Sexual abuse and violence worsens in Myanmar factories: activists

Women in the garment sector are increasingly vulnerable to pressure and exploitation as the economy deteriorates.

Myanmar garment factory worker Win Lae was shocked when she heard that colleagues at the Chinese-owned factory where she used to work were being offered money in exchange for sex with Chinese technicians and buyers. 

“Some workers are really poor and the news was spreading – when they offered 300,000 kyat (US$143) for a night, it’s a huge amount for female workers. It’s still happening,” said the former worker, who asked to be identified as Win Lae, of her time at the factory owned by the Dongxin Garment Co. Ltd.

A company official denied that any such exploitation was going on at the factory in Myanmar’s main city of Yangon but  labor activists say such abuse is far from rare in Myanmar’s manufacturing sector as a deteriorating economy leaves women more vulnerable to sexual exploitation, abuse and violence. 

International labor group the Business and Human Rights Resource Center said in a report this month that women in Myanmar’s garment sector face “dire and repressive working conditions”. 

The group documented 155 cases of abuse in Myanmar factories, linked to 87 international companies, between Dec. 1, 2023, and June 30, with 37% of them gender-based incidents including “verbal, physical and sexual abuse and harassment, often for not meeting unreasonable production targets.”

An economy in freefall since the military ousted an elected government in February 2021 has exacerbated the problem of exploitation for many in Myanmar as factory owners and supervisors know that employees are increasingly desperate for cash as inflation erodes living standards, a labor activist told Radio Free Asia.

“It’s easy to take advantage of the garment workers. They use poverty,” said the activist who declined to be identified in fear of reprisals.

The Business and Human Rights Resource Center also reported evidence of sexual harassment and assault at the Dongxin factory.

Workers in another factory complained that the manager was “matchmaking” female workers with men back in China, raising fears of human trafficking when she began taking them with her on visits to China, the labor group documented from worker reports.

Other cases the group documented included male supervisors groping women and expressing sexual or romantic interest and angry supervisors mistreating workers.

But Dongxin’s human resources manager, Tin Ni Lar Htun, denied that such behavior was taking place at the factory.

“We don’t have any problems like that,” he said. “If we did have those problems, we would fire the workers who committed them according to the labor law.”

AP21078115525006 (1).jpg
In this Sept. 29, 2015, file photo, workers in the Great Forever factory stitch clothes in the Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone outside Yangon, Myanmar. (AP)

‘No leverage’

Win Lae described various pressures put on workers that made them vulnerable to sexual exploitation and abuse, including being forced to work through the night, ostensibly to fill orders.

“There are no arrangements or sleeping areas for the operating workers. If they take a rest, they can only rest in the technicians’ room and they then have the opportunity,” Win Lae said, referring to more senior technical staff taking advantage of women workers.

Win Lae also said that peer pressure and pay-offs facilitated sexual exploitation.

“The supervisor gets paid to persuade another operator. She gets pocket money if another operator sleeps with the technician,” said Win Lae, who said she was also laid off after raising an issue of unfair pay with her coworkers.

There were few options in Myanmar’s factories for women to complain, said the labor activist, especially given an influx of smaller brands and a departure of well-known companies vulnerable to public pressure.

“For many Japanese and Chinese brand companies, we don’t have any leverage and we can’t reach them,” the activist said. “The only way is the legal process, and you know, the legal process here in Myanmar, it’s terrible.”

Since the 2021 military takeover, 16 major labor unions have been banned, and workers have reported both factory management and junta authorities suppressing dissent more aggressively.

The International Labor Organization’s Commission of Inquiry for Myanmar late last year found “far-reaching restrictions on the exercise of basic civil liberties and trade union rights.”

Many women victims of sexual exploitation, abuse and violence see no choice but to suffer in silence.

“They pretend nothing happened at work because they don’t want to lose their jobs, even if they’re feeling stressed or traumatized,” the labor activist said.

