Prominent Myanmar labour activist arrested in Yangon

Myanmar’s military junta arrested Myo Myo Aye, leader of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar (STUM), at her home in Yangon on Friday, according to sources. Soldiers in civilian clothes and ward administrators also raided the STUM office in Yangon’s Shwepyithar Township, a source close to Myo Myo Aye’s family told Myanmar Now. “They also searched the office. But she was the only one arrested,” the source said, adding that the family was unable to get any information from police about where she is being held. On Monday, a relative of the prominent activist wrote on social media that her whereabouts and the charges against her were still unknown. Concerns were also expressed about her health, as she requires medication that she takes regularly. The regime has yet to make any public statement regarding her arrest. This is the second time that Myo Myo Aye has been detained since the military seized power more than four years ago. In April 2021, she was arrested and charged with incitement for taking part in a strike. She was released under an amnesty six months later. As a labour rights activist, Myo Myo Aye has also faced lawsuits from factory owners for her role in helping workers to organise and demand their rights. A fellow activist said that the arrest would not deter others from assisting workers whose labour rights and human rights are routinely denied in military-ruled Myanmar. “For all our comrades, including Ma Myo Myo Aye, who are imprisoned, and for all our comrades who are being arrested, we need to continue fighting,” the activist said. After the coup, the junta also arrested Thet Hnin Aung, general secretary of the Myanmar Industries, Crafts and Services Trade Unions Federation. Currently held in Yangon’s notorious Insein Prison, he has been subjected to torture for reporting violations of prisoners’ rights. Workers in Myanmar have long been denied basic rights under successive dictatorships. Forced labour, withholding of wages, and a lack of freedom of expression and the right to organise have all been common features of life in the country’s workplaces. In response, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) decided in June of this year to take action under Article 33 of its constitution, citing widespread abuses in contravention of fundamental conventions that the country is a signatory to, including those related to forced labour and freedom of association. This comes after the ILO's Commission of Inquiry made 11 recommendations in October 2023, including restoration of democracy and civil liberties, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and freedom of expression. In 2000, the regime led by former dictator Senior-General Than Shwe faced similar censure from the ILO under Article 33.

Prominent Myanmar labour activist arrested in Yangon

The charges against Myo Myo Aye, leader of the Solidarity Trade Union of Myanmar, and her current whereabouts are still unknown

Subscribe for full access

After 100 days of ‘civilian’ rule, Myanmar remains a bastion of oppression

‘We cannot write as before’: Women poets of Myanmar’s Spring Revolution

Sent to die: Myanmar’s conscripts caught between a junta’s war and a nation’s collapse

Magway emerges as key front in junta’s strategy to claw back control of western Myanmar

Subscribe for full access

Related Articles

ASEAN envoy meets Myanmar junta, ethnic armed groups in Thailand as NUG questions exclusion

Russian troops, Myanmar junta forces hold small-scale joint military exercise in Naypyitaw

Associates of resistance leader questioned following his escape from NUG custody

ASEAN ministers push stalled peace plan in Myanmar talks