The International Labor Organization (ILO) is calling on Myanmar’s military regime to immediately release labor federation leader Ko Thet Hnin Aung, after he was rearrested just weeks after being released from prison.
The young labor rights activist, the general secretary of Myanmar Industry Crafts and Services Trade Unions Federation, was first arrested in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township in June 2021 while fleeing from the junta.
Prior to his first arrest, junta forces raided his house as well as the headquarters of his federation in Mandalay on June 14, 2021.
Ko Thet Hnin Aung was sentenced to two-years in prison with hard labor and fined 20,000 kyats by a junta-controlled court on December 5, 2021.
The ILO said in its statement Wednesday that the labor rights defender was released on June 26 this year and appears to have been rearrested by the regime and that his whereabouts are unknown.
“Workers and employers must be able to exercise their freedom of association rights in a climate of freedom and security, free from violence and threats,” the ILO said.
The UN’s labor agency also urged the military regime to uphold its commitments under the ILO Convention on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, which Myanmar ratified as an ILO member.
Following the military coup in February 2021, the junta has targeted labor unions and labor rights activists as violations of labor rights by employers and the junta have surged.
A report released in January by the Business and Human Rights Resource Center found that Myanmar’s garment factories are rife with inhumane work rates and forced overtime, gender-based violence and harassment, unsafe working conditions, business-military collusion, and arbitrary arrests.
Natalie Swan, head of labor rights at the center, said: “Two years after Myanmar’s military coup, apparel brands sourcing from the country continue to show a concerning lack of action in ensuring respect for the rights of workers who make their clothes.”
Last month, five union leaders at a Chinese-owned garment factory in Yangon that supplies global brands Zara and Pull&Bear, were arrested along with two activists of the NGO Action Labor Rights and a union supporter, after protesting for a pay rise of 38 US cents per day.
The military regime has charged them under the Sedition Law and Unlawful Association, which carries hefty prison terms.
Inditex, the Spanish company that owns both brands, has made no public statement in support of those arrested at the factory that supplies it.
The company describes itself as a haven for workers, saying on its website: “We strive to create a work environment that inspires authenticity and creates a sense of belonging … A workplace that empowers all our employees without exception.”
Since the coup, the junta has banned nearly all labor unions and arrested more than 300 union members and labor rights activists, according to IndustriAll, a global federation of unions.