“The companies should take that kind of problem seriously and respond. The brands and companies have full responsibility for that.” 

RFA News

Open letter from Myanmar civil society organizations to ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and support Myanmar people’s efforts to build federal democracy

To: ASEAN Leaders

H.E. Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Prime Minister of Brunei Darussalam
H.E. Hun Manet, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia
H.E. Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Sonexay Siphandone, Prime Minister of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic
H.E. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos, Jr., President of the Republic of the Philippines
H.E. Lawrence Wong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore
H.E. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
H.E. Phạm Minh Chính, Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam

CC: H.E. Duwa Lashi La, Acting President of Myanmar

7 October 2024

Subject: Open letter from Myanmar civil society organizations to ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and support Myanmar people’s efforts to build federal democracy

Your Excellencies,

Last week, the military junta in Myanmar unleashed a barrage of lethal, indiscriminate airstrikes across Shan, Karen, and Karenni States and Sagaing Region. Of extreme concern, in Lashio, northern Shan State, the junta conducted four consecutive days of airstrikes, which killed at least six civilians. Last month, from 1 to 7 September, the junta launched airstrikes targeting civilians in Chin, Shan, and Karenni States and Magwe, Sagaing, and Mandalay Regions—killing at least 40 people, including a dozen children.

The utter silence of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in response to these ongoing atrocity crimes by the illegal military junta against the people of Myanmar, once again, highlights its continued failure to address the dire human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. It is imperative that ASEAN change course immediately.

We, the undersigned 240 Myanmar civil society organizations, call on ASEAN to show its political leadership, commitment, and genuine will to support the well-being of the Myanmar people by implementing the following recommendations at the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits in Vientiane under Laos’ chairship. These recommendations were put forth during the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) by the Myanmar National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF, comprising 15 civil society organizations, and partner organizations. We further call on the international community, particularly the United Nations and ASEAN’s dialogue partners, to assist ASEAN with effectively implementing these recommendations:

  1. End all engagement with the Myanmar military junta, including all business ties with the junta and any support for the military junta’s sham election plan.
  2. Exclude all representatives of the military junta, both political and non-political, from ASEAN’s platforms at all levels.
  3. Formally engage with and provide political support to the Myanmar people’s legitimate representatives and governance bodies, including the National Unity Government, the National Unity Consultative Council, and ethnic resistance organizations.
  4. Collaborate with locally led civil society and community-based organizations, including networks of Civil Disobedience Movement professionals, and people-led governance structures.
  5. End the involvement of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), as well as the use of any channels involving the military junta or its proxies, in the provision of humanitarian aid, and instead cooperate with revolutionary groups to facilitate humanitarian aid through border channels.
  6. Support the Myanmar people’s efforts for transitional justice and coordinate with existing international justice mechanisms to hold the Myanmar military accountable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In particular, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children must take immediate action to hold the military junta accountable for sexual and gender-based crimes.

Since the Myanmar military’s illegal coup attempt in February 2021, Myanmar has stood at a pivotal juncture in its history. Over the past three and a half years, the military junta has perpetrated a multitude of grave human rights violations and mass atrocity crimes across the nation, including massacres, torching and pillaging of entire towns, and lethal airstrikes against civilian communities and places where they take refuge. There have been over 2,400 airstrikes by the military since February 2021. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the military’s violence has displaced more than 3 million people—likely a gross underestimation of the true magnitude of displacement.

Despite the military junta’s extreme violence, the people’s revolution has persistently worked towards establishing a federal democracy. Over three and a half years, the people’s revolution has advanced and is now winning on the ground. Today, the Myanmar military junta does not have effective control of the country. Townships covering 86% of the country’s territory and including 67% of the national population are not under stable junta control.

Your Excellencies,

Myanmar is moving forward. Now is the time for ASEAN to seize this most critical opportunity and take immediate and decisive action to support the Myanmar people’s revolution for federal democracy and durable peace in Myanmar, as well as for peace and stability in the region.

