Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has been working to support trades unions in Myanmar since unions were legalised in 2012 and supported exiled communities and ethnic groups on the Thai-Myanmar border since the mid 1990’s.

On February 1, the Myanmar military launched a coup against the elected leadership which sparked a country-wide revolt. Doctors and nurses were to first to resist military rule and workers have played a leading role in the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) ever since. 

Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has been working to support trades unions in Myanmar since unions were legalised in 2012 and supported exiled communities and ethnic groups on the Thai-Myanmar border since the mid 1990’s.  

This appeal is supporting two APHEDA partner organisations: 

1. Myanmar Industry Craft Services Trade Unions Federation (MICS), is a federation of unions in the garment and manufacturing sectors. Since February 1, MICS unions have played a critical role in supporting the CDM in Mandalay and Yangon. As repression against union leaders escalates, APHEDA will support MICS to work with a network of women lawyers providing pro-bono legal aid and counselling service to political prisoners in Myanmar. The network has expanded engaging paralegal, final semester of law students, members of Student Unions across the country. Founded by women lawyer activists, Daw Zarli Aye, Daw Hnin Win Aung and other women activists, the lawyer network can be found across the country.  Performing advocacy for political prisoners under military regime poses many challenges. Death threats and sudden street searches targeting lawyers on the way to visit prisoners and soldier pointing gun at lawyers after court tribunal are very common. The lawyers are also familiar with “white terror”, officers from Naypyidaw using “friendly approaches” to obtain personal information and put the lawyers under constant surveillance. Funds raised will provide for legal support and logistics to imprisoned trade unionists and workers and their families.  

MICS General Secretary Thet Hnin Aung was arrested on June 18 and is held in Insein prison Yangon. 

1. Karen Women’s Organisation (KWO), is an organisation of 60,000 organised women living in the Thai-Myanmar refugee camps and in Karen state, Myanmar. It has been responding strongly against military rule in its advocacy with international organisations and within the Karen national structures and national women’s organisations. KWO has a proud history of opposing the Rohingya genocide of 2017 (one of the few Myanmar organisations to speak out) and has fought a long and public campaign against sexual violence of the military against women in Karen state. KWO is also responding directly to the crisis by assisting the estimated 80,000 people seeking refuge from military rule in Karen state as part of the local Emergency Response Teams, made up of six local community based organisations, including KWO. 

In addition, an estimated 4,450 civil disobedience movement activists, ousted members of parliament, ethnic political party leaders, journalists, engineers, teachers and doctors, as well as police and military deserters are also taking refuge in seven districts in Karen State are also receiving support indirectly through the Karen Peace Support Network, of which KWO is a leading member. Support is being provided for food, shelter, communications equipment, health and medical supplies to all those seeking safety and security.