The 1st February marks one year since the Myanmar military junta staged another coup in Myanmar, or Burma, as the country is also known. A year of relentless and escalating attacks on courageous, striking workers and civilians across the country.
For decades, the military have ruled in one way or another. And each year they leave a trail of violence. So it’s not surprising that since the coup over 1,000 thousand people have been killed, and more than 11,000 people have been arrested.
Furthermore, the hard-fought-for achievements of the past 10 years to build a free, independent and democratic trade union movement and collective bargaining agreements have been destroyed. Precarious work and tumbling wages are rife.
Reflecting on the past year, we’ve played our role keeping Myanmar in the spotlight, with news articles and statements. UNISON, and our branches, have donated money to the international trade union strike fund and to our partners, the Burma Campaign UK. And I’ve written letters to the government asking them to take targeted sanctions.
Advocacy does work. To the government and international communities’ credit, the first few months after the coup saw more, and quicker, sanctions than ever before placed on the military junta and those close to them.
But it’s not enough. The military are still in power. That is why I wrote to the foreign secretary, Liz Truss MP, last week, asking her to ban the export of aviation fuel, place sanctions on Burmese companies involved in the supply of fuel and arms to the military, step up efforts to impose arms embargoes, and more.
Cutting supply of aviation fuel is critical, because the military are using jets to destroy border towns and villages where Myanmar’s very poor, marginalised ethnic minorities live. It is causing immense suffering, deaths and injury and has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee, creating a terrible humanitarian crisis.
It doesn’t stop there. An estimated 85% of UK exports to Myanmar are services. There is no transparency, so it is hard to know who is doing what, but the UK is an international centre for insurance and reinsurance – UK sanctions on insurance would have an impact on the ability of companies to do business with the military.
This week we are expressing our solidarity by again donating to Public Services International’s efforts to help provide essential assistance to striking health workers who are currently hunted, in hiding, displaced and seeking shelter deep in the jungles.
And we won’t stop advocating for more sanctions until the military junta collapses.