As clearly recognized in the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Statement on the Escalation of Conflicts in Myanmar on 18 April 2024, the political, human rights, and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar is not merely an internal affair, but one that requires a resolution for “peace, security, and stability in the region,” which ASEAN has vowed to protect. Without swift action, Myanmar’s neighboring countries and ASEAN Member States will continue to face an influx of refugees, loss of commercial interests, and irreparable reputational damage. We believe that ASEAN has a clear obligation to act to prevent the junta from continuing its campaign of violence and from destabilizing the entire region.

We reiterate our calls and remain at your disposal to provide further information, as well as to assist and collaborate with you for effective implementation of the stated recommendations.

For more information, please contact:

Signed by 240 organizations including 45 organizations who have chosen to not disclose their name:

  1. 5/ of Zaya State Strike
  2. A-Yar-Taw People Strike
  3. Action Against Myanmar Military Coup (Sydney)
  4. Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD)
  5. Action Committee of Basic Education Students (ACBES)
  6. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
  7. All Aung Myay Thar San Schools Strike Force
  8. All Burma Federation of Student Unions (Monywa District)
  9. Alliance Against CRSV-Myanmar
  10. Alliance Coalition Strike Mya Taung Strike
  11. Alliance of Students’ Union – Yangon (ASU-Yangon)
  12. Anti-coup Forces Coordination Committee (ACFCC -Mandalay)
  13. Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon-AJAY
  14. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
  15. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP)
  16. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
  17. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Magway
  18. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Nagphe
  19. Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT)
  20. Basic Education General Strike Committee (BEGSC)
  21. Basic Education Worker Unions – Steering Committee (BEWU-SC)
  22. Blood Money Campaign (BMC)
  23. Burma Focus
  24. Burma Medical Association (BMA)
  25. Burmese Muslim Association (BMA)
  26. Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
  27. CDM Medical Network (CDMMN)
  28. Chanmyatharzi Township People’s Strike
  29. Chaung Oo Township Youth Strike Committee
  30. Chindwin (West) Villages Women Strike
  31. Civil Information Network (CIN)
  32. Civil Society Organizations Coordination Committee (Monywa)
  33. Co-operative University Mandalay Students’ Strike
  34. Coalition Strike Committee – Dawei
  35. Creative Home (CH)
  36. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
  37. CRPH Funding Ireland
  38. Daung Sitthe Strike
  39. Dawei (Ashaetaw) Women Strike
  40. Dawei Youths Revolutionary Movement Strike Committee
  41. Defend Myanmar Democracy
  42. Democracy, Peace and Women’s Organization
  43. Depayin Township Revolution Steering Committee
  44. Depayin Women Strike
  45. Equality Myanmar (EQMM)
  46. Ethnic Youth General Strike Committee (Mandalay)
  47. Federal Corner
  48. Former Political Prisoners and New Generation Group – Monywa
  49. Future Light Center (FLC)
  50. Gangaw Women Strike
  51. General Strike Collaboration Committee (GSCC)
  52. General Strike Committee of Basic and Higher Education (GSCBHE)
  53. General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB)
  54. Generation Wave (GW)
  55. Generations’ Solidarity Coalition of Nationalities (GSCN)
  56. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (GMSR)
  57. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution (South Korea)
  58. Green Network (Myeik)
  59. HTY Scout Channel
  60. Human Rights Defenders and Promoters
  61. Human Rights Educators Network (HREN)
  62. India for Myanmar
  63. Industries Strike
  64. Information & Scout News (Hlaing)
  65. Justice & Equality Focus (JEF)
  66. Justice For Myanmar
  67. Kachin Legal Aid Group (KLAG)
  68. Kachin Student Union
  69. Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT)
  70. Kalay Township Strike Force
  71. Kalay Women Strike
  72. Kamayut Scout Channel
  73. KantBaLu Strike Committee
  74. Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
  75. Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN)
  76. Kayan Women’s Organization
  77. Keng Tung Youth
  78. Kyae Lak Myay
  79. Kyain Seikgyi Spring Revolution Leading Committee
