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Myanmar army making extensive use of forced labour, UN probe finds

October 5, 2023/in News

The investigation also found that the military has imposed wide-reaching restrictions on basic civil liberties and trade union rights since seizing power A United Nations investigation into Myanmar on Wednesday urged the country’s military rulers to end forced labour in the army and to halt all violence against trade unionists. A probe launched by the […]

Myanmar junta attacks have killed nearly 500 children: NUG

October 5, 2023/in News

The regime’s indiscriminate targeting of schools and other civilian sites has resulted in large numbers of child casualties, according to the shadow government Myanmar’s military junta has killed nearly 500 children since seizing power more than two and a half years ago, according to the country’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG). At an online press […]

Myanmar army making extensive use of forced labour, UN probe finds

October 5, 2023/in News

Myanmar junta attacks have killed nearly 500 children: NUG

October 5, 2023/in News

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Myanmar army making extensive use of forced labour, UN probe finds

October 5, 2023/in News

The investigation also found that the military has imposed wide-reaching restrictions on basic civil liberties and trade union rights since seizing power

A United Nations investigation into Myanmar on Wednesday urged the country’s military rulers to end forced labour in the army and to halt all violence against trade unionists.

A probe launched by the UN’s labour agency found far-reaching violations of international forced labour and freedom of association conventions in the Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted the democratically-elected government of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 2021 coup.

The UN’s International Labour Organization launched a commission of inquiry into allegations of serious non-observance of international labour standards in the wake of the coup.

The ILO has only used its highest investigation procedure on 13 previous occasions since its foundation in 1919.

The commission of inquiry concluded that the Myanmar junta had imposed wide-reaching restrictions on basic civil liberties and trade union rights.

It also found that the Myanmar military was exacting various different types of forced labour.

The commission “urges the Myanmar military authorities to immediately cease all forms of violence, torture and other inhumane treatment against trade unionists, and to end all forms of forced or compulsory labour,” the ILO said.

It called on the junta to take “immediate action, so as to stop egregious violations” of the conventions on forced labour and freedom of association “and prevent further abuses.”

The commission found the junta’s rule has had “a disastrous impact on the exercise of basic civil liberties.”

“Trade union members and leaders have been killed, arbitrarily arrested, subjected to sham trials, convicted, detained, abused and tortured, threatened, intimidated, subjected to surveillance, forced into exile… due to their trade union membership and activities,” it said.

It also found “systematic and widespread use of residents by the Myanmar military to perform a range of different types of forced labour in the context of military activities.”

This included forced work as “porters, guides and human shields, as well as for cultivation, construction and maintenance of military camps or installations, and the provision of transport, accommodation, food and domestic work.”

The commission called on the junta to release and withdraw all criminal charges against trade unionists detained in relation to their legitimate activities, and to restore the protection of basic civil liberties suspended since the coup.

It also urged the military “to end the exaction of all forms of forced or compulsory labour by the army and its associated forces, as well as forced recruitment into the army.”

The commission’s report furthermore set out recommendations for when the country returns to democracy and called on all parties to achieve a peaceful transition.

Myanmar has three months to say whether it accepts the report, and if not, whether it wants to take the matter to the International Court of Justice.

Myanmar Now News

Myanmar junta attacks have killed nearly 500 children: NUG

October 5, 2023/in News

The regime’s indiscriminate targeting of schools and other civilian sites has resulted in large numbers of child casualties, according to the shadow government

Myanmar’s military junta has killed nearly 500 children since seizing power more than two and a half years ago, according to the country’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG).

At an online press conference on Wednesday, the NUG detailed the impact of regime offensives on children, including those who have died in schools and clinics targeted by the military.

“Attacking schools with children is tantamount to targeting children themselves, and being killed is a danger that children can face just like adults,” the NUG’s human rights minister, Aung Myo Min, said at the conference.

There have been 491 documented cases of children being killed by the military since it mounted a coup against Myanmar’s elected civilian government in February 2021, the NUG claimed.

While some have been victims of airstrikes or artillery shelling, many others have died due to army raids on villages or the accidental explosion of mines and other ordnance left behind in conflict areas.

Most striking, however, have been the regime’s apparently deliberate attacks on public buildings where children and other civilians are likely to be found.

According to Aung Myo Min, the junta has destroyed a total of 119 schools and 391 clinics in a bid to eliminate resistance to its rule.

Such attacks have only increased over the past year as it fails to achieve this goal, he added.

“The junta forces have stepped up their use of heavy weapons in attacks and airstrikes as they become less capable of ground attacks. The underlying intent behind their crimes is not merely warfare—it is the deliberate destruction of the entire civilian community in the area,” he said.

Citing data collected since September 2021, the NUG said that the regime has fired 2,351 rounds of heavy artillery at civilian targets, including schools, religious buildings, and healthcare facilities.

In an effort to protect children, the NUG said it has built bomb shelters at each of the roughly 500 schools that it operates in resistance-controlled territory. It has also forbidden forces under its command from stationing themselves in schools, according to NUG cabinet member Dr Zaw Wai Soe.

In addition to Aung Myo Min and Dr Zaw Wai Soe, the press conference was also attended by teachers from NUG-run schools.

One of the teachers pointed to an incident that occurred just last week in Sagaing Region’s Wuntho Township as a typical example of the danger facing children living in resistance strongholds.

On September 27, three shells fired from a howitzer cannon capable of shooting 155mm rounds landed inside a Buddhist monastery in the village of Gyoe Taung, injuring a female teacher and 18 children, the teacher in charge of the school said.

“Children were running around, drenched in blood. The commotion was like a scene from hell. The sight of the blood-smeared children is still etched in my mind,” said the teacher.

“The teachers and the parents still remain shaken, and every night, we wake up and sit in silence.”

In April, a junta airstrike targeting a gathering held to celebrate the opening of an NUG administration centre in the village of Pa Zi Gyi in Sagaing’s Kanbalu Township killed around 160 people, including 32 children.

A similar incident in September of last year left 13 people—almost half of them children—dead at a school in Letyetkone, a village in Sagaing’s Depayin Township.

Schools have also been targeted by airstrikes in other parts of the country, including Webula, a town in Chin State’s Falam Township, which was hit in April.

Myanmar Now News

Spring Revolution

Civil Society Position Paper on ASEAN’s Goal of a Myanmar-Owned and -Led SolutionDecember 18, 2024 - 12:11 pm
Recommendations to ASEAN and Its Member States (1) Move beyond the 5PC to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centered solution to the crisis in Myanmar. ASEAN’s “Myanmar-owned and -led” approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the people of Myanmar. (2) Cease all pressure on […]
The Airstrikes after the journey to the China of the Junta Military LeaderDecember 10, 2024 - 1:28 pm
Operation 1027 was a coordinated military attack against the junta on October 27th, 2023. It was carried out by the Northern Brotherhood, which includes the Arakan Army, Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army. Several months later, the Three Brotherhood Alliance held three meetings to negotiate with China on January 11 […]
Human Rights Situation weekly update (September 15 to 21, 2024)September 27, 2024 - 8:26 am
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 […]

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ND Burma

ND-Burma formed in 2004 in order to provide a way for Burma human rights organizations to collaborate on the human rights documentation process. The 13 ND-Burma member organizations seek to collectively use the truth of what communities in Burma have endured to advocate for justice for victims. ND-Burma trains local organizations in human rights documentation; coordinates members’ input into a common database using Martus, a secure open-source software; and engages in joint-advocacy campaigns.

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