country s labor organizations illegal on public television, with the threat of arrests if their activities continue, adding to the urgency of international solidarity activities.
On February 1, the Myanmar military staged a coup and seized power from the elected civilian government under the pretext of alleged election fraud. The coup leaders detained top government leaders and activists, shut off the internet, and suspended flights. This marks a dark and uncertain turn in the country’s decade-long, fraught experiment with partial democratization.
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Myanmar: ‘Domestic political stability, essential’ Daily News (via HT Media Ltd.)
Both coverage in the Asian press and statements by neighbouring Asian governments reported in the media on the grabbing of exclusive power by the military in Myanmar, reflects the traditional Asian adage that democracy should go hand in hand with economic and political stability. Thus, sanctions and external funding of protest groups (usually urban elites and the young) are discouraged.
Myanmar is a member of the Association of South East Nations (ASEAN) regional grouping, which was instrumental in guiding Myanmar to transit from military rule to civilian rule a decade ago. The ASEAN secretariat issuing a statement through its current chair Brunei reiterated that “domestic political stability is essential to a peaceful, stable and prosperous ASEAN Community”.
International Trade Union Confederation
08-02-2021
On 1 February 2021, a day before the newly elected Parliament convened, the Tatmadaw – the Myanmar military – arrested President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and more than a hundred elected lawmakers from the National League of Democracy (NLD), which scored a landslide victory in the November 2020 election. Claiming last November’s election fraudulent, the Tatmadaw declared a one-year state of emergency.
The next day, on 2 February 2021, doctors and health workers from 70 hospitals in Myanmar put down their tools in protest against the coup. Residents in Yangon have been banging pots and pans each night at 8 p.m. to oppose the coup.