  80. Kyauktada Strike Committee (KSC)
  81. Latpadaung Region Strike Committee
  82. Legal Aid For Human Rights
  83. Let’s Help Each Other (LHEO)
  84. LGBT Alliance
  85. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kalay Region)
  86. LGBT Alliance Myanmar (Kyaukse Region)
  87. LGBT Community Yangon
  88. LGBT Union – Mandalay
  89. MAGGA Initiative (MI)
  90. Magway People’s Revolution Committee
  91. Magway Region Human Rights Network
  92. Maharaungmyay Township People’s Strike
  93. Mandalar University Students’ Strike
  94. Mandalay Alliance Coalition Strike
  95. Mandalay Medical Family (MFM)
  96. Mandalay Strike Force (MSF)
  97. Mandalay Students’ Strike
  98. Mandalay Women Strike
  99. Mandalay Youth Strike
  100. Mandalay-based People’s Strike
  101. Mandalay-Based University Students’ Unions (MDY_SUs)
  102. MATA  Sagaing
  103. Mayangone News
  104. MayMyo Strike Force
  105. Metta Campaign
  106. Min Hla Farmers Group
  107. Minbu Farmers Group
  108. Minority Affairs Institute (MAI)
  109. Mon State Development Center
  110. Monywa LGBT Strike
  111. Monywa People’s Strike Steering Committee
  112. Monywa Women Strike
  113. Monywa-Amyint Road Strike Leading Committee
  114. Monywa-Amyint Road Women Strike
  115. Multi-Religions Strike
  116. Mya Taung Strike
  117. Myanmar Global Support Foundation (MGSF)
  118. Myanmar Institute of Information Technology Students’ Strike
  119. Myanmar Labor Alliance (MLA)
  120. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
  121. Myaung Youth Network
  122. MyaYar Knowledge Tree
  123. Myingyan Civilian Movement Committee
  124. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
  125. Network of University Student Unions – Monywa
  126. New Myanmar Foundation
  127. New Power Generation
  128. New Rehmonnya Federated Force (NRFF)
  129. No.12 Basic Education Branch High School (Maharaungmyay) Students’ Union
  130. NOK Information & Scout Echo
  131. North Dagon & East Dagon News
  132. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
  133. OCTOPUS (Youth Organization)
  134. Olive Organization
  135. Pale Township People’s Strike Steering Committee
  136. Political Prisoners Network – Myanmar (PPN–M)
  137. Progressive Voice (PV)
  138. Purple Window Counselling
  139. Pwintphyu Development Organisation
  140. Pyi Gyi Tagon Strike Force
  141. Queers of Burma Alternative (QBA)
  142. Representative Committee of University Teacher Associations (RC of UTAs)
  143. Resilient Action for Kachin State (RAKS)
  144. Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN)
  145. Samgha Sammaga-Mandalay
  146. Seinpann Strike
  147. Shan MATA
  148. Shwe Pan Kone People’s Strike Steering Committee
  149. Sisters2Sisters
  150. Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
  151. Spring Traveller
  152. South Dagon Scouting Infos (SDG)
  153. Southern Youth Development Organization
  154. Students’ Union Co-operative University
  155. Synergy – Social Harmony Organization
  156. Ta’ang Women’s Organization
  157. Tamar Institute of Development
  158. Tamwe Nway Oo Channel
  159. Taze Strike Committee
  160. Taze Women Strike
  161. Tha Byay Nyo Shwe Bo
  162. Thaketa & Dawbon Scout Channel
  163. Thakhin Kodaw Mhine Peace Network (Monywa)
  164. Thayat Chaung Women Strike
  165. The 88 Generation Peace and Open Society (Monywa)
  166. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland (HURFOM)
  167. The Ladies
  168. The Students’ Union of Yadanabon University (YDNBUSU)
  169. Twitter Team for Revolution (TTFR)
  170. University Mandalay Students’ Strike
  171. University Students’ Unions Alumni Force
  172. Volunteers in Myanmar
  173. Wetlet Revolution Leading Committee
  174. Wetlet Township Women Strike
  175. White Coat Society Yangon (WCSY)
  176. Women Activists Myanmar (WAM)
  177. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar (WAC-M)
  178. Women Alliance Burma (WAB)
  179. Women Lead Resource Center
  180. Women Organization of Political Prisoners (WOPP)
  181. Women’s League of Burma (WLB)
  182. Yangon Medical Network (YMN)
  183. Yangon Women Strike
  184. Yasakyo Township People’s Strike Steering Committee
  185. Yinmarpin and Salingyi All Villages Strike Committee
  186. Youth Empowerment
  187. Youth Heart Beams
  188. Youth Scout For Democracy (YSD)
  189. ဒီမိုကရက်တစ်လူငယ်ကောင်စီ
  190. နည်းပညာဆိုင်ရာဆရာများအဖွဲ့ချုပ် -TTF
  191. မုန်တိုင်းကြားကသက်တံများ
  192. သမိုင်းသယ်ဆောင်သူများ
  193. အညာလွင်ပြင်ရပ်ဝန်း
  194. ဒို့မြေကွန်ရက် (LIOH)
  195. ပွင့်ဖြူလယ်ယာမြေကွန်ရက်

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Justice

အတိတ်မှ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး အကြီးအကျယ် ကျူးလွန်ချိုးဖောက်မှုများအတွက် ကိုင်တွယ်ဖြေရှင်းရန် အသွင်ကူးပြောင်းရေး ဆိုင်ရာ တရားမျှတမှု (TJ) လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်တခုမှာ “တရားမျှတမှု” (Justice) ဖြစ် သည်။

လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်ခံရသူများအတွက် တရားမျှတမှုနှင့် လူ့အခွင့်အရေးချိုးဖောက်သူများ တာဝန်ယူ၊ တာဝန်ခံစေရန်အတွက် ဆောင်ရွက်သည့် လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်ဖြစ်သည်။

တရားမျှတမှု (Justice) လုပ်ငန်းကို “တရားစီရင်ရေး နည်းလမ်း” (Judicial) နှင့် “တရားစီရင်ရေး မဟုတ်သည့် အခြားနည်း”များ (Non-Judicial) ဖြင့် ဆောင်ရွက်ကြသည် (ဥပမာ- နစ်နာသူများအ တွက် ပြန်လည်ကုစားပေးလျော်မှု (Reparation) လုပ်ငန်းစဥ်)။

UN expert on Myanmar to visit Australia

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, will conduct an official country visit to Australia from 1–10 October 2024.

Andrews will discuss Australia’s perspective on the crisis in Myanmar and the ways in which the Government of Australia can stand for the human rights of the people of Myanmar.

The Special Rapporteur will visit Canberra to meet representatives of the Government of Australia. He will also travel to Sydney and Melbourne where he will engage with experts, humanitarian and refugee organisations supporting those who have fled Myanmar, and Australian civil society organisations with a focus on Myanmar and ASEAN.

He will also hold consultations with diverse groups from the Myanmar diaspora, including refugees from Myanmar who have been resettled in Australia since the military coup of February 2021.

The Special Rapporteur will hold a press briefing on 10 October 2024 at 11:30 a.m. local time at the United Nations Information Centre, Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, 18 King George Terrace, Parkes ACT 2600. Access will be strictly limited to journalists.

Mr. Thomas Andrews (United States of America) is the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar. A former member of the US Congress from Maine, Andrews is a Robina Senior Human Rights Fellow at Yale Law School and an Associate of Harvard University’s Asia Center. He has worked with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and parliamentarians, NGOs and political parties in Cambodia, Indonesia, Algeria, Croatia, Serbia, Ukraine and Yemen. He has been a consultant for the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma and the Euro-Burma Network and has run advocacy NGOs including Win Without War and United to End Genocide.

For additional information and media requests please contact Julia Dean dean@un.org.

For media enquiries regarding other UN independent experts, please contact Dharisha Indraguptha (dharisha.indraguptha@un.org) or John Newland (john.newland@un.org)

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)

Human Rights Violations took place in States and Regions from Sep 15 to 21, 2024

Military Junta Troop launched airstrikes and dropped bombs in Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Shan State, Chin State, Rakhine State, and Kachin State from September 15th to 21st. The Military Junta committed arresting, occupying the properties, threatening by using power, and attacking with heavy artillery the civil volunteer societies that helped the people who were affected by the floods in Bago Region and Mandalay Region. Military Junta arrested over 1000 civilians as human shields from Indaw Township, Sagaing Region.

About 30 civilians died, and over 20 were injured by the Military’s heavy and light artillery attacks within a week. Over 30 civilians were arrested by the Military Junta within a week.

Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 8 to 14, 2024)

Myanmar civil society calls for ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus and end all engagements with the illegal military junta

Ahead of the 44th and 45th Summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Vientiane, Laos, the Myanmar National Organizing Committee (Myanmar NOC) for ACSC/APF, comprising 15 civil society organizations, as well as partner organizations and network, participated in the ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum (ACSC/APF) 2024 held on 19 – 21 September 2024 in Dili, Timor-Leste. This year, the delegation of Myanmar NOC and partner organizations and network was more inclusive than ever before, with the participation of Rohingya and LGBTQIA+ representatives.

The conference, hosted by the Timor-Leste National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF and Forum ONG Timor-Leste (FONGTIL), was attended by over 500 delegates and participants from civil society and people’s movements from across Southeast Asia. Four plenary sessions, 24 convergence space workshops and 11 side events were held.

On 19 September, during the opening session, the Myanmar NOC reported to the conference the dire human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar caused and exacerbated by the military junta, as well as the people’s resolute resistance against the military and building of a new federal democratic Myanmar from the bottom up, despite the junta’s widespread and systematic attacks.

Myanmar in the Plenaries

On 19 September, Yasmin Ullah, Executive Director of Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN), a member organization of the Myanmar NOC, spoke on Plenary II: Critical Overview for ASEAN Mechanism. She discussed the failure of ASEAN, especially to protect vulnerable minority communities including the Rohingya, and ASEAN’s ongoing red-carpet treatment of the Myanmar military junta. She further highlighted ASEAN’s failure to coordinate sanctions against the supply chain of aviation fuel, which has continued to embolden the military junta to conduct frequent targeted airstrikes and massacring of civilians.

On 20 September, Zue Padonmar, Secretary 1 of the Interim Executive Council of Karenni State (IEC), and Nurhayati Ali, Director of Health and Human Services at RMCN, spoke on Plenary IV: People and Planet First: Toward a Liberating Southeast Asia. Zue Padonmar discussed the building of bottom-up federal democracy in Karenni State, including the establishment of the people-led Karenni Interim Government, its provision of public services, and its ongoing efforts to encourage public participation in its governance structures. Nurhayati Ali discussed the struggle of the Rohingya, emphasizing that “there will be no liberation in Southeast Asia without the liberation of Rohingya.” She also described the efforts of the Rohingya to reclaim their belonging in their ancestral homeland of Myanmar and in ASEAN, including by reengaging with Rohingya culture and sharing their traditions with the international community.

Myanmar in the Convergence Spaces

On 19 September, Myanmar NOC representatives from Women’s League of Burma (WLB) and Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar (WAC-M) convened a workshop entitled An Arduous but Yearning Endeavor: Access to Justice for the Survivors of Conflict-Related Gender-Based Crimes. This workshop was co-organized with Initiatives for International Dialogue and the People’s Empowerment Foundation. Panelists included a representative of WLB and Owen of WAC-M. During the workshop, the Myanmar NOC representatives emphasized that the Myanmar military is the main root cause of conflict-related gender-based crimes in Myanmar, and that the existing regional and international Women, Peace, and Security frameworks are insufficient to address the ongoing sexual and gender-based violence in Myanmar.

Also on 19 September, Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of the Myanmar NOC member Progressive Voice, joined the Grassroots Democracy and People’s Vision for Alternative Regionalism workshop as a panelist. She highlighted the Myanmar people’s tireless efforts and sacrifices to build new, inclusive, democratic governance structures, sharply contrasting the people’s incredible successes with ASEAN’s complete failure to address Myanmar’s multi-faceted crisis.

On 20 September, the Myanmar NOC convened the Triumph over Military Tyranny: ASEAN’s Role in Rebuilding Myanmar workshop under the theme of State Violence, Militarism, National Liberation, and Democracy. This workshop was co-organized with International Peace Bureau – Philippines, Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma, ALTSEAN-Burma, and the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA).

During the workshop, representatives of the Myanmar NOC discussed the ongoing progress of the Myanmar people’s revolution, ASEAN’s role in fueling the military junta’s false legitimacy, and the regional bloc’s need to recognize the people’s revolution and their efforts to build a new Myanmar. The democratic principles driving the Spring Revolution, particularly inclusion and equality—as well as the invaluable role of the Civil Disobedience Movement, students, youth, women, the LGBTQIA+ community at the revolution’s forefront—were highlighted. The workshop also highlighted the Rohingya people’s historical involvement in and contributions to Myanmar’s democratic movements, including the 8888 nationwide pro-democracy uprising and the present Spring Revolution.

The workshop emphasized that the Myanmar military junta has shown blatant disregard for ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC), only escalating its violence against civilians countrywide. ASEAN’s disjointed approach to Myanmar’s crisis has not only completely failed, but has also lent false legitimacy to the illegal, illegitimate junta and further emboldened it to intensify atrocity crimes.

Also on 20 September, Myanmar NOC members Blood Money Campaign (BMC), Generations’ Solidarity Coalition of Nationalities, Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma, and Equality Myanmar convened a workshop entitled People to People for Justice: Challenging the Norms of Human Security, Peace, Gender Equality, and Accountability in ASEAN. This workshop was co-organized with Stop the War Coalition Philippines and the Asian Cultural Forum on Development Foundation.

The workshop included Mulan, a human rights defender from BMC; Ma Aye Saung, Adviser at WAC-M; and a representative of Justice and Equality Focus (JEF). They emphasized the Myanmar military’s decades-long impunity and ASEAN’s complete lack of political will to address the Myanmar crisis. The workshop, with a panelist from Indonesia, also highlighted the importance of people-to-people solidarity across ASEAN in ensuring human security and peace.

Also on 20 September, Yasmin Ullah of RMCN spoke as a panelist during a workshop entitled When Hate Speech Leads to Genocide: The Rohingya Case and What We Must Do to Resist. She highlighted how misinformation, disinformation, and hate speech against the Rohingya are tools to further divide the ASEAN region to become oblivious to the plight of Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State as well as to foster a culture of impunity where victims are blamed. She underlined the urgent need to hold the Myanmar military and other actors complicit in the hate speech against Rohingya accountable including those in the ASEAN region.

Separately, on 19 September, the Alliance Against CRSV–Myanmar co-organized a workshop entitled Strategies to Address CRSV in the Region. Moderated by Zin of WAC-M, a member of the Myanmar NOC, the workshop included Yasmin Ullah of RMCN and two members of the Alliance who highlighted the severity of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) against women and girls from different ethnic communities as well as the LGBTQIA+ community.

