Take Action On Myanmar Labor Rights Abuses; ILO Governing Body To Consider Measures Against Military Junta

Bangkok, 2 June 2025

The International Labour Organization (ILO) should act to prevent the Myanmar military junta’s systematic abuse of workers’ rights and widespread use of forced labor, including forced military conscription, Fortify Rights said today.

The International Labour Conference (ILC), which sets international labor standards and the policies of the ILO, will gather for its annual meeting today in Geneva, Switzerland. Ahead of the meeting, Fortify Rights wrote to ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo recommending measures, including referring the Myanmar situation to the International Criminal Court, targeted sanctions, and supporting exiled trade unions and other human rights defenders.

“The Myanmar military junta has overseen a systematic denial of fundamental labor rights,” said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. “International Labour Conference member states and organizations must take concrete action against these abuses, including by referring the Myanmar junta to the International Criminal Court and supporting Myanmar’s exiled trade unions and workers’ organizations.”

Later today, the ILC is set to discuss measures aimed at securing the Myanmar military junta’s compliance with recommendations made by an ILO Commission of Inquiry (ILO CoI). In its report, issued August 4, 2023, the ILO CoI found that measures imposed by the Myanmar military junta have had “a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties,” and contravened ILO conventions on workers’ rights and forced labor, to which Myanmar is a state party.

In its report, the ILO CoI stated that trade unionists have been:

Killed, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sham trials, convicted, detained, abused and tortured, threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance, forced into exile, deprived of their basic civil liberties and oppressed at the workplace due to their trade union membership and activities.

Women trade union leaders, the ILO CoI reported, have been subjected to “particularly violent treatment,” including sexual violence. The ILO CoI also concluded that the Myanmar military junta continued its “systematic and widespread” use of forced labor, both in the context of military operations including as porters and human shields, and in the construction and maintenance of military camps, installations, and infrastructure.

Since the Myanmar military coup d’état in February 2021, Fortify Rights has documented extensive evidence of widespread and systematic human rights violations by the military junta and its operatives that amount to crimes against humanity, as well as violations committed in the conduct of armed conflict that amount to war crimes. In particular, Fortify Rights has documented the Myanmar junta military’s use of civilians as human shields and forced porters–grave breaches of international humanitarian law that may amount to war crimes.

A recent Fortify Rights investigation found that Rohingya armed groups were collaborating with the Myanmar military junta to abduct Rohingya refugees from refugee camps in Bangladesh and forcing them into military service. According to an internal memo by a humanitarian coordination group operating in Bangladesh, seen by Fortify Rights, Rohingya armed groups in Bangladesh forcibly recruited approximately 1,700 Rohingya refugees from March to May 2024 alone.

During today’s meeting, the ILC will consider measures under Article 33 of the ILO Constitution to secure the Myanmar junta’s compliance with the ILO CoI’s recommendations. This is only the third time in its history that the ILC will consider Article 33 measures–once previously in the case of Myanmar, and once in the case of Belarus.

Given the grave findings of its own inquiry, the International Labour Conference should adopt the strongest possible measures against the Myanmar military junta, Fortify Rights said today.

In its letter to the ILO Director-General, Fortify Rights recommended that ILO member states impose targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders and capabilities and suspend the nation from preferential trade agreements. The letter also called on ILO member states to maintain the suspension of all junta representatives from the ILC and fully engage the National Unity Government of Myanmar. Fortify Rights also urged support for Myanmar’s exiled trade unions and workers’ organization including through respect for the principle of non-refoulement to ensure the protection of exiled labor rights activists and other human rights defenders. Finally, Fortify Rights called on ILO member states to refer the situation in Myanmar to the International Criminal Court’s Chief Prosecutor under Article 14 of the Rome Statute

“The Myanmar military will continue to wantonly disregard international law, including labor rights, if there continue to be zero consequences for its abusive actions,” said Patrick Phongsathorn. “Given that its own Commission of Inquiry has confirmed massive violations of labor rights and atrocities committed against labor activists, ILO member states gathering today must now commit to imposing the strongest possible measures to end the junta’s crimes.”

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