Donate now to Defend Democracy in Myanmar

On 1 February 2023, the 2-year anniversary of the military coup, pro-democracy advocates and trade unions in Myanmar are calling for a ‘silent strike’ to restore the democratically elected civilian government deposed by the military. The National League of Democracy (NLD) had won a landslide victory in the election in November 2020.

NLD leader and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has been sentenced on sham charges to a total of 33 years in jail. The military junta has outlawed the NLD, arrested three-quarters of its members, and declared the National Unity Government (NUG) formed by the NLD elected lawmakers under the coup a ‘terrorist organisation’.

Since the February 2021 coup :

  • 2,734 pro-democracy activists, workers, protesters and other civilians have been killed including 413 arrests and 101 deaths of workers and trade unionists who had supported the Civil Disobedience Movement.
  • 13,495 people are under detention, 2,057 of them are serving sentences, another 142 have been sentenced to death.
  • Civilians, activists and trade unionists have been indiscriminately attacked or burned to death in ethnic-controlled states and strongholds of CDM protests under the “kill-all, torch-all” airstrikes and military operations.
  • Under the extended state of emergency, installing a VPN (virtual private network) on mobiles devices or hosting non-family members overnight is a custodian offence.
  • An estimated 1,215,000 people within Myanmar have been displaced since 1 February 2021
  • Myanmar kyat has depreciated by more than 60 percent, 1.1 million jobs have been lost. Many garment workers are employed on daily basis receiving just US$1 a day.

Yet, the fight to restore democracy is going on ... the people in Myanmar have not been silenced!

Tens of thousands of teachers, healthcare, railway, energy, bank workers, civil servants and workers in the private sector have refused to return to work or recognise the military junta despite losing their jobs and being expelled from their housing.

As with other pro-democracy human rights defenders, the elected leaders of the Confederation of Trade Unions Myanmar (CTUM) have been issued with arrest warrants and their passports and even citizenship have been voided by the military junta.

Workers and trade unionists continue to organise protests, labour strikes and online campaigns within Myanmar and internationally to call for sanctions on the military junta and recognition of the NUG.

You can help the people in Myanmar to restore democracy.
Stand in solidarity with Myanmar.
Support Myanmar’s democracy defenders.
Support the strike fund.

For donations above €500 we recommend that you contact [email protected] and request the ITUC bank account details for a direct transfer.