Passports were cancelled and arrest warrants issued for several senior members of the Confederation of Trade Unions, Myanmar (CTUM), with some detained. The regime has written to governments around the world requesting that they no longer recognise a number of passports.

The CTUM has been instrumental in the wider resistance by the people of Myanmar to the military takeover and the establishment of a legitimate national unity government.

Asylum and protection

Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: “This cowardly, desperate act shows that the resistance of the Myanmar people and their workers’ unions is working.

“This is the behaviour of a regime that is desperate and scared.

“But the people in Myanmar need all the support we can give them to succeed. I call on all governments that receive a letter from the military regime demanding that they cancel passports to ignore this request and grant asylum and protection to the people in question.

“These people deserve our support and best efforts to stop this persecution.”

The ITUC has launched a strike fund to support workers and families in Myanmar who have lost their livelihoods due to strikes or other protest actions. You can find more information here.