Myanmar Side Events

Throughout the ACSC/APF, the Myanmar NOC hosted the Burma/Myanmar Revolution Corner – a side event with photo exhibitions and film screening about the situation of internally displaced persons and airstrikes, and handicrafts by the Spring Revolution. RMCN also hosted an artwork and history exhibition to share Rohingya stories and culture. The Alliance Against CRSV–Myanmar further organized an exhibition and photo booth in support of CRSV survivors of Myanmar, where solidarity photos were collected for the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence campaign later this year. All side events received tremendous support and solidarity from the ACSC/APF participants.

Reflections and aspirations of the Myanmar NOC and partners 

The Myanmar NOC and partner organizations and network would like to extend our sincerest gratitude to the people and the Government of Timor-Leste for their wholehearted and overwhelming support for and solidarity with Myanmar people and our revolution. The liberation, freedom, and democracy that the people of Timor-Leste have as an independent sovereign nation is something Myanmar people are longing for, are fighting for, and are determined to achieve soon.

The Myanmar NOC and partner organizations and network would also like to sincerely thank the ACSC/APF 2024, the Timor-Leste National Organizing Committee for ACSC/APF, regional solidarity networks, and all participants for their steadfast support of the Myanmar people’s revolution and aspirations for inclusive federal democracy and human rights for all.

The Myanmar NOC, with our platform of convening independent civil society organizations and networks, stand firm on non-discrimination and other human rights and democratic principles. As such, the Myanmar NOC will continue to do our part to ensure the ACSC/APF remains a people’s space protected based on these principles.

Recommendations to ASEAN

Once again, ASEAN’s complete silence on the Myanmar military junta’s latest airstrikes over the past week in northern Shan State proves its utter failure to address the dire human rights and humanitarian crisis in Myanmar. It is clear that ASEAN’s approach, including the failed 5PC, is not working in any capacity, Thus, ASEAN must change course immediately.

We demand ASEAN to respond to and take concrete actions in accordance with the following recommendations at the upcoming ASEAN Summits:

  1. ASEAN must end all engagement with the Myanmar military junta, including all business ties with the junta and any support for the military junta’s sham election plan.
  2. ASEAN must exclude all representatives of the military junta, both political and non-political, from its platforms at all levels.
  3. ASEAN must formally engage with and provide political support to the Myanmar people’s legitimate representatives and governance bodies, including the National Unity Government, the National Unity Consultative Council, and ethnic resistance organizations.
  4. ASEAN must collaborate with locally led civil society and community-based organizations, including networks of Civil Disobedience Movement professionals, and people-led governance structures.
  5. ASEAN and its Member States must end the involvement of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) and any channels involving the military junta or its proxies, and instead cooperate with revolutionary groups to facilitate humanitarian aid through border channels.
  6. ASEAN must support Myanmar people’s efforts for transitional justice process and coordinate with existing justice mechanisms to hold the Myanmar military accountable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. In particular, the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children must take immediate action to hold the military junta accountable for sexual and gender-based crimes.

For more information, please contact: 

Members of the Myanmar NOC:

  1. Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD)
  2. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP)
  3. Blood Money Campaign (BMC)
  4. Creative Home (CH)
  5. Equality Myanmar (EQMM)
  6. Generation Wave (GW)
  7. Generations’ Solidarity Coalition of Nationalities (GSCN)
  8. Kyae Lak Myay
  9. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
  10. Progressive Voice (PV)
  11. Queers of Burma Alternative (QBA)
  12. Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN)
  13. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar (WAC-M)
  14. Women’s League of Burma (WLB)
  15. Yangon Medical Network (YMN)

Partner Organizations and Network:

  •       Alliance Against CRSV–Myanmar
  •       Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
  •       Justice and Equality Focus (JEF)
  •       Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica (NLTA